Black Country man jailed for sexually abusing two young boys 25 years ago

Andrew Fox, 61, from Halesowen was sentenced to seven years.

Author: Molly HookingsPublished 3rd Apr 2024

A man from Halesowen, who committed sex offences against two young boys more than 25 years ago, has been jailed.

Andrew Fox, 61, was sentenced to seven years in prison on 2 April at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Fox was found guilty of a series of offences against the boys, which happened in the 1990s and early 2000s.

The court heard how Fox inappropriately touched one of the boys and incited the other to sexual activity on separate occasions at an address in Oldbury

Fox's crimes were only investigated in 2017 when one of the boys he abused, now an adult, came forward and reported it.

This led to Fox being called in for a voluntary interview in which he denied the offences.

However, he was later arrested in 2018 after being caught in a police operation speaking to who he thought was a 13-year-old boy online.

Fox sent multiple sexual messages and was arrested after trying to arrange a meeting between himself and the boy.

In his interview for this offence, Fox denied any sexual motive, instead trying to tell officers he was simply trying to mentor the boy and "act as a father figure".

For this, Fox was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court in 2018 and given a community order.

This conviction led to further witnesses coming forward, allowing officers to build a case against him.

Fox again tried to tell officers he either couldn't remember the offences he was accused of or that they were false accusations.

Despite these denials, officers were able to build a strong case against Fox, leading to his conviction and sentencing for historic child sex offences including sexual assault, indecent assault and inciting sexual activity.

Fox was sentenced to six years in prison for his offences against the first boy.

For his offences against the second, he was sentenced to one year.

Fox, of Hagley Road, Halesowen, will be on the sex offenders register for life.

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