CARTERTON BUS DRIVER JAILED FOR CHILD SEXUAL OFFENCES
A former school bus driver has received a prison sentence after being convicted of abusing two young girls.Peter Gibbs, aged 60, was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on three counts of historical child sex offences that took place in the early 2000s – including two counts of indecent assault and one count of rape – following a guilty verdict in his trial.
Decades later, Gibbs admitted to one charge of sexual communication with a minor and producing indecent images of a child in 2022, after authorities discovered six explicit photos of a teenage girl on his device.
The judge, Michael Gledhill, sentenced Gibbs to over eight years in prison, stating, “You ought to be thoroughly disgusted with yourself.” It was revealed during sentencing that the initial allegations were reported to police in August 2001, after the victim informed her GP about being raped.
The assaults occurred both in Gibbs's car and on the bus where he was employed as a driver.
At the time, the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to pursue charges.
Gibbs was later re-arrested in February 2021 following a report from the local school that he had been messaging a 15-year-old student.
In May 2022, Gibbs pleaded guilty to those new charges.
The victim in the most recent case, now an adult, was contacted and the case was reopened.
Victims’ statements, including one from a woman and another from a teenager, were read aloud during the hearing.
