Extended sentence for 'dangerous' sex offender

A man who committed more than a dozen online sexual offences against children has been jailed.

Adam Pugh, 42, from Southmead admitted the offences and was given an initial nine-year prison sentence that was extended to 17 years at Bristol Crown Court on 14 January.

Avon and Somerset Police began investigating Pugh in October 2025 when another agency referred him to them after they identified indecent messages and images he had shared with a profile he believed belonged to a 13-year-old girl.

Officers also found a number of mobile phones that were being used by Pugh in breach of an existing Sexual Harm Prevention Order and which contained indecent images of children and indecent communications.

Pugh was charged with a total 15 offences that all took place between August and October 2025.

These including two counts of engaging in sexual communication with a child and three counts of making an indecent photograph of a child and one count of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and three counts of breaching his existing prevention order.

His sentence was extended by another eight years due to him being deemed dangerous and having breached an existing prevention order.

"Adam Pugh groomed children online for his own sexual gratification, exposing them to sexual acts and coercing them into sending indecent images," said Det Insp Laura Newton, from Avon and Somerset Police's Internet Child Abuse Team.

"In doing so, he breached a Sexual Harm Prevention Order in place to protect children from further harm.

"He is a dangerous individual who poses a significant risk to children, as demonstrated by the lengthy prison sentence handed down in court."

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