Christopher John Austin

Christopher John Austin, a 37-year-old man from Ammanford, was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court for a series of serious sexual offences against a schoolgirl under the age of 16. The court heard that Austin had engaged in sexualised conversations with the victim, discussing pornography and expressing his arousal, which escalated to physical acts of sexual activity.

Austin instructed the girl to send him indecent images of herself, which she complied with. On one occasion, he hugged and kissed her, inserting his tongue into her mouth. Further, at his direction, they performed mutual sex acts, and he had intercourse with her. The victim was forced to obtain the morning-after pill from a pharmacy and later disclosed the abuse to a school staff member, leading her and her mother to report the matter to the police.

The police investigation by Dyfed-Powys Police uncovered disturbing evidence on Austin's devices, including internet searches for 'real rape videos', 'real incest videos', 'son gets mom pregnant', and 'real rape sex'. Indecent images included two Category A images of the victim—the most serious category—as well as three Category A videos and eight Category C images. During questioning, Austin initially claimed blackouts and suggested he had been hacked by a third party.

A victim impact statement highlighted the profound effects on the girl, who described replaying traumatic moments in her head, feeling deep regret, and suffering from panic attacks, low moods, anxiety, and difficulties concentrating on schoolwork. Austin was convicted on six counts of sexual activity with a girl under 16, one count of sexual communication with a child, and two counts of possessing indecent photographs of a child.

Detective Sergeant Carl Pocock of Dyfed-Powys Police described Austin as a 'dangerous offender' following the conviction, stating: 'This man has been convicted and sentenced for serious sexual offences and it is very difficult to summarise the impact of his crimes upon his victim. I wish to thank the victim in this case for their courage in coming forward which has led to the conviction of a dangerous offender and I hope from the sentence they will be able to move on with their life.'