'Predator' jailed for multiple Bristol sexual assaults

A man who attacked lone women while they were jogging has been jailed for multiple sexual offences, some involving children.

Craig Pearsall, 28, from Bristol, pleaded guilty to 12 offences, including five counts of sexual assault and four of engaging in sexual communication with a child.

He was jailed for three years and 10 months at Bristol Crown Court.

PC Gareth Perry called Pearsall a "menace who preyed on lonely women".

He said "the streets of Bristol are safer for women" now that he is behind bars.

Pearsall pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual assault, four counts of engaging in sexual communication with a child and one count of recording an image under clothing without consent.

He also admitted threatening to disclose private sexual photographs and making an indecent image of a child.

Avon and Somerset Police said he sexually assaulted five women in public areas in south Bristol, several of whom were jogging alone early in the morning in and around King's Head Lane Park in Bishopsworth.

Pearsall, who is of no fixed address but from the Bristol area, was identified and arrested following plain-clothed police patrols in the park.

Further investigations found he was responsible for several other sexual offences.

Officers examining his phone also found footage of him recording a woman without her knowledge, including under her dress.

In victim personal statements the women spoke about the anxiety they now feel when alone and the toll it continues to have on their mental health.

PC Perry said: "He is a menace who preyed on lonely women - the youngest was 18 years old - and subjected them to awful sexual assaults, which continue to affect their day-to-day lives."

He praised the victims for coming forward.

"Without without their bravery it is likely Pearsall would still be out there and posing a risk to women".

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