Bristol church volunteer jailed for child abuse

Owen Baxter posted images and videos of the abuse online

A church volunteer who befriended families in order to abuse young children has been jailed for 12 years.

Owen Baxter, 23, from Bristol, "revelled" in assaulting victims as young as four at his local church, the city's crown court heard.

Baxter, who admitted 23 charges dating from when he was aged under 16, then boasted about his abuse online, the court was told.

Baxter was sentenced to six years in custody and six on licence on Monday.

The offences took place between 2001 and 2008.

Judge Jamie Tabor QC described Baxter as "predatory and opportunistic".

Indecent photographs

He said the fact that Baxter suffered from Asperger syndrome did not affect his ability to know what he was doing.

After abusing the children, Baxter would boast about his acts and exchange child abuse images in online chatrooms, the court heard.

He made more than 8,000 indecent photographs and videos of children and distributed over 3,000 images and videos on the internet.

Baxter was convicted of three counts of making indecent images and movies of children, two counts of taking indecent photographs of children, eight counts of distribution of indecent material and five counts of sexual assault on a boy under the age of 13.

Following the sentencing, one mother, who said she knew Baxter for more than five years, said: "Owen befriended us as a family to get at our son. It doesn't get much worse than that.

"We were fooled and taken in by him. Everyone was totally taken in by him. You think you know someone then find out you don't."