A 21-YEAR-OLD man has been jailed for nine years after being convicted of multiple child sex offences in three towns, including Wellington.

Austin Stuart-Taylor, of Taunton, supplied his victims with drugs before sexually exploiting them at addresses in Wellington, Minehead and Taunton.

In total, he abused four girls aged between 13 and 17 from 2015-17.

He was convicted of 15 offences – admitting two counts of offering to supply Class A drugs and one count of offering to supply a Class B drug on the first day of his trial at Bristol Crown Court, following which he was found guilty of a further 12 offences.

In addition to being jailed at a sentencing hearing, he was given a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a ten-year restraining order against all the victims. He will be on the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely.

The offences he was found guilty of were: three counts of sexual activity with a child; one count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity; three counts of possessing indecent images of children; one count of offering to supply a Class A drug; three counts of offering to supply a Class B drug; one count of permitting a premises to be used for smoking cannabis.

During the trial, the jury were told neighbours would often see girls dressed in school uniform attend the properties occupied by Stuart-Taylor.

There, he would provide them with drugs including cannabis, ketamine and MDMA.

The jury were told sexual images and moving video footage of children as young as three years old were found on Stuart-Taylor’s computer.

An examination of his phone also found a substantial number of photos of his genitalia, some of which the court heard, were sent to his victims in an effort to groom them. He also repeatedly asked his victims to take indecent pictures of themselves and send them to him.

Investigating officer Detective Sergeant Phillip Clarke said: “Austin Stuart-Taylor is a manipulative individual who plied young girls with drugs in order to gain influence over them and abuse them.

“It’s clear he has a disturbing interest in young girls from the images found on his electronic devices.

“His actions were deliberate and calculated and there is absolutely no doubt he knew how old his victims were when he engaged in sexual activity with them.

“Together with Barnardo’s Against Sexual Exploitation (BASE), support has been provided to all the girls through what has been a lengthy criminal justice process and I hope now Stuart-Taylor has been handed a substantial prison term they can move on with their lives.”

At the end of the hearing, the judge awarded commendations to DS Phillip Clarke, DC Paul Moares and Investigations Support Officer Alan Chambers for their work on this investigation. The judge also awarded a commendation to Kate Chisnall from BASE.