A former Olympic swimmer and trainee police officer has been jailed for 21 years after being found guilty of raping two teenage girls and a string of other sexual offences against them.
Antony James, 35, who represented Great Britain at the 2012 London Games in the 100m butterfly, groomed the girls before assaulting them, Plymouth crown court heard.
The judge, Robert Linford, told James: “You knew what you were doing was seriously wrong,” and said he had a “nonchalant approach” to the “catalogue of abuse”.
The court was told James had no previous convictions and was from a supportive and loving family. The judge told him: “You were held in high regard by many. The sentence you will serve will be alien to you.”
James was convicted of three counts of rape, three of sexual activity with a child, and two counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity. He pleaded guilty to six counts of making indecent photographs of a child.
James, who was a student officer with Devon and Cornwall police at the time of his arrest, carried out the offences over a 10-year period between 2012 and 2022. The court heard James was at police headquarters when he was sent indecent images by one victim.
One of the women assaulted by James read out her victim personal statement in court, telling him he was “twisted and strange”. She said: “You used me again and again.”
The survivor said James had robbed her of some of her formative years. She added: “The person I was supposed to be was taken from me – I always wondered what type of girl I would be if you didn’t do this to me.”
She said she had panic attacks and constantly felt in a state of “flight or fight”. The woman said she felt ashamed when she looked at her body. Before the attacks, she said, she had been a confident girl; afterwards she felt “vulnerable, weak and trampled”.
She told him: “I can never forgive you for what you did to my family. I hope you are struggling to live with what you have done – but somehow I doubt you will.”
Joe Stone KC, defending, said: “This is a Shakespearean fall from grace given his contribution to this city and country.”
He said James had risen to the “pinnacle of the sporting world”, representing his country at European, Commonwealth and world level as well as at the Olympics, and had broken British records. Stone said James had also helped people with special needs.
Gemma Kneebone, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Antony James manipulated and controlled his teenage victims to fulfil his own sexual desires. This prosecution would not have been possible without the evidence so bravely provided by the young women involved, and I would like to thank them for coming forward to support the case.”
James, from Plymouth, will serve 14 years in prison before he can be released, and will be on the sex offender register for life.
He began his training with Devon and Cornwall police in October 2020, but was suspended immediately after initial disclosures were made in January 2022. He was dismissed from the force in August 2023.
Assistant chief constable Jim Pearce said: “We hope that seeing him prosecuted and sentenced, regardless of his position, sends a clear message that we will not tolerate such abuse and harmful attitudes within our service. Maintaining the highest standards of integrity remains a priority and any wrongdoing or unacceptable behaviour will be subject to thorough investigation.”
