A FORMER West Somerset man was this week jailed for a total of 28 years for his part in a catalogue of historic sexual abuse of a vulnerable girl.

Keith Bunce, aged 65, who used to live in Summerland Road, Minehead, appeared in Bristol Crown Court on Wednesday (September 25) to face 21 separate charges of offences carried out between 2015 and 2016.

Bunce appeared in the dock together with 73-year-old Martin Reading, of Taunton, to face sentencing by Judge Julian Lambert.

Reading was separately charged with 22 offences covering a period dating nearly 20 years to 2005.

Judge Lambert sentenced Reading to a total of 24 years in prison.

Both men, who had worked as school caretakers in Taunton, were accused of raping the girl, sexual assault, and assault by penetration, while Bunce was also charged with assault causing actual bodily harm.

Judge Lambert placed both men on the sex offenders’ register, making them subject to lifetime notification requirements, and ordered them to pay a victim surcharge.

Bunce had previously been jailed in 2017 for seven years after admitting conducting a campaign of emotional blackmail to try to persuade a vulnerable woman to drop criminal charges against him.

Correction: The headline on an earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the victim of Keith Bunce was a child. We regret the error.