November 2012 66-year-old jailed over 1980s sex assaults A FORMER taxi driver from Bristol whose historical child sex abuse caught up with him has been jailed for five years. Robert Taylor preyed on a girl from when she was aged ten, Bristol Crown Court heard. The abuse began when he kissed her on her shoulder, which he conceded was sexually motivated. Taylor, 66, formerly of Westbury- on-Trym, who has since said to have found religion and is living in Berryball Close, Okehampton, pleaded guilty to 11 sexual assaults in the 1980s. Mr Justice Field told him: “The effect on (the complainant) is profound. “I have read the victim impact statement and she is still suffering psychological consequences of your abuse. “She was young, she was innocent, and you prevented her from having the sort of life she was entitled to as a young girl and as an adult.” The judge gave Taylor an indefinite Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) designed to stop him having unsupervised contact with youngsters. He disqualified him from working with children for life and told him to register as a sex offender. Peter Coombe, prosecuting, said Taylor kissed the girl on her shoulder before touching her improperly. After allegations were made, Taylor was arrested on March 12 this year and admitted offences. “He was disgusted with himself,” Mr Coombe told the court. “He accepted it was sexually motivated.” Taylor also revealed how he had tried to apologise to the girl but she wouldn’t speak to him. Barry White, defending, said: “I don’t seek to minimise it in any way but the acts were at the lower end of seriousness. “The complainant was not assaulted, there were no threats or bribery and that is unusual. He is 66 now and he wants to say sorry for his actions.” Mr White said his client was highly regarded in his community. He said: “Any prison sentence will represent a substantial chunk of what he has remaining.”