A paedophile living in Norton Fitzwarren has been sentenced to 16 years behind bars after he admitted indecently assaulting nine children. 

Darrin Roach, 57, of Station Road was branded a “sick man” by one of his victims who had been left mentally scarred by his crimes. 

The offences took place over a four-year period in the early 2000s when Roach lived in the town of Flitwick in Bedfordshire. 

Bedfordshire police launched an investigation in 2022, after being approached by victims of Roach, who had been plied with alcohol and drugs in Roach’s home address before being abused. 

When officers arrested Roach, they discovered indecent images of children on his laptop. He pled guilty to nine counts of indecent assault, three counts of possessing indecent photographs of a child and one count of showing indecent photographs of children. 

Detective Constable Nina Bradbury, from Bedfordshire Police’s Protecting Vulnerable People team, said: “I would like to praise these nine young men for having the courage to come forward and disclose everything they have experienced at the hands of this perpetrator.

“I do hope that this outcome helps them move forward with some closure regarding this chapter of their lives.

“Indecent assault is an abhorrent crime, and child victims are very often affected into their future.

“We want to stress, as this case shows, that it is never too late to report a crime, for both recent and non-recent offences. We are committed to bringing to justice these sickening individuals who think that it is OK to abuse a child.”