Ayden Reader from Taunton jailed for sexual activity with a child

Ayden Reader has been jailed for nine years

A man has been sentenced to nine years in prison after admitting to having sexual activity with a child.

Ayden Reader pleaded guilty to 19 charges, including possessing and distributing indecent images.

The 22-year-old from Taunton was reported to police after he started messaging a girl in 2021.

The judge also granted an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and an indefinite restraining order banning Reader from contacting the victim.

When Avon and Somerset Police seized Reader's electronic devices they discovered 882 category A images (the most serious), 950 category B images and 2,543 category C images.

Officers initially secured an interim sexual harm prevention order, which led to Reader living in Kent while the investigation continued.

Kent Police then launched its own investigation after receiving intelligence that he had been accessing and sharing child abuse images while living in the county.

While being investigated by the two forces, Reader began messaging young girls on social media, breaching the terms of the order.

Officers from Kent Police seized various devices, where they found 830 category A images, 973 category B images and 610 category C images.

Avon and Somerset Police and Kent Police worked together to bring the charges and Reader was sentenced at Taunton Crown Court.

'Anxious and sick'

In a statement, the victim said she is "worried" that Reader will contact her again when he is released and the experience had made her "less believing of people".

She said: "When I am anxious, I feel sick, I struggle to sleep and can't cope in public places without feeling overwhelmed.

"It made me re-live what happened and made me feel guilty and shame."