The latest people convicted of sexual offences in Bristol in recent weeks include a former teacher who downloaded hundreds of child abuse images and a “dangerous” man with over 180 individual victims.
This week’s round-up of the latest perverts also includes a man who abducted and sexually abused a child over a number of months where he ended up taking his victim in his lorry to London.
A 27-year-old has also been found guilty of raping a teenage girl and was given an extended sentence that was “necessary to protect the public.”
Read on below for the latest criminals jailed in and around Bristol for sexual offences.
Aaron Roberts
Aaron Roberts, a 27-year-old from Paulton, was found guilty of two sexual offences by a jury committed against a girl a few years ago.
He was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Monday (October 21), with the judge saying an extended sentence was necessary to protect the public.
Roberts was found guilty of one count of rape and a second of sexual assault. He also pleaded guilty to sexual activity in the presence of a child relating to a separate matter involving a different victim.
Judge Euan Ambrose handed Roberts a 13-year prison sentence and will be subject to a 10-year extended licence upon release. Roberts will also be on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.
His victim bravely provided a statement to the court where she explained the lasting impact of Roberts’ offences. She said: “Emotionally, the crime you committed has torn me into pieces. Never in my life have I ever felt so isolated and alone.
“My friendship group disappeared as they were happy innocent naïve children; I was a child when you took my life away.
“They couldn’t understand or comprehend the trauma I suffered and still am suffering. I had no friends. I feel like an alien in society with a sign on my head and everyone is looking at me, pointing and talking about me.
“You have ripped my world apart and every bit of my life has been touched and I don’t know how I will ever get over this and get some sort of normal life back.
“There is one word that I use to describe how you have left me feeling, powerless. I am angry with myself that you have made me feel that way.”
Andrew Thorne
A “very dangerous” paedophile has been jailed for 24 years for extensive child abuse offences. A judge described his offences as being unlike any case the court had seen before.
Andrew Thorne, 51, was found guilty after pleading guilty to 18 offences, including sexual communications with a minor, creating and distributing indecent images of a child, and coercing a child into participating in sexual activities.
Thorne was arrested by Avon and Somerset’s Internet Child Abuse Team (ICAT) on August 10, 2023, on suspicion of producing indecent images of children. Following his arrest and interviews a number of Thorne’s electronic devices were seized and examined.
This investigation revealed the extent and scale of Thorne’s offences. Using an alias, Thorne utilised online platforms to message and communicate with children, instructing victims aged between six and 16 to perform sexual acts on camera.
Through investigations, officers identified a total of 182 individual victims. The investigation also uncovered that Thorne had downloaded hundreds of images, some depicting the sexual abuse of infants as young as 18 months.
Thorne was handed a 24-year prison sentence, with a requirement to serve at least 18 years before being considered for parole
Tom Ivey
A former teacher in South Gloucestershire led a “double life” where he downloaded hundreds of indecent images of children and fantasised about sexually abusing a teenage girl.
Ivey, who has since changed his name to Sam Thomas, committed the offences when he was head of history and associate headteacher at Abbeywood Community School in Stoke Gifford.
The dad of two, now 43, was given a 20-week jail sentence suspended for two years in December 2023 after he court and videos that police found on his Samsung mobile phone. The images were of girls aged 13 to 17 posing naked and in a sexualised manner, Bristol magistrates Avon & Somerset Police heard at the time.
A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) professional conduct panel has barred him from the profession with no right to reapply. It means he is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth-form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.
Kyeran Taylor
Keynsham man Kyeran Taylor sexually abused and abducted a teenage girl, taking her to London in his lorry. The 33-year-old admitted a string of crimes, including two counts of sexual assault, six counts of sexual activity with a child, one count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, one count of child abduction, and one count of sexual communication with a child.
He was found guilty of two further counts of sexual activity with a child.
In a separate case, Taylor also admitted a charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. It came after he caused a head-on collision on the B3130 at Chew Magna. A woman, aged in her 60s, who was driving another car suffered serious injuries in the crash. Taylor was under the influence of cocaine at the time.
A woman, aged in her 60s, who was driving another car suffered serious injuries in the crash. Taylor was under the influence of cocaine at the time.
He was sentenced for all the offences at Bristol Crown Court on Friday, September 27. In addition to being jailed for ten years, he was given a 15-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) as well as a restraining order.
And finally…
In other court news, a prolific catfish abuser who drove girl to suicide jailed for at least 20 years. Alexander McCartney, 26, who admitted 185 charges involving 70 children, was given a life sentence.
McCartney, who posed as a teenage girl to befriend young girls on Snapchat before blackmailing them, is believed to be the UK’s most prolific catfish offender with victims identified across the world.
A 12-year-old girl sadly took her own life to avoid McCartney’s demands. Cimarron Thomas from West Virginia in the USA took her own life in May 2018 after McCartney demanded her to involve her younger sister in sex acts.
An OnlyFans model also blackmailed a married man for subscribing to her content. Bethan Guy narrowly avoided jail after she asked for hundreds of pounds from a customer who subscribed to receive her adult content – threatening to tell his wife if he failed to pay up.
Swindon Crown Court previously heard that the victim paid out £450 after the 29-year-old made her demands but when he was told to hand over even more, he contacted the police. He was left in significant distress, concerned he would lose his family as a result.