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Serial rapist and family members jailed over horrific child sex abuse that spanned 30 years

<em>Serial rapist Antony Potts has been jailed for life after being convicted of rape, sexual assault and child cruelty (Picture: West Midlands Police)</em>
Serial rapist Antony Potts has been jailed for life after being convicted of rape, sexual assault and child cruelty (Picture: West Midlands Police)

Four members of a family have been jailed for a campaign of child abuse that spanned three decades.

The judge sentencing the Potts family for crimes including rape, sexual assault and child cruelty said he hadn’t seen a worse case in 50 years practice, while a police officer investigating the case described it as “one of the worst cases of systematic and horrifying child sexual abuse” she had ever seen.

Serial rapist Antony Potts was jailed for life with a minimum of 16 years at Birmingham Crown Court. The 49-year-old, of Milverton Road in Wood End, Coventry, was previously being convicted of 13 counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and nine counts of inciting a child to perform a sexual act and cruelty – all against children.

<em>Potts’ half-brother Nathan Potts was also found guilty of a string of offences against children (Picture: West Midlands Police)</em>
Potts’ half-brother Nathan Potts was also found guilty of a string of offences against children (Picture: West Midlands Police)

His father Keith Potts was sentenced to eight years after being found guilty of two counts of child cruelty, as was Keith’s wife Julie who was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Potts’ half-brother Nathan Potts, 26, of Burnaby Road, was convicted of two counts of rape of a child, four counts of sexual assault, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and sex with another adult.


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Joshua Potts, 26, of Burnaby Road, Holbrooks – son of Keith and Julie – is also due to be sentenced after admitting multiple counts of rape and sexual assault.

Antony Potts’ wife Elaine Potts, 50, of Milverton Road, and family friend Joanne Hoye, 42, were sentenced to four years after pleading guilty to neglect last year.

<em>Jailed – the Potts family were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court (Picture: PA)</em>
Jailed – the Potts family were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court (Picture: PA)

As he was jailed, Potts was told by the judge that he was a “deeply depraved man who has taken many, many opportunities to abuse children and corrupt them”.

The court heard how the first victim originally spoke to police in 1989 but it wasn’t until 2016 that the case was reopened and other cases were identified.

One victim said she was let down by authorities and had been labelled a ‘liar’

The first victim spoke to police in 1989, but it wasn’t until January 2016, following the testimony of a fifth victim, that the case was reopened and three further cases were identified.

Other victims expressed their relief that Potts would be behind bars, and spoke of how they would never get over the abuse they had suffered.