After being convicted of child rape in July, Welsh para-swimmer Tom Piggott was sentenced to 10 years in jail on Monday.
Piggott, a 21-year-old native of Welshpool, Wales, was labelled as “manipulative and devious” by a crown court judge during his sentencing, having been found guilty of 10 counts overall: Two counts of raping a child, three counts of sexual assault on a child, two counts of inciting a child to take part in a sexual act, and three counts of making indecent images of children.
In addition to the sentencing, Piggott was also told that he would not be up for automatic release on license because he was considered a danger to the public, and would instead have to apply for parole, according to the County Times.
Former Welsh Paralympian Tom Piggott has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for a series of sex offences against children #HeartNews pic.twitter.com/X5Z8XmiQce
— Heart Wales News (@heartwalesnews) September 13, 2021
Piggott was a hopeful for the recently concluded Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, and formerly swam with the Oswestry Otters in England, attended Swansea University and also worked as a swim coach.
Judge Niclas Parry passed down the sentence after hearing impact statements from two of Piggott’s three victims.
Quotes From Judge Parry, courtesy of the County Times:
“What became clear during your trial is you’re an extremely intelligent young man but manipulative and devious. This case has the hallmarks of the dangers to young children by sexual predators and the opportunity afforded to people like you by the easy access of social media.
“You were seeing the opportunities to groom young children and you took them.
“This case involved grooming and planning and arose out of one meeting, your first ever and one and only, and the impact on your victim has been significant. It is to their eternal credit that I can listen to evidence, that they have found the resilience to make something of their life.
“You are arrogant and there seems little motivation to address the offending. But I can’t ignore that at the age of 17 you were immature because of mental health and physical difficulties.”
Piggott had claimed he was hacked, and therefore not responsible for the many messages sent grooming his victims, while still using his phone to send non-sexual texts to others.
He had initially denied the allegations before the jury found him guilty of all 10 charges against him.
Piggott received 10 years on counts three and four, the rape of a child under the age of 13, while he received a further five years for two more counts of sexually assaulting a child and indicting a child to commit a sexual act.
He will serve them concurrently, with a minimum of nine years in jail and 12 months on license, if parole is not approved earlier.
He also received a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a restraining order.