May 2016 North Devon school bus driver jailed for child sex abuse A FORMER North Devon school bus driver has been jailed for grooming a girl for sex and making her pregnant when she was aged just 13. Philip Edwards abused the girl in the 1970s but the trauma of her experiences and the stress of becoming a mother at 13 have ruined her life. She told social workers that Edwards was the father of her child but nothing was done about it until DNA tests proved it in 2013. Edwards denied having any sexual contact with the girl and when DNA proved this was not true he said he must have had sex with her in his sleep without knowing it. He was found guilty after a jury at Exeter Crown Court rejected his claims, which the Judge said would have been comical but for the tragic effect the case had on the victim. At the time of the offences in the late 1970s he was working as a long distance lorry driver but he went on to run his own taxi company in Tiverton and work as a school bus driver all around North and Mid Devon. Edwards groomed the girl from the age of 12 and she started having consensual sex with him when she was 13 and became pregnant with his baby, who was born in 1980. She told Exeter Crown Court he had sex with her in the cab of his lorry, in lay bys while taking her to a pub at Cadeleigh to buy her cigarettes and in a chicken coop in his garden. He started the abuse when living in Exeter and started having sex with the girl when she visited at a house where he was living in a village near Tiverton. Edwards was originally charged with raping the girl but a statement which she made to social workers came to light which showed his grooming had been so effective the sex had been consensual. He could no longer be charged with unlawful sexual intercourse because that offence carried a two year statute of limitation back in the 1970s. He was instead prosecuted for indecent assault with the allegations relating to his touching and kissing her during the grooming and on some occasions when they had sex. Edwards, aged 68, of Broad Lane, Tiverton, denies six counts of indecent assault but was found guilty and jailed for 20 months. Judge Ian Lawrie, QC, said the sentence should be longer but he was constrained by the two year maximum term for indecent assault that was in place at the time. He told Edwards:”I have to give you a sentence which does not reflect the court’s dismay at what you have done. The victim was young, emotionally vulnerable and unhappy. “You exploited that unhappiness and pushed the boundaries at an age where she had little knowledge or experience. Your motive was always sexual. “You did not appreciate the impact on her because, like most sex offenders, you are a selfish individual. You did not care about her. You took advantage of her for your own base purposes. “You produced a ridiculous explanation about how you impregnated her and still cannot come to terms with the immeasurable harm and long running unhappiness you have caused. “You quite literally have destroyed her life but you still do not appreciate that.” Mr David Evans, defending, said there is no suggestion Edwards had ever abused any other children in more than 30 years since these offences. He said:”He set up his own taxi firm after working as a lorry driver and worked as a school bus driver for many years. He transported thousands and thousands of children with no complaints about his behaviour.”