ALAN POTBURY FROM WESTON-SUPER-MARE JAILED FOR SEX OFFENCES AGAINST CHILDREN IN BRISTOL AND SOMERSET

In February 2011, a disturbing case unfolded involving Alan Potbury, a 38-year-old man from Weston-super-Mare, who was convicted of a series of heinous sexual offenses against young children. The court heard that Potbury had engaged in a prolonged pattern of abuse, targeting two six-year-old girls over a span of three years, with one of the victims being a child he had babysat for after befriending her parents.

Potbury’s criminal activities included filming himself repeatedly assaulting the young girls, capturing these horrifying acts on his mobile phone. These recordings, along with numerous indecent images, were later discovered on various devices including mobile phones, DVDs, and his computer. The police investigation revealed that he had hoarded approximately 200,000 indecent images and videos of children, some of which were classified as the most severe category of abuse.

His arrest was triggered when the mother of one of the victims noticed her daughter kissing her brother and explained that Potbury had shown her how to do it. This led to a police raid on his residence in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, where officers uncovered a vast collection of illicit material. The evidence included nearly 200,000 indecent images and movies, with some of the videos depicting the abuse of children as young as six. The material was stored on multiple devices, including mobile phones, DVDs, and his computer.

During the court proceedings at Bristol Crown Court, Potbury admitted to a total of 35 charges. These included seven counts of assault on a child under 13 and five counts of sexual assault on a child. He also confessed to 12 counts of taking photographs or filming the abuse, along with eleven counts of downloading thousands of child pornography images and videos from the internet. The court was told that the images included 121 classified as level five, the most serious category of abuse, and over 100 movies, four of which were also rated as level five.

Judge Neil Ford QC sentenced Potbury to ten years in prison, describing his actions as a 'flagrant and dreadful breach of trust.' The judge emphasized the profound impact such abuse could have on the victims’ development, noting that it was impossible to fully assess the damage at this stage. He acknowledged the parents’ statements, which expressed feelings of betrayal, loss of trust, and self-blame, although the court clarified that the blame did not lie with the victims' families.

Judge Ford also highlighted Potbury’s disturbing pattern of behavior, revealing that he was known among work colleagues as 'Al the Paedo' due to his crude and sexual comments about children and women during his home delivery shifts. The court was informed that Potbury had previously received a caution in 1993 for indecently assaulting a girl under 16 while babysitting her. The prosecution’s case suggested that this earlier incident marked the beginning of a troubling trajectory that culminated in the recent offenses.

Evidence presented in court detailed how Potbury had become a regular fixture in the lives of the victims’ families, often staying over at their homes and assisting with babysitting duties. The victim’s mother recounted that Potbury would read her child bedtime stories and help bathe her other children, which made his subsequent abuse even more sinister. Police found explicit images and videos of the abuse at his Weston-super-Mare residence, with timestamps confirming the timeline of his crimes. The investigation also uncovered similar footage from 2007 involving another six-year-old girl.

The authorities discovered that between 2001 and 2010, Potbury had downloaded over 190,000 indecent images from the internet, including 121 classified as the most severe level of abuse. The evidence also included over 100 child pornography movies, four of which were rated as level five. A statement read out by the prosecution, from the father of one of the victims, expressed his belief that Potbury had targeted his family specifically to access his daughter, revealing the depth of his predatory behavior.

In addition to his criminal activities, police investigated Potbury’s role as a volunteer for the coastguard, but no evidence of offending was found in that capacity. His defense lawyer, Derek Perry, acknowledged the gravity of the crimes and accepted that his client faced a lengthy prison sentence. Perry also mentioned that Potbury suffered from Klinefelter’s syndrome, a sex chromosome disorder that caused him to develop breasts during adolescence. After undergoing surgery to remove the breasts and becoming infertile, Potbury reportedly experienced depression, which may have contributed to his offending behavior. Perry emphasized that Potbury denied targeting women or families with young children and maintained that his actions were reprehensible.

As part of his sentence, Potbury was ordered to register as a sex offender for life, and all collected material was to be destroyed. The court’s decision reflected the seriousness of his crimes and the breach of trust involved, underscoring the devastating impact on the victims and their families.