Swindon paedophile who abused baby jailed for 'horrendous' crimes

Credit: Wiltshire Police

A man who admitted a string of child abuse crimes including raping a baby has been handed a 19-year sentence.

The abuse was so serious, a detective has described it as one of the most horrendous cases they have ever dealt with.

Rodney Morgan admitted rape of a child, three counts of assaulting a child by penetration, assault of a child by touching and the attempted rape of a child.

He also admitted two charges of making (downloading) indecent images of children relating to 8,985 images, two counts of taking an indecent image of a child and one count distributing indecent images of children which related to 1,219 images.

The 56-year-old was jailed for 14 years with another five on extended license when he appeared at Swindon Crown Court on Thursday 6 July.

The offences all happened while Morgan was living in Swindon. He has since moved to Newport.

Officers arrested Morgan in September 2022 after receiving information that he had uploaded an indecent image of a child online.

Det Con Justine Parsons said: "It was during police interview that the full, horrific extent of Morgan’s offending came to light and it is truly appalling.

"The abuse the victim – a baby – suffered at the hands of Morgan is completely abhorrent.

"I have worked within policing for 18 years, I’ve been a detective for 14 of those years and I’ve worked within the Child Internet Exploitation Team for five years and this is without doubt one of the most horrendous cases I have ever dealt with.

"Morgan filmed himself abusing an innocent baby on multiple occasions for his own sexual gratification.

"I am glad he has been given a lengthy jail sentence so he no longer poses a threat to babies and children.

"This case will no doubt cause upset and disgust to the public and those who knew Morgan. Please be reassured that the CIET team here in Wiltshire Police is totally committed to targeting dangerous offenders like Morgan and protecting innocent victims.”

Anyone who has experienced child sex abuse is being urged to get in contact with Wiltshire Police.