Source: National Crime Agency (NCA) published on this website Tuesday 7 April 2026 by Jill Powell
A man who was previously jailed for 14 years for child sexual abuse offences has today been sentenced to life, after pleading guilty to an additional 67 charges.
Trevor Fernandes, 41, from Swindon, was jailed in 2022 after being convicted of grooming and blackmailing a girl in the US into abusing herself and another child. He was arrested by officers from the National Crime Agency in 2020, after the 13-year old girl reported the abuse to police in Garland, Texas.
She explained that she had been in communication with someone called ‘Trevor’ online for months, who had forced her to send him sexualised images of herself.
Over time, his requests had become more extreme and on one occasion, he demanded that the girl film herself sexually abusing another child and send him the footage.
He threatened to send the images and footage she had already sent to her friends and family if she refused to do as he asked.
On the 6 December 2020, NCA officers arrested Fernandes at his home address in Swindon, Wiltshire. Several devices were seized, including a mobile phone. The phone had an encrypted side to it and when it was forensically examined, investigators found images of the girl and the app which Fernandes had used to communicate with her.
Other online messaging apps were discovered, where Fernandes had set up accounts with various usernames including ‘cuteandstrict, ‘cutestrictsadist’ ‘Reckitt03’ and ‘TcTrevor’.
He was charged with 16 offences including causing and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and making indecent images of children, and following a trial at Swindon Crown Court in May 2022, was found guilty of all charges. He was jailed in August 2022 to 14 years, with five years on an extended licence, a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and indefinite sex offender’s registration.
NCA investigators continued to analyse the devices seized when Fernandes was arrested, and uncovered more offending against more victims. Following an extensive investigation, which included visiting and interviewing a number of victims in the UK and abroad, in September 2025, Fernandes was charged with an additional 67 offences which included blackmail, causing or inciting sexual activity with a child, malicious communication, causing a child to watch a sexual act and making & distributing indecent images of children.
He pleaded guilty to these offences in November 2025 and has today been jailed for life, with a minimum of 13 years and eight months to serve.
Handing down the sentence, HHJ Taylor KC said this was "some of the worst offending of this type to come before the court" and paid tribute to the victims who he described as "highly vulnerable young girls".
Danielle Pownall, Senior Investigating Officer at the NCA said: “Fernandes is a prolific and dangerous child sex offender and knew at the time of his original conviction there were more children he had abused. He used threats and blackmail to coerce young children to commit horrendous acts, and the sentence given today highlights the severity of that offending.
“The young girl who reported the abuse to the authorities in US showed incredible bravery in coming forward and telling police what had happened to her. Without her courage, Fernandes would potentially still be sexually abusing children and I would like to thank her again for taking that step and facing her fears.
“Officers in the UK, specifically the lead officer and investigation team, together with officers in the US and Crown Prosecution Service, have worked tirelessly to ensure Fernandes is held accountable for his actions. Their tenacity and resilience during this investigation has identified hundreds of victims, located all around the world, who have been subject to safeguarding activity.
“Protecting children is one if our highest priorities and we will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners, both in the UK and overseas, to ensure those involved in the sexual abuse and exploitation of children are identified, located and held to account”.
Jeanette Smith, specialist prosecutor in the CPS’s Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit, said: “Trevor Fernandes’s repulsive actions saw him use social media to control, exploit and damage young girls – aged between 1 and 16 – in England, America, Canada, Ireland and Norway.
“This case involved working with a number of international partners to demonstrate the scale of Fernandes’s offences and to ensure he faces justice for everything he has subjected his victims to and enable the court to pass a sentence which protects other young girls now and in the future.
“If you are in an abusive online situation, talk to someone – like some of the victims did in this case – so you can get help and perpetrators can be brought to justice.”
