Blind piano tuner jailed after being convicted of "campaign of sexual assaults" against four carers

A BLIND piano tuner convicted of carrying out a "campaign" of sexual abuse against his women carers has been jailed for 21 months.

Gerald Masters molested the women, touching their legs, bottoms and breasts as well as sticking his tongue in their ears and licking their faces.

A jury of six men and women took around an hour to convict the 66-year-old of all 18 charges of sexual assault against him.

Judge Mark Horton told him: "This was a campaign of sexual assault against four different women. Four different women who fought off your advances and attempted to tolerate you acting out your fantasies sexually on them."

The judge handed Masters a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order, preventing him from employing women to assist him unless they are informed of his convictions for sex assaults on females. Masters was told to register as a sex offender for ten years.

The court heard Masters, of Chew Road in Winford, had been blind for around 10 years as a result of diabetes and employed the women to help him with his business and everyday life.

Even at the interview stage, Masters would make sexual comments and ask to touch carer applicants so he could "see what they looked like", the court heard.

The judge took all of this on board, as well as the evidence of four women complainants who described their distress at Masters' hands but endured prolonged humiliation and stayed in their jobs because they needed the good rate of pay.

Prosecutor Kenneth Bell told the jury Masters groped one victim's breasts as she sat at his desk before inviting her to carry out a sex act on him.

He put his tongue in another's ear and licked her face before touching her thigh and leg.

Mr Bell said: "These women are independently reporting these allegations"

One victim said: "He would ask what I was wearing. It went from that to what underwear I was wearing. Was I wearing stockings and suspenders? I was quite shocked,"

Masters claimed another of the women had made sexual advances to him – stating she had stripped naked and asked him to make love to her.

He declined to give evidence.