A man from Swansea has been jailed after he pleaded guilty to nine sexual offences against one victim, beginning when the victim was a child.
His victim disclosed to a family member that 58-year-old Stephen Hindley had led a campaign of sexual assaults against them, between the ages of nine and 22. Offences were alleged to have taken place in Mayhill, Plasmarl and Manselton between the mid-Nineties and the mid-2000s.
Hindley failed to appear at a hearing in connection with these offences in May 2013, and an arrest warrant was issued by the Courts. He then remained outstanding – using tactics including changing his name to evade police – until July 2024, when he was arrested in Llanelli having been sighted by an off-duty police officer.
He pleaded guilty to all but two of the charges, which related to child sexual abuse and offences against an adult.
He has been sentenced to twenty years in prison. He will be on the sex offenders register for life, and is subject of an indefinite restraining order against the victim.
Detective Chief Inspector Chris Evans said:
“Stephen Hindley is a man who committed horrendous crimes against his victim, from a small child into adulthood.
“His sex offences spanned a period of over a decade. He then spent a similar amount of time trying to evade the law and the repercussions of his actions. In the end, officers caught up with him.
“If the terrible ordeal the victim had been through for most of their childhood wasn’t bad enough, the agonising wait to see their abuser come to justice would have multiplied this an unfathomable amount.
“We are very pleased that Stephen Hindley was ultimately returned to custody and is now embarking on a significant jail term. We hope that, now, his brave victim can finally start to come to terms with what has happened to them and feels safer that he is no longer on the run.”
