Glastonbury man jailed for 10 years for more than a dozen online sexual offences
It's after investigations by Avon and Somerset Police alongside teams in the South West, South East and South Wales
A man from Glastonbury has been jailed for 10 years after being found guilty of more than a dozen online sexual offences.
It's after investigations by Avon and Somerset Police alongside organised crime units in the South West, South East and in Tarian (South Wales).
Stuart Marchmont, who is 38, and formerly of Park Farm Road, was found guilty of 13 online sexual offences after a trial in February before being sentenced last week following investigations by the police after he'd got in touch with a 12-year-old girl online.
He then tried to get in touch with five other girls who were actually specialist officers who target offenders who try to exploit and abuse children online.
Officer in the case Detective Constable Duncan Sandle said: “This was a lengthy and complex investigation, involving some brilliant collaborative work between several different policing organisations, into the actions of a persistent sexual predator.
"We are continually looking to prevent such offending and protect those vulnerable children these offenders prey on. This court result reflects the harm that Marchmont has caused the two children he did contact.
"Online child sexual exploitation is a horrendous crime that sex offenders, such as Marchmont, seek to carry out behind false profiles, for their own sexual gratification. But however hard they try to hide their offending, law-enforcement agencies will leave no stone unturned to put the likes of Marchmont in prison to protect the lives of other innocent children.”
Detective Inspector David Wells from the SWROCU’s Online Investigations Team said: “Marchmont clearly posed a serious risk to children, persistently attempting to get young girls to engage in sexual activity online.
“As this case shows, law enforcement agencies are across the internet determined to ensure they don’t succeed. It is vital parents and children themselves take steps to protect against the threat.”
He was handed the 10-year sentence at Taunton Crown Court last Wednesday (April 26) for one count of inciting a child under 13 to engage in non-penetrative sexual activity and 10 counts of attempting to engage or incite sexual activity with the children who did not actually exist.
He was also sentenced for one count each of causing non-penetrative sexual activity with a 15-year-old and making indecent images of the same child – offences that only came to light after he was arrested back in 2021.
Marchmont also received an indefinite sexual harm prevention order to ensure he can be monitored upon his future release and will be on the sexual offenders’ register.
If you want to read about help and support organisations, visit the Internet Watch Foundation, who work to stop the repeated victimisation of people abused in childhood and make the internet a safer place.