SHAUN HUDD JAILED FOR ONLINE CHILD SEX OFFENCES IN BRISTOL

In September 2017, Shaun Hudd, a 22-year-old former chef and scoutmaster from Bristol, was convicted of grooming and sexually exploiting children online. Hudd, who worked at Jump soft play at Cribbs Causeway and at the acclaimed Casamia restaurant in Westbury-on-Trym, used the anonymity of his bedroom to prey on young victims. Under the guise of being a peer, he contacted children through Facebook and Skype, secretly recording indecent images and videos of them as young as nine.

Bristol Crown Court was told that Hudd became addicted to exploiting minors, coaxing them to expose themselves and threatening to release humiliating footage if they tried to withdraw. On two occasions, he followed through on these threats. Hudd, of Hewlands Court in Lawrence Weston, pleaded guilty to 23 charges, which included 12 counts of causing or inciting sexual activity with a child, five counts of creating indecent images of children, and six counts of distributing such images.

Prosecutor Sarah Regan explained to the court: “From October 31, 2013, to September 2015, he contacted over 60 children, using ten different Skype accounts, pretending to be a teenage boy or girl. He often threatened to make public the explicit images they sent him.”

He claimed his webcam was broken when webcam images were exchanged and instead used messaging to instruct victims on what to do. Regan added, “He threatened three children that he would release their images, and he carried out this threat, sharing one boy’s picture with four individuals and one girl’s image with another.”

The court heard the emotional toll on victims, many of whom were at sensitive stages of development, with some refusing to speak or give statements due to embarrassment. Police investigators found on Hudd’s laptop approximately 670 still images and 24 videos of borderline or explicit children, as well as additional indecent images: 357 stills and 53 videos. These images predominantly depicted young boys aged 9 to 12, with some images of girls aged 11 to 13.

Hudd’s employment history included working at Jump soft play in Cribbs Causeway and at the award-winning Casamia restaurant before losing his job and distancing himself from scouting. Judge Julian Lambert described Hudd as a dangerous offender and sentenced him to eight years in prison, with an extended five-year license. Hudd was also subjected to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order preventing him from unsupervised contact with children or unregulated internet use, as well as a restraining order protecting two individual children and addresses. Additionally, he was ordered to register as a sex offender indefinitely.