'Prolific' child abuser jailed for more crimes

A "prolific and dangerous" convicted sex offender has been jailed for life after admitting more than 60 new offences following an international investigation.

Trevor Fernandes, 41, from Swindon, was jailed for 14 years in 2022 for grooming a 13-year-old girl in the US online and blackmailing her into abusing herself and another child.

After his first convictions, his electronic devices continued to be analysed by the National Crime Agency (NCA), which revealed more serious offending.

Fernandes admitted 67 offences in November 2025, and was jailed for life on Thursday at Swindon Crown Court. The judge described his crimes as "some of the worst offending of this type to come before the court".

His crimes included blackmail, causing or inciting sexual activity with a child, malicious communication, causing a child to watch a sexual act and making and distributing indecent images of children.

The victims ages ranged from 16 to just one years old.

The defendant was told he must serve at least 13 years and eight months in prison.

Fernandes was first investigated in 2020 after the 13-year-old reported the abuse to police in Garland, Texas.

She explained she had been speaking to the defendant for months, and that he had coerced her into sending sexualised images of herself.

Over time his requests became increasingly extreme, and on one occasion he ordered her to film herself sexually abusing another child and send him the footage.

He threatened to send the images she had already sent to her friends and family if she refused.

Fernandes was arrested at his home in Swindon on 6 December 2020 by NCA officers, and forensic examination of devices revealed the extent of his abuse of the girl.

He was convicted of 16 child abuse offences after trial at Swindon Crown Court in May 2022, and jailed for 14 years.

But further investigation of his devices prompted NCA agents to approach victims in the UK and abroad, resulting in the additional charges.

Danielle Pownall, senior investigating officer at the NCA, described Fernandes as "a prolific and dangerous child sex offender".

He praised the Texas-based victim for her bravery in coming forward, saying: "Without her courage, Fernandes would potentially still be sexually abusing children."

Pownall said NCA officers had identified hundreds of victims in England, Ireland, the US, Canada and Norway, and that safeguarding measures had been put in place.

Jeanette Smith, specialist prosecutor in the CPS's Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit, said: "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."

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