Ex-Referee Gareth Viccars Jailed for Sick Snapchat Grooming Spree
Gareth Viccars, 47, was locked up for 14 years on Thursday, October 2, after confessing to 16 horrific child sex offences involving three young victims.
Snapchat Grooming Nightmare
The former English Football League referee used Snapchat to target vulnerable girls. Shockingly, he called himself “dad” and his victims “little girls” as part of a twisted grooming game.
Viccars enjoyed a 25-year refereeing career, officiating pro matches from the 2018-19 season onward. The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) booted him out as soon as the abuse allegations came to light.
Disturbing Abuse and Manipulation Revealed
Prosecutor Charlotte Newell KC laid bare Viccars’s vile tactics. In November 2021, he messaged a schoolgirl in Romford, then drove from Milton Keynes to pick her up after only four days and sexually abused her.
“You took a girl that loved you more than anything and then you destroyed her,” the victim told Viccars during a heart-breaking impact statement at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
She explained how he won her trust with “kind words” and “attention,” isolating her right under everyone’s noses.
Another victim met him on Snapchat and faced the same sick grooming. Despite Viccars denying any sexual interest in children, prosecutors played a chilling voice note where he calls a victim “little girl” and himself “daddy” and “teacher.”
The third victim came face to face with Viccars in a park, hoping to expose him. Instead, he exposed himself and sexually assaulted her — only fleeing when teens chased him off, shouting “paedo.”
Judge Slams Viccars, Police Warn of More Victims
Defence lawyer Laura Blackband admitted Viccars’s actions were “disgraceful,” but pointed to his troubled upbringing and alcohol struggles. Viccars himself described himself as a “Poundland Charlie Sheen” and owned up to bringing shame on referees.
Judge Caroline English blasted Viccars for preying on vulnerable girls. She noted his guilty pleas but slammed him for refusing to admit his sexual interest in young female victims.
“Viccars’s offending is shocking. He would reach out to young girls, build relationships through lies, and then sexually assault them,” said Detective Chief Inspector Ross Morrell, leading the Met Police probe.
The Met has urged anyone who suspects they or their children were targeted to come forward. Police warn there could be hundreds more victims yet to speak out.
Specialist support services, including police and independent charities, are available to help victims heal and rebuild their lives.
