A boat builder from Essex who raped a young girl and took photographs of the abuse has been jailed for 16 years.

Anthony Taylor, 49, was identified by National Crime Agency investigators after he used a cloud account to store indecent images of children (IIOC).

Some of the images had been created by Taylor himself using photo editing software.

He was arrested by NCA officers on 7 December last year. Twenty-one electronic devices were seized including laptops, tablets and phones.

These were forensically examined and 40 IIOC were found on a computer hard drive, which showed Taylor raping and sexually assaulting a young girl.

Taylor was re-arrested on 3 February this year at an address in Clacton-on-Sea. Officers found he had an electronic device he hadn’t declared, which was a breach of his bail conditions and resulted in him being placed into custody.

Taylor pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, two counts of rape of a child under 13, causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and three counts of making indecent images of children, ranging from category A-C.

He was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court today (21 July).

NCA operations manager Graham Ellis said: “Anthony Taylor has admitted to inflicting the most horrific crimes on a defenceless young child.

“The NCA works tirelessly to protect those affected by child sexual abuse and disrupt offenders who pose a sexual threat to children, ensuring they face justice.”

21 July 2022