Man charged with sexual offences against young people in West Sussex

A man has appeared in court on charges of sexual offences against five young people in Brighton, West Sussex, Hampshire and the West Midlands in the 1990s and 2000s.
By Richard Gladstone
Published 4th Mar 2020, 18:10 BST
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Police said Robert Cameron Wells, 68, appeared at Brighton Magistrates’ Court today (Wednesday, March 4), charged with 19 offences.

He did not enter a plea and was remanded in custody for an initial appearance at Lewes Crown Court on April 1.

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Police said he is charged with one offence of inciting a boy under the age of 16 to commit an act of gross indecency, one offence of gross indecency with the same boy, and one offence of attempting to possess an indecent photograph of a child, the same boy, all in West Sussex in the 1990s:

Police added he also faces one charge of indecent assault on a girl under the age of 16 in West Sussex in the 1990s, two offences of indecent assault on a woman aged under 18 in the early 2000s, one in the West Midlands and one in Hampshire, six offences of indecent assault on a girl under the age of 16 in the early 2000s, one in the West Midlands, the rest in Brighton, and four offences of taking an indecent photograph of a child, all against the same girl, one in the West Midlands, the others in the Brighton area.

Police said he also faces two charges of raping another girl under the age of 16 in the early 2000s in Brighton, and one offence of gross indecency with the same girl, also in Brighton in the early 2000s.

The charges, authorised by the CPS, follow an investigation by detectives from the West Sussex Safeguarding Investigations Unit.

Police emphasise that there are no current or recent safeguarding issues or concerns for youth or wider community safety in relation to this investigation.