Here on Stolen Lives, we discuss brutal and heartbreaking cases against children.

Themes may include child murder, torture, and sexual domestic and child abuse.

I do try my best to remain respectful for the babies in these stories

and leave out unnecessary details that honestly,

none of us need to know to understand the frustration

of why and how this ever happened. However, if you find any of these themes triggering, this

podcast may not be for you. Listener discretion is advised. In the last 10-plus years, the United Kingdom has been confronted by the rising

epidemic of child abuse.

According to government statistics, in the years 2021 and 2022, there were over 29,000 recorded child abuse offences in England and Wales.

The harrowing stories of children subjected to this abuse have permitted the headlines, shocking the British public.

Eight-year-old Victoria Columbia is one of these victims.

Her case would become one of the UK's most well-publicised and heavily investigated cases.

Victoria's case would be one of the first times a British public found themselves face-to-face

with the reality of the rising epidemic in their country.

Unfortunately, 23 years on, few lessons have been learned

and children like Victoria continue to slip through the cracks.

This is Victoria's story.

November 2, 1991. Burton-Francess Columbier welcomed Victoria into their lives.

The family lived in a Bobo Ivory Coast and knew Victoria was unique very early on.

One family member described her as the central figure of the family.

She lived to entertain her relatives with song and dance, and she always had the brightest

smile on her face.

...