An English Football League assistant referee who ‘preyed upon young women’ has been jailed for a string of child sex offences involving teenage girls.

Gareth Viccars, 47, of Shackleton Place, Oldbrook, Milton Keynes, previously pleaded guilty to 16 counts of child sex offences.

This included sexual communications with a child, meeting with a child following sexual grooming, causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and engaging in sexual activity with a child.

The offences spanned three years between November 2021 and October 2024 and involved three girls aged 15, Snaresbrook Crown Court previously heard.

On Thursday, Viccars was jailed for 13 and a half years with a further three and a half years on extended licence at the same court.

Addressing the referee, Judge Caroline English said: ‘You did deliberately target these three young victims and you did so on account of their ages at the material time.’

‘I am therefore quite satisfied that in all three cases you preyed upon young women that were vulnerable,’ she added.

The judge said that despite Viccars’s guilty pleas and expressions of remorse, there remained a lack of acknowledgement from the defendant that he had ‘a sexual interest in female children’.

EFL assistant referee Gareth Viccars (pictured) was jailed for 13 and a half years with a further three and a half years on extended licence after pleading guilty to 16 counts of child sex offences

Viccars’ (pictured) offences spanned three years between November 2021 and October 2024 and involved three girls aged 15, Snaresbrook Crown Court previously heard

This interest was clear from the contents of messages sent to his victims and a statement from Viccars’s ex-girlfriend, which said he used to ask her to dress up in a school uniform.

Viccars, who appeared in the dock wearing a dark green sweatshirt, nodded as the judge read out her sentencing remarks.

He was an assistant referee at the time of offending and the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the organisation responsible for managing all Premier League and EFL matches across England, said he was suspended ‘as soon as the allegations came to light’.

Viccars was not considered for appointments after his initial suspension and the PGMO has since removed him from the organisation’s list, it is understood.

Prosecutor Charlotte Newell KC told the court Viccars had met his victims online through messaging app Snapchat, telling one girl that talking on WhatsApp was ‘too risky’.

She said Viccars had lied and told one of his victims he was a teacher when they first started communicating and was aware that she was 15 years old.

Ms Newell read out the transcript of a voicenote sent by Viccars to one of his victims, where he referred to her as ‘little girl’ and himself as ‘daddy’ and ‘teacher’.

Ms Newell added of the victim: ‘She says effectively that she was lonely and she just wanted someone to talk to.

‘He, it seems, was aware of that and abused it – turning the communication sexual.’

The court heard he had abused another of his victims over a period of several years, had taken her to football matches and told others he was ‘mentoring’ her.

A scrapbook chronicling the two’s ‘relationship’, made by the teenager and given to Viccars, was handed to police and formed part of the evidence against him, the prosecutor said.

In court, Viccars watched the victim read out an impact statement during which she said he had been her ‘world’ and that she had trusted him ‘completely’ for almost three years.

Addressing her abuser, she said he had won her over with ‘kind words’ and ‘attention’ and had isolated her ‘in plain sight’.

‘Now I know what you really wanted was someone young enough to manipulate,’ she said.

Another statement was read out by the prosecutor on behalf of a different victim, in which she said she blamed herself for Viccars’s actions, which had broken her trust in adults.

She said: ‘I struggle to sleep, I have had nightmares.

‘I would have nightmares about what happened – it kept replaying in my head.

‘When I was awake, I would have flashbacks. I kept reliving it again and again.’

She added: ‘I’m unsure of myself and I feel I have lost my self-esteem.

‘I feel I am never going to find happiness.’

The victim said Viccars’s abuse had also affected her schoolwork and how she viewed her teachers, as he had initially lied and told her he was a PE teacher.

Addressing the victims, Judge English said: ‘You must not allow your lives to be blighted by seeking to shoulder any responsibility for what took place, that would be wholly wrong.

‘You must allow all the responsibility to rest where it belongs and that is entirely with Mr Viccars.’

In mitigation, Laura Blackband, defending, said Viccars acknowledged that his behaviour had been ‘disgraceful’, he had had a ‘difficult upbringing’ and struggled with alcohol issues.

It is understood that Viccars (left) has not officiated in an EFL game since March 5 last year

Three charges, two of sexual activity with a child and one of engaging in sexual communications with a child, will lie on file, the court previously heard.

After the sentencing, the Metropolitan Police said they believed there may be other victims of Viccars as he had been ‘spamming hundreds of girls on Snapchat’.

Detective Chief Inspector Ross Morrell, who led the Met’s investigation, said: ‘He began with a profile of ‘sorry I think I’ve added the wrong person’, and then he would go in to lie, manipulate them, and then go on to abuse them.

‘If anyone thinks they’ve been a victim, then please contact 101, reference this appeal.

‘You will be entitled to specialist care, specialist advice, and you will be believed.’

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited previously said Viccars was suspended ‘as soon as the allegations came to light’.

It is understood that the former assistant referee did not officiate during the last season.

Viccars had been part of the EFL panel of officials since 2018, and has been involved in FA Cup, Carabao Cup and EFL matches.

He was the assistant referee for AFC Wimbledon’s League 2 clash with Sutton United in October 2022.

He was also on the touchline when Charlton hosted Burton Albion in March 2022, and for Mansfield’s match with Cambridge United in February 2021.

According to his profile on worldfootball.net, Viccars has officiated in the Football League since the 2018-19 season as well as the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup.

As far back as the 2015-16 season, Viccars was officiating in the Premier League 2, which at the time was the Under-21s league.

In June 2023, Viccars was named Referee of the Year at the Milton Keynes RA annual awards.