ABIGAIL WALLER'S SHOCKING REOFFENSE IN GOSPORT: PORTSMOUTH COURT HEARS OF CHILD SEX OFFENSES AND GROOMING
In a disturbing development, Abigail Waller, a woman with a troubling history of child sex offences, has once again found herself at the center of a criminal case in Gosport.Waller, who previously served time for serious offences involving minors, returned to court just three years after her initial imprisonment, facing new charges related to breaching court-imposed restrictions and engaging in inappropriate communication with underage girls.
Waller, aged 29 and known to some as 'Abi,' was brought before Portsmouth Crown Court to answer charges that she violated a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) by messaging three schoolgirls on Facebook.
The messages were sent using her wife’s phone, a Samsung device kept in a pink case, while her wife, Lucy Waller, was away at work.
The court heard that Waller used a fake Facebook profile under the alias Jake Smith, which featured photos of an attractive young man, to contact the girls, who were aged 13 and 14 at the time.
Prosecutor Tim Dracass detailed how Waller told the girls they were 'so pretty' and 'really beautiful,' even sending a love heart emoji and claiming to be 14 years old.
These messages appeared to be part of a grooming process, aimed at building trust with the minors.
The police intervened on August 4, 2022, when officers visited Waller’s residence for an unrelated matter and discovered her hiding the phone in her lap, leading to her arrest.
During the three-day trial, the court was informed of Waller’s complex background.
She was previously known as Jamie Kevin Harold Waller and had been convicted in 2020 of multiple child sex offences, including blackmailing a 13-year-old girl into sending sexual photos and coercing her to call her 'sir' or 'daddy.' As part of her sentence, she received a five-year jail term and was subject to a SHPO banning her from any contact with minors or using internet-connected devices without police notification.
In 2021, Waller began identifying as a woman, a change she publicly acknowledged during her trial.
She has served time in men's prisons, including HMP The Verne on the Isle of Portland and HMP Winchester.
During her court appearance, Waller claimed she did not send the messages and suggested her wife was attempting to frame her, alleging that her wife had access to her phone and was involved in a plot to get her into trouble.
Waller also stated that she no longer experiences sexual attraction to children and had completed offending behavior courses while incarcerated.
Her wife, Lucy Waller, testified against her, revealing that she intended to divorce Abigail.
She explained that her phone, which was used to send the messages, was primarily an alarm clock device and that she had never used the Facebook account under the alias Jake Smith.
Lucy Waller insisted she left her phone upstairs when leaving for work, contradicting Waller’s claims of innocence.
Throughout her testimony, Waller provided her full name as Jamie Kevin Harold Waller but expressed her preference for being called Abi.
She explained her gender identity journey, stating she began identifying as female at the end of September 2021 and was awaiting treatment at a gender identity clinic.
Waller’s defense argued that she did not recognize the girls and suggested her wife was responsible for the messages, possibly to sabotage her.
She claimed her sexual interests had changed and that she had taken steps to address her behavior through courses.
Despite these claims, the jury convicted her of four counts of breaching the SHPO.
Judge Michael Bowes KC sentenced Waller to three and a half years in prison, emphasizing the seriousness of her actions.
He noted her previous convictions and the pattern of seeking to manipulate or harm children.
The judge highlighted that although the messages appeared innocuous, they were part of a grooming strategy designed to gain the girls’ trust for further exploitation.
He also pointed out that Waller reoffended just three months after her release from prison, underscoring the ongoing risk she posed.
In his remarks, Judge Bowes KC expressed concern over Waller’s gender identity and the potential challenges she might face in prison, requesting the prison authorities to consider her mental health and gender-related issues.
The court’s decision reflects the gravity of her breaches and the danger posed by her continued offending behavior.
