Comic-Con Creep Jailed for Over 10 Years for Abuse of Three Girls
Tobias Neilson, 38, was slammed with a 10-year jail term last week for horrific sexual abuse of three young girls. One victim was just five years old when his sickening abuse began, the court heard.
Abuse Started When He Was a Teen
Preston Crown Court revealed the Clitheroe man started assaulting the girls as a teenager. His depraved acts included kissing, groping, and touching the children’s genitals – behaviour which continued into his early 20s.
A comic-con fanatic from a strict Jehovah’s Witnesses community, Neilson met the victims through local events and gatherings. He forced one girl into oral sex in public toilets around Clitheroe and made another perform sexual acts while bribing her with money and “special games.”
Judge Slams “Wicked” Grooming and Abuse
“Your offending began when you were only 13 and carried on through your teenage years into adulthood,”
Judge Beverley Lunt told Neilson in court.
“You told your first victim not to tell anyone, threatening that her parents would be angry with her. That is a wicked thing to say to a child.”
“The abuse of your third victim was far more serious: oral rape, repeated molestation, bribery – all inflicted by an adult on a child aged between six and 11.”
Online Predator Caught Twice
Neilson was first caught in 2014 trying to meet what he thought was a child online, actually an undercover cop. Despite this, he returned online in 2020 to send indecent images and messages to real girls.
The alarm was raised after one victim’s mother discovered explicit messages from her 13-year-old daughter planning to meet Neilson for sex.
Sentence and Impact
Neilson received full credit for pleading guilty to multiple charges, including child rape, sexual assault, and attempting to make a child look at indecent images.
Judge Lunt sentenced him to 10 years and 10 months behind bars, warning: “You have not renounced your interest in young girls – it is still there.”
“No sentence can repair the damage you have caused, but hopefully the victims can now move on with their lives,” the judge added.
