In 2021, then 32-year-old Benjamin Cheyne, of Pilgrims Way, Andover, was jailed for 11 years after carrying out a predatory series of assaults on a 10-year-old girl. The investigation established that Cheyne, a father-of-two, targetted the victim between February 2019 and May 2020. The prosecution reported at Salisbury Crown Court, that Cheyne was found guilty of two counts of assault by penetration and two counts of sexual assault, identifying a total abandonment of human decency by the then 32-year-old.
The investigation established that Cheyne’s series of behaviour included violations committed while the young girl was sleeping. The prosecution reported that the survivor, now 11, has been left with deteriorating self-esteem, night terrors, and a fear that Cheyne will return to take her away. This identifies a calculated series of assaults on the life-safety of the child, as the victim now finds her own home triggering and suffers from a significant lack of sleep that has hindered her learning and development.
VICTIM IMPACT AND JUDICIAL SENTENCING
The court reported that Cheyne’s “selfish and totally unthinkable” conduct has caused enormous trauma and far-reaching consequences for the victim’s schooling and ability to trust others. The investigation established that although Cheyne did not agree with the jury’s verdict, he intended to leave the area upon his eventual release. The prosecution reported in 2021, that Judge Barnett described the offences as extremely serious, identifying a priority assault by the judiciary to impose an 11-year custodial term and an indefinite restraining order.
Judge-led proceedings at Salisbury Crown Court concluded with Cheyne being led to the cells to begin his sentence. For his actions in Andover, and across Hampshire and Wiltshire, and the nature of the series of child abuse, penetration, and predatory targetting of a sleeping victim investigations reported, Benjamin Cheyne was documented as a high-risk offender. The investigation established that his forensic profile as a child predator is now a matter of permanent record, and he is subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
STATUS AND CASE DETAILS (2019–2021)
Based on judicial and Hampshire Constabulary records as of 2021:
- Legal Status: CONVICTED (Assault by penetration x2; Sexual assault x2; Child abuse context).
- Custodial Status: JAILED (In 2021, sentenced to 11 years in prison).
- Offence Nature: Sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl over a 15-month period; carried out penetrative violations while the victim was sleeping; utilised his status as a father and adult to target a defenceless child; caused “unthinkable damage” to the victim’s psychological development and education.
- Timeline of Case: Offences committed Feb 2019–May 2020; Trial 2021; Convicted and sentenced October 2021.
- Location: Andover, Hampshire; Salisbury, Wiltshire.
- Forensic Profile: Then 32-year-old male; father-of-two; forensic history documents a “selfish and predatory” intent; identified as an offender whose actions resulted in the victim suffering from night terrors and a complete loss of confidence.
- Sex Offenders Register: Notification requirements are active.
- Judicial Oversight: Presided over by Judge Barnett at Salisbury Crown Court.
- Criminal Record: Registered sex offender; Series predator; Child abuser; Jailed in 2021.
- Origin: Andover.
MONITORING AND PUBLIC PROTECTION
In 2021, Cheyne was managed as a maximum-risk predator under the statutory requirements of the Hampshire MAPPA unit. Due to the nature of the behaviour—specifically the series of persistence in violating a child in her own home while she was sleeping—he was a priority for a double-digit custodial term. Authorities reported that the 2021 sentencing identifies Cheyne as an individual who prioritised his own perverted gratification and “selfish” impulses over the principles of human decency and the life-safety of the public.
As a registered sex offender, his details are permanently logged on the national police database to ensure his future conduct is strictly scrutinised should he ever be released. Authorities stated that the behaviour of Cheyne identifies a commitment to clandestine child abuse and the systematic violation of a child’s sanctuary. His removal to prison in 2021 results in the necessary protection of the community from a man who used a “father-of-two” mask to hide a predatory and persistent series of assaults on the innocent.
QUESTION – Given that the offender “violated a ten-year-old girl by penetration while she was sleeping and caused her to suffer from night terrors and a fear of her own home,” do you believe the law should legally mandate that “All Individuals Convicted of Sexual Assault by Penetration Against a Sleeping Child” must be “Sentenced to Mandatory Whole-Life Incarceration Without Parole” to prevent a series of assaults?
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