July 2009 Bristol babysitter jailed for raping children A babysitter from Bristol who raped and sexually abused two young girls has been jailed for 12 years. Ian James had care of the youngsters, aged eight and four, at weekends to help their parents out,Bristol Crown Court heard. Instead of looking after them he forced himself on both and told them their mum and dad would be harmed if they talked. Police found just under 30,000 indecent photographs of children on his computer when they investigated him. James, 43, from Patchway, whose address was withheld by the court, denied wrongdoing but was convicted of four rapes on the eight-year-old as well as one rape on the four-year-old. He was also convicted of three gross indecencies involving both girls, but admitted downloading the indecent images from the internet. Imposing the jail term, Judge Simon Darwall-Smith told him that if the offences were covered by current legislation he would have no hesitation in passing imprisonment for public protection. He said: “Such was your hold on them that they kept it to themselves until they were teenagers. “You threatened the girls by saying their parents would be hurt if they told.” The judge imposed an unlimited Sexual Offences Prevention Order, banning James from having contact or living with youngsters aged under-16 and also preventing him from unsupervised internet access. James was told to register as a sex offender. Detective Constable Steve Alsop, the police officer in charge of the case, told the Bristol Evening Post: “He knew the girls through a family friend and used to look after them. He is in denial; he has not admitted any of it apart from the images. I think that now the victims can start to resume their lives.” The court heard the “pre-meditated” abuse occurred over the course of 18 months and the effects on the girls were deemed to be long-lasting. Michael Cullum, defending, told the court: “The pre-sentence report shows areas of concern. He chose to co-operate and provide information but the report shows the defendant doesn’t accept the rape convictions. “He maintains the evidence given by the two girls was false. He asks for credit regarding his guilty plea to the internet porn.” Mr Cullum said the younger girl’s account that James would crush up blue pills and put the powder over her ice-cream, sending her to sleep to abuse her, was unsafe evidence. He said there was nothing to suggest his client had carried out any sexual abuse before or after he targeted the two victims. He told the court: “A conviction for these offences means that the defendant will have an irretrievable change in his life. It’s not something from which his life will ever fully recover.” Mr Cullum stressed the great proportion of James’ indecent images were deemed to be at the lowest Level One, with no sexual activity.