A former worker with a Staffordshire sex abuse support charity has been given a suspended sentence after passing confidential data to a man awaiting trial for rape.
On 9 March, 30-year-old Lauren Leese, who worked as an independent sexual violence advisor (ISVA) with now-defunct charity Savana, pleaded guilty to unauthorised accessing of computer material at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
Shane Davis, 36, who was jailed for the rape offences in 2025, pleaded guilty to the same charges. He was sentenced to 12 months to be served concurrently with his existing sentence, while Leese received a 12-month sentence suspended for 18 months.
The court heard evidence that for six months in 2024, Leese unlawfully obtained sensitive personal information from a child survivor of serious sexual offences and shared it with Shane Davis, who was incarcerated at HMP Dovegate near Uttoxeter.
Davis then used the information to threaten and intimidate a fellow prisoner.
Leese was arrested in September 2024 but initially denied the offence when interviewed.
Former charity worker ‘betrayed position of trust’
Detective Inspector Lewis Haigh of Staffordshire Police said: “Lauren Leese held a position of trust at responsibility with Savana, which she betrayed, letting down the victims she supported, her colleagues and the public.
“She was only supposed to access sensitive and confidential information when necessary to support and advocate for victims of serious crime,” Haigh added. “Instead she passed information to Davis, who was on remand awaiting a trial after being charged with rape offences and who she sustained a relationship with while he was in prison.”
Leese’s former employer Savana, which operated in Stoke and Staffordshire for almost 40 years providing counselling and support to people affected by sexual violence and abuse, announced its closure in March 2025.
The charity’s then-CEO Sophia Baker told the BBC at the time that it had been unable to secure the funds needed to continue amid a tough operating environment, with about 25 staff being made redundant.
