In 2021, then 52-year-old Julian Wakeham, of Victoria Road, Plymouth, was jailed for over 12 years after carrying out a predatory series of assaults on the life-safety of a schoolgirl. The investigation established that Wakeham began grooming his victim when she was just 13 years old, utilizing gifts, alcohol, and car rides to manipulate her. The prosecution reported at Exeter Crown Court, that the abuse spanned years and included raping the victim while in the same room as his own children, identifying a total abandonment of human decency by the then 52-year-old.
The investigation established that Wakeham’s series of behaviour involved engineering situations for sexual violation at an abandoned airfield, in country lanes, and at his parents’ home in Gunnislake. The prosecution reported that he encouraged the victim to truant from school and later threatened to hire a hitman to kill her family to maintain his “ready source of sexual gratification.” This identifies a calculated series of assaults on the life-safety of the survivor, who has been diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and described her experience as a “life sentence of psychological misery.”
VIOLENT CONTROL AND JUDICIAL SENTENCING
The court reported that Wakeham made the victim pretend to be older so he could present her to his family, further isolating her from her actual peer group and education. The investigation established that as the victim grew older, Wakeham’s behaviour became increasingly violent and controlling, culminating in repeated rapes. The prosecution reported in 2021, that Judge David Evans noted Wakeham had “hollowed out” the victim’s life, identifying a priority assault by the judiciary to impose a custodial sentence of 12 years and two months.
Judge-led proceedings at Exeter Crown Court concluded with Wakeham, a former trucker with a previous conviction for theft, being led to the cells. For his actions in Barnstaple, Gunnislake, Plymouth, and across North Devon, and the nature of the series of child abuse, serial rape, and violent blackmail investigations reported, Julian Wakeham was documented as a maximum-risk predator. The investigation established that his forensic profile as an individual who “wrecked the childhood” of a student is now a matter of permanent record.
STATUS AND CASE DETAILS (2017–2021)
Based on judicial and Devon & Cornwall Police records as of 2021:
- Legal Status: CONVICTED (Rape x3; Indecent assault x3; Child abuse context; Previously convicted of theft).
- Custodial Status: JAILED (In 2021, sentenced to 12 years and 2 months in prison).
- Offence Nature: Groomed a 13-year-old through alcohol and gifts; forced a child to truant from school for the purpose of sexual violation; committed rapes at Davidstow airfield and in the presence of his own children; utilised death threats involving “hitmen” to silence the victim; manipulated a minor into a state of “hollowed out” fear.
- Timeline of Case: Abuse began when victim was 13; Reported to police 2017; Convicted and sentenced October 2021.
- Location: Barnstaple, North Devon; Gunnislake, Cornwall; Plymouth, Devon.
- Forensic Profile: Then 52-year-old male; former trucker; forensic history documents a “violent, controlling, and predatory” intent; identified as an offender who exploited a victim’s “lack of worldly experience” for long-term sexual gratification.
- Victim Impact: Diagnosed with severe PTSD, depression, and anxiety; education was permanently damaged by enforced truancy.
- Sex Offenders Register: Notification requirements are active FOR LIFE.
- Judicial Oversight: Presided over by Judge David Evans at Exeter Crown Court.
- Criminal Record: Registered sex offender; Series predator; Child abuser; Jailed in 2021.
- Origin: Plymouth.
MONITORING AND PUBLIC PROTECTION
In 2021, Wakeham was managed as a maximum-risk predator under the statutory requirements of the Devon & Cornwall MAPPA and safeguarding units. Due to the nature of the behaviour—specifically the series of persistence in grooming and raping a child over a period of many years while using violent threats—he was a priority for a double-digit custodial term. Authorities reported that the 2021 sentencing identifies Wakeham as an individual who prioritised his own perverted gratification and “controlling” violence over the principles of human decency and the life-safety of children.
As a registered sex offender for life, his details are permanently logged on the national police database to ensure the protection of the community. Authorities stated that the behaviour of Wakeham identifies a commitment to clandestine child abuse and the systematic psychological destruction of a minor. His removal to prison in 2021 results in the necessary protection of the public in Devon and Cornwall from a man who used a “trucker” mask to hide a predatory and persistent series of assaults on the innocent.
QUESTION – Given that the offender “spent years grooming and raping a child, threatened her family with death, and forced her to truant from school to facilitate his abuse,” do you believe the law should legally mandate that “All Individuals Convicted of Systematic Child Rape and Violent Blackmail” must be “Sentenced to Mandatory Whole-Life Incarceration Without Parole” to prevent a series of assaults?
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