UK: 'Sexual predator' cop, 43, who raped young girl while wearing his uniform is jailed for 24 years



A 'sexual predator' PCSO has been jailed for 24 years for raping two girls under six years old - and even wore parts of his uniform during at least one attack.

Peter Bunyan, 43, was convicted of raping and sexually assaulting the girls, aged four and five, both of whom have since been driven to self-harm by the emotional scarring from the horrific attacks.

He was only brought to justice as one of his victims suffered distressing flashbacks when a police officer visited her school and reported the attacks to a relative and school staff, Truro Crown Court heard today.

Bunyan was sentenced to 24 years after a unanimous verdict from the jury, which deliberated for just seven hours before convicting him of three counts of rape and one of sexual assault between 2005 and 2009.

After he was found guilty, it was revealed that he had previously jailed for having sexual relationships with two vulnerable women who he found using police information.

The court heard previously how he had 'used the police database as a 'dating agency' to conduct his sexual affairs during shifts for Cornwall Police between 2007 and 2011.

Sentencing Bunyan, Judge Simon Carr, said: 'Both girls were aged between four and five at the time and you assaulted them in a way that they would stay quiet. Neither girl really knew what had happened to them.

'You subjected them to full penetrative sex and both of the victims have since spoken of the pain they were in during and after the ordeal.

'Both of the girls are struggling to come to terms with what happened to them and the utter devastation caused by your actions.

'The victims have also since self-harmed as a way of coming to terms with it all.

'At the time you were a PCSO and one girl remembers you wearing at least some of your uniform when you attacked her.'

Bunyan, from Penzance, Cornwall, had denied the allegations from the outset, and initially claimed he was 'relieved' when he was arrested because he knew he was innocent.

Prosecutor Simon Burns told the jury how during the abuse, Bunyan, who previously worked as a PCSO in Camborne and Redruth in Cornwall, swore and had to tell himself to be quiet.

When the police officer visited one of the victim's schools, her memory was triggered and she began to piece together what happened before confiding in family members and school staff.

Medical examinations carried out following the allegations suggested that both the girls had suffered injuries, which suggested they had been sexually abused.

Sentencing him today, Judge Carr told Bunyan how he must serve at least half of his 24 year sentence and sign the sex offenders register for life.

He must also not live with, or be in the presence of anybody under the age of 16 for the rest of his life.

As the verdicts were read out he sat with his head bowed in the dock and appeared to struggle to contain his emotions.

After the case, an NSPCC spokesman said: 'Bunyan is a sexual predator who is now thankfully behind bars.

'His appalling crimes robbed his defenceless victims of their childhood and could have a lasting impact well into their adult years. 'No child should ever have to experience what the victims went through.

'It is vital anyone affected can get the support they need rather than suffer in silence, as sadly so many do.'

Original report here


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