A boat builder has been jailed for 16 years after raping a child.

Anthony Taylor, 49, was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court today, July 21, after he raped a young girl and took photographs of the abuse.

Taylor pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, two counts of rape of a child under 13, causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and three counts of making indecent images of children, ranging from category A-C.

Taylor was identified by National Crime Agency investigators after he used a cloud account to store indecent images of children.

Some of the images had been created by Taylor himself using photo editing software.

He was arrested by NCA officers on December 7, 2021.

Twenty-one electronic devices were seized including laptops, tablets and phones.

The devices were forensically examined and 40 indecent images of children were found on a computer hard drive, which showed Taylor raping and sexually assaulting a young girl.

Taylor was re-arrested on February 3 this year at an address in Clacton-on-Sea.

Officers found he had an electronic device he hadn’t declared, which was a breach of his bail conditions and resulted in him being placed into custody.

NCA operations manager Graham Ellis said: “Anthony Taylor has admitted to inflicting the most horrific crimes on a defenceless young child.

“The NCA works tirelessly to protect those affected by child sexual abuse and disrupt offenders who pose a sexual threat to children, ensuring they face justice.”