Sussex former cadets leader jailed for sexual abuse of teenagers

Simon Taplin was sentenced to four and a half years’ imprisonment when he appeared before Portsmouth Crown Court on June 3.

He had been found guilty of two counts of indecently assaulting a girl under the age of 16, on February 20 at the same court.

Taplin, 64, of Springfield Close in Lavant, near Chichester, was charged with five further counts of sexual assault of a girl under the age of 16 and was found not guilty by the jury.

An investigation was launched in September 2020, when a third-party report came into Sussex Police that a woman had been sexually abused by Taplin as a child.

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His victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, met him at the cadets, with him using his position of power to abuse her.

Simon Taplin has been jailed for four and a half years (Image: Sussex Police)

The first incident occurred in 1996 when his victim was in her teens. Taplin continued to sexually abuse her a number of times over the next four years.

As part of the investigation, another woman came forward and said she was abused at around the same time by Taplin.

The court heard that when she was a teenager she was abused by Taplin who used his seniority to take advantage and sexually assault her during a cadet event.

In addition to the custodial sentence, Taplin was also put on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Detective Constable Jason Berney, of the Safeguarding Investigations Unit said: “I would like to express my gratitude for the bravery of the victims who came forward and gave evidence to police and in court.

“This bravery has secured Taplin’s sentence and it means a man who abused his power to take advantage of girls is now behind bars.

“I hope that any victims of sexual abuse are encouraged to come forward to report any crime or wrongdoing. We will investigate, no matter how long ago it was.”