A Nottage Paedophile Swimming teacher, Robert Rixon, who abused girls dies while serving a 25-year jail term at Bridgend’s HMP Parc.
Robert Rixon carried out a 16-year campaign of sexual abuse against girls in his care, some of whom were as young as 11. His actions were said to have left his victims with deep-rooted psychological trauma.
A school swimming teacher who sexually abused five girls has died. Robert Rixon, 77, was serving a 25-year jail term at Bridgend’s HMP Parc after attacking girls as young as 11 during a prolonged campaign of abuse.
Robert Rixon, from Nottage in Porthcawl, was terminally ill and receiving end-of-life care in hospital at the time of his death. A Parc spokesperson said: “Mr Robert Rixon, aged 77, passed away in a local hospital on Monday, June 17, 2024. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate this, and the cause of death is for the coroner to determine.”
When Robert Rixon was sentenced in 2022, we reported how he had abused girls over 16 years at a swimming and lifeguarding club he ran at a school. Swansea Crown Court heard harrowing accounts from victims who said Robert Rixon had left them with trauma that wrecked their youth and overshadowed their adult lives. Some said they had been pushed to the brink of suicide, while others said they had resorted to drugs to block out flashbacks. They spoke of trust issues, feeling unsafe around men and suffering from depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and panic attacks.
An investigation into Robert Rixon was launched in 2018 after one of the women came forward. This led to police identifying four other victims. The court heard attacks took place in the swimming pool and changing rooms while the victims were in their swimming costumes. Prosecutor John Ryan said there were 74 instances of sexual abuse, including 13 of sexual assault over clothes and five under clothes, 53 of digital penetration, one rape, and two cases of Robert Rixon getting victims to touch his penis over clothing.
Robert Rixon was charged with 29 counts of sexual assault. Pleading not guilty, he forced his victims to relive their ordeals at trial before the jury found him guilty of all counts except one. In an impact statement read in court, one victim said: “Not only did you rob me of my innocence, but you have robbed the innocence of my children. Because of what you did, every day, I worry and pass my trauma and anxiety onto them in ways I shouldn’t as a parent. This makes me sick to my stomach.”
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