He abused and tortured two girls for ten years: swimming star goes to prison
London (England) - At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the local fans were still cheering him on, but now he has no sympathy at all. Ex-swimming star Antony James (34) has been sentenced in England to 21 years in prison for three counts of rape and three counts of sexual activity with minors.
Between 2012 and 2022, i.e. for ten years, the Briton abused two girls who were under the age of 16 at the beginning of the ordeal.
The man, who competed in the 100-metre butterfly in London, not only raped the two girls, but also forced them to send him sexual images and videos.
James' handcuffs clicked back in 2022 and the trial in England came to an end on Wednesday. What was particularly disgusting was that the 34-year-old bragged about his actions and continued to claim that the acts had been consensual for over ten years.
He only confessed to the accusation of producing child pornography, otherwise he showed no remorse, but reported that he had tied up and strangled the two girls, which had been their wish. He had also had threesomes with them. One of the victims is also said to have been forced to have sex with other men.
Victim of Antony James bravely testifies in court
Horrible: because he partially denied the crimes, his victims had to testify in court. Their stories were heartbreaking for everyone involved.
"My formative teenage years were taken away from me. I had hoped that one day my cells would heal so that I would have a body that had never been touched by you and was clean of you," one of the women testified. She still suffers from anxiety and panic attacks.
Initially, James claimed during the trial that he had not known that his victims were under the age of 16 when the terrible acts began. But the scaffolding of lies collapsed in court.
"This prosecution would not have been possible without the courageous testimony of the young women involved," explained Gemma Kneebone from the Criminal Justice Agency of England.
At the time of his arrest, James had been training as a police officer in Devon and Cornwall. He will now spend the next two decades in custody.