Former football league referee jailed after 'preying on' and sexually assaulting young girls including in Northamptonshire

A statement released by Cambridgeshire Police said Gareth Viccars was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court, London on October 2 after he pleaded guilty to six counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child, two counts of sexual activity with a child, two counts of inciting/causing a child under 16 to engage in a sexual act and one count each of engaging in sexual communications with a child and engaging in sexual activity with a child.

Cambridgeshire Police said the 47-year-old began speaking to one of the victims on Snapchat, which led to a meet up in a car park in December 2023.

Viccars sexually assaulted the girl in his car and the victim ran away but took note of Viccars’ white Mercedes and its registration. They spoke on Snapchat again and Viccars told the victim what he liked to do sexually.

Viccars met up with the girl a second time near a park and a few days later and he drove her to a car park where he sexually assaulted her again, according to Cambridgeshire Police. This lasted about 20 minutes before Viccars drove the victim back to the park and dropped her off before she walked home, police added.

Viccars also sexually assaulted two other teenage girls in London and Northamptonshire.

In her victim personal statement, one victim said she suffered from “nightmares and flashbacks”, it had affected her education and “broke her trust in adults.”

She also said she felt “guilty”, “isolated” and had lost her self-esteem as well as feeling like she was never going to find happiness in her life.

DC James Collinwood, who investigated the Cambridgeshire offences, said: “Viccars was a sexual predator who preyed on three vulnerable teenage girls for his own personal gratification.

“I would like to commend all three victims for coming forward as their bravery and courage throughout the whole process has ultimately led to Viccars being put in prison for a long time.”

Viccars, of Hunter Drive, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, was jailed for 13 years and six months. He was also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life and given restraining orders.