A PAEDOPHILE who has been handed a 22-year jail sentence was a volunteer in a local children’s group.

Phillip Grove, 70, has been jailed for 15 ‘non-recent’ sexual offences, which took place when he was a volunteer with the Sea Cadets.

Grove was a volunteer ‘Petty Officer’ with the national youth charity and lived in Taunton in the 1990s when he was found to have committed rapes, indecent assaults and other sexual offences against children over a period of six years.

In a statement a spokesperson for Avon and Somerset Police said: “In September 2020, one of the victims reported what had happened to her and the other children to police and an investigation into Grove was launched.

“On Friday, he was jailed for 22 years, one year of which will be spent on extended licence. The judge also granted a life-long Sexual Harm Prevention Order and instructed Grove to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

“He was also barred from working with children.”

In court, a statement from one of Grove’s victims, who retains their anonymity, recounted how the victim remains “haunted” by Grove’s crimes. It read:

“For almost 30 years, I have lived in constant shame. Shame which I have owned but it was never actually mine to own.

“The whole of my adult life has been overcast in shadow, which I have never been able to shake off… A part of me, who I am, was taken away from me by Phillip Grove.

“My days are plagued by the memories of what happened and the nights I manage to get sleep, I am haunted by nightmares of both the incidents and Phillip himself.”

Speaking following the sentencing, investigating officer DC Becky Norton thanked the Sea Cadets for supporting the investigation. She said:

“All four victims have been incredibly brave throughout the process and have exhibited exceptional courage. Without them, we would not have been able to put an incredibly dangerous man in prison and seek the justice they so rightly deserve.

“Even though the offences were back in the 1990s, when the victims were children, we were still able to build a case and charges were brought against the defendant which has led to this lengthy conviction being achieved.

“The Sea Cadets have been very supportive of our investigation and, upon being contacted in October 2020, their safeguarding team conducted an internal investigation to gather necessary information to support our enquiries.

“I hope this result reassures other victims of non-recent sexual offences that it is never too late to report a crime to police. I would like to thank the victims once again for showing incredible strength in coming forward.”

Grove was first arrested for the offences in March 2021, before a jury found him guilty of 15 of the 16 charges against him by unanimous decision in court last December.

Presiding Judge Cullumm branded Grove a ‘dangerous individual’, telling him: “You are a self-centred, dishonest and callous individual who has shown no remorse.”