Antony James, a former Olympic swimmer is on trial for multiple sexual crimes involving three women.
Antony James, from Crownhill in Plymouth, faces multiple charges, including the purported rape of two adolescent females and controlling and coercive conduct.
Antony James, the 34-year-old swimmer and a participant in the London 2012 Olympics, refutes any allegations of misconduct.
The court was informed that the violations occurred across a decade, spanning from 2012 to 2022.
They include four counts of sexual activity with a child; eight of rape; one of controlling of coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship; two of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity; two of causing a child to watch a sexual act; three of intentionally encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence.
Continuing his opening case for the prosecution, Lee Bremridge told the jury one of the alleged victims said Antony James had groomed her and manipulated her over many months so she would do what he wanted.
The jury was shown evidence of one of the alleged victim’s police interviews carried out in March 2023.
She described her relationship with Antony James, telling detectives they met when she was 13.
Antony James would call her his “little sister”, the court heard. She said their relationship turned sexual before she turned 16.
She said she felt “so pushed and violated”.
During the police interview shown as evidence in court, the alleged teenage victim was asked: “Did you feel pressured and intimidated?”
She replied: “I was scared he’d get angry. His aggression, but it was more psychological.
“At the start of the relationship I was enjoying the sexuality. But then it became a chore and I couldn’t keep up with his desire to keep going.
“There was many times I had sex with him I didn’t want to, I felt like I was leaving my body…I was just waiting for it to get over.”
Describing one particular incident, she said: “It was the way he forced me to, without acknowledgement of how I was feeling, if I wanted to or not.
“It was just out of the blue. I was just doing something in the kitchen, I wasn’t in the mood, or thinking about it. It was clear from the way I was, I just wasn’t into it.”
“I was afraid to tell him how I truly felt, I was afraid to cause an angry reaction. Just to stand up for myself, I was not strong enough to handle what could come from that. So I played it safe and not say how I truly feel.”
Joe Stone, defending, told the jury Antony James denies all charges and had reason to believe the relationships with the three women were consensual.
The trial continues and is expected to last for about four weeks.
UPDATE 18.10.24
A former TeamGB Olympic swimmer is facing a lengthy jail term after being found guilty of raping two teenage girls.
Antony James, who was a student police officer at Devon and Cornwall Police, has also been found guilty of multiple counts of sexual activity with a child.
The 34-year-old was a silver and bronze medalist in the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and competed in the London 2012 Olympics.
He denied carrying out a string of sexual offences between 2012 and 2022 and has been on trial at Plymouth Crown Court.
On Wednesday 16 October, James was convicted of eight sexual offences – three counts of rape, three counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. The offences related to two teenage girls.
The jury found James not guilty of three other charges and failed to reach a verdict on six others, including five counts of rape.
UPDATE 27.02.25
Former Team GB PAEDOPHILE swimmer Antony James was jailed for 21 years for raping two teenage girls. Antony James, 35, groomed the girls while they were under 16 years old and got them to send him sexually explicit images and videos.
A former Olympic swimmer has been jailed for more than 20 years after he raped two teenage girls.
Antony James, 35, groomed the girls while they were aged under 16 and got them to send him sexually explicit images and videos.
He then raped the victims in the kitchen of their home and in a car respectively in offences spanning over a decade between 2012 and 2022, Plymouth Crown Court heard on Wednesday.
James, of Fort Terrace, Plymouth, Devon, was a student officer with Devon and Cornwall Police at the time of his arrest.
The defendant competed in the 100-metre butterfly for Great Britain at London 2012, and won a silver medal for his country at the Commonwealth Games in 2010.
The first victim, who James was involved with between 2012 and 2016 and cannot be named for legal reasons, said he “made her feel loved and flattered”, prosecutor Lee Brembridge said.
Antony James, pictured in 2012, achieved high levels of sporting success, including being part of Team GB at London 2012 (Nick Potts/PA)
James would touch and stroke her neck and follow up with messages as part of his grooming, before he touched her vagina when she was 15 years old, the court heard.
James then “progressed from touching to partially penetrating her vagina with his penis”, Mr Brembridge said.
The defendant argued he did not have sex with the victim “because it didn’t go all the way in”, the prosecutor said.
On one occasion when the victim was in her kitchen at home, she said James came over and “pushed my head down really fast and hard” towards his penis.
It was clear James “had a sexual interest in children” by late 2019, Mr Brembridge told the court.
In late 2020, he got the second victim – who was 15 at the time – to send him still and moving images of herself in her underwear, which she received as a gift for Christmas, the court heard.
He also “encouraged her to have a bath and make herself feel good”, which he called “self-love,” Mr Brembridge said.
James then arranged to meet the girl near her home address in a car in January and March 2021 to have sex.
Mr Brembridge said: “Although she found it painful, he continued.”
Reading her victim impact statement out in court, the second victim said James was “twisted and strange” and had “tampered and manipulated me into what you wanted me to be”.
She added: “I feel as if my formative teenage years… have been stripped from me.
“I always wonder what kind of girl I would have been if I hadn’t have met you.
“I hope you struggle to live with what you have done.”
Michael Brown, defending, said James was “not a normal defendant” because of his previous high social standing.
“It really is a Shakespearean fall from grace, given the contributions he made to his city and his country,” he said.
“He is someone who, by their very achievements in life, has excelled.”
Judge Robert Linford sentenced James to 21 years in prison on Wednesday, with two-thirds of the sentence to be served in custody before being released on licence.
A sexual harm prevention order was made for a period of 25 years, and the defendant will be placed on the sex offenders register for life.
Addressing James about his first victim, the judge said: “You knew what you were doing was seriously wrong but your desire for that young person overtook your self-control.
“She believed that you two were in a relationship. It seems that indeed what had been manufactured was a relationship, but then you betrayed that by raping her in her own home.”
The judge said the six counts of indecent images “simply add to the story of abuse”, adding: “Your rather nonchalant approach to this catalogue of abuse was that it was all consensual.”
James was found guilty by a jury of eight charges in October last year, including three counts of rape, three counts of sexual activity with a child, and two counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
He had also previously admitted to six counts of making indecent photographs of a child in April last year.
James spoke only to confirm his identity at the sentencing.
Gemma Kneebone, senior crown prosecutor for the CPS, said: “Antony James manipulated and controlled his teenage victims to fulfil his own sexual desires.
“He claimed that these young victims were over 16 at the time, but this was a lie which collapsed under scrutiny. James was well aware of how young these victims were, and he set out to take advantage of this in a truly appalling manner, continuing to offend against them after they turned 16.
“This prosecution would not have been possible without the evidence so bravely provided by the young women involved, and I would like to thank them for coming forward to support the case.”
Assistant Chief Constable Jim Pearce, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said: “The sentencing of Antony James for these horrendous crimes follows a full and thorough investigation by the force.
“He was immediately suspended when information came to light and was dismissed at the earliest opportunity.
“We hope that seeing him prosecuted and sentenced, regardless of his position, sends a clear message that we will not tolerate such abuse and harmful attitudes within our service.
“Maintaining the highest standards of integrity remains a priority and any wrongdoing or unacceptable behaviour will be subject to thorough investigation.”
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