Description
Phillip Grove, aged 70 from Sheffield who lived in Taunton at the time of the incidents, was jailed at Taunton Crown Court on Friday 23 February after being found guilty of 15 charges linked to non-recent sexual offences, including rape.
During a trial at the same court, which is currently residing at North Somerset Courthouse, a jury found Grove guilty of two counts of rape, 10 counts of indecency with a child and three counts of indecent assault.
They heard how, in the 1990s while in the volunteer position of Chief Petty Officer at a Sea Cadet group, he raped one of the victims, sexually assaulted another and was indecent in front of two other victims. The incidents happened over a span of six years.
In September 2020, one of the victims reported what had happened to her and the other children to police and an investigation into Grove was launched.
On Friday, he was jailed for 22 years, one year of which will be spent on extended licence. The judge also granted a life-long Sexual Harm Prevention Order and instructed Grove to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
He was also barred from working with children.