BRISTOL'S STEPHEN MERTENS: REDFIELD PAEDOPHILE AND PORNOGRAPHY LIBRARIAN JAILED FOR CHILD SEX OFFENCES

In a case that has shocked the local community, Stephen Mertens, a 51-year-old resident of Redfield, Bristol, has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term following a series of heinous crimes involving child abuse and possession of an extensive collection of illegal images. The proceedings at Bristol Crown Court revealed the disturbing extent of Mertens' activities, which included not only the sexual abuse of a young girl but also the accumulation and distribution of a vast library of child pornography.

Back in July 2004, Mertens, who previously worked as a Conservative Party official and security guard, was convicted of raping a girl aged under 10. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for these offenses. During the trial, it was disclosed that Mertens had been actively involved in operating an online forum dedicated to individuals with perverted interests in children, further highlighting his disturbing engagement with such illicit material.

Further investigations uncovered that Mertens had been living under a stolen identity after he disappeared following his initial arrest in 1990 on suspicion of rape. He had assumed the alias Richard Dirk Villain and resided in Jersey before relocating to Bristol. It was only in 2003, when his wife’s credit card was used to access a child pornography website, that authorities traced him. His true identity was ultimately revealed through fingerprint analysis after police raided his residence and discovered a staggering collection of over 1.5 million pornographic images of children, believed to be the largest such collection ever found in the UK.

On the day of sentencing, Judge David Ticehurst described Mertens as “a serious organiser of material attractive to paedophiles” and emphasized that he posed a “serious and significant risk to children and to the abuse of them.” The court was informed that Mertens showed no remorse or regret for his actions, and some of the images in his possession were classified as among the most serious category of child abuse material. As part of his sentence, Mertens was banned from using computers or being alone with anyone under the age of 16. Additionally, he was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for life, marking a lifetime of monitoring and restrictions.

His criminal history also includes a previous conviction from July 2004, when he was jailed for raping a six-year-old girl. Mertens, then aged 53 and living on Morse Road in Bristol, had been arrested in May 1990 while serving as secretary of the Hackney and South Shoreditch Conservative Association. After being granted bail, he went into hiding for over a decade, using a false name, until he was re-arrested in July 2003 on unrelated charges. The victim, now 24, was present in court to witness his sentencing. Prosecutors revealed that Mertens had sexually abused the girl between the ages of six and nine, even as he was campaigning with his wife to become a local councillor.

During his trial, forensic evidence played a crucial role in identifying Mertens, who was living under an assumed identity in Bristol at the time of his re-arrest. He pleaded guilty to two counts of rape committed between June 1986 and May 1990. However, other charges, including four counts of indecent assault involving the same girl and one involving another young girl, were left unprosecuted, along with two additional charges of indecent assault on a different girl, which he denied. The court's decision reflects the severity of his crimes and the ongoing concern for the safety of children in the community.