Woman jailed for sexual abuse of teenage boy and drug supply

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 13 Oct, 10:32 · Archive

Clare Louise Townsend, 37, was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for sexual activity with a 15-year-old boy and supplying him Class A drugs.

Clare Louise Townsend, aged 37 and of no fixed abode, has been jailed for three years and nine months at Salisbury Crown Court. She pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual activity with a child. The offending occurred in the Sherborne area, where Townsend met the victim, who was aged 15, around late October 2024.

Over the following months, Townsend supplied the boy with Class A drugs including cocaine and MDMA. She had sexual activity with him on at least ten occasions. In February 2026, she was located in an insecure warehouse in Sherborne and arrested.

Townsend was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for ten years, an indefinite sex offenders register placement, and a five-year restraining order. Detective Constable Holly Spillman of Dorset County Safeguarding Hub said the victim was 'now trying to recover from the trauma and re-build the childhood that was taken from him'. Police worked with Dorset Council's Child Protection Team to safeguard the victim and his family.

How it is being reported

• Woman who had sexual activity with a teenage boy and supplied him with drugs jailedClare Louise Townsend, aged 37 and of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual activity with a child at a previous court appearance. This week she was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) for ten years.Dorset Echo · 13 Oct, 10:08
• Woman who had sexual activity with a teenage boy and supplied him with drugs jailedClare Louise Townsend, aged 37 and of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual activity with a child at a previous court appearance. This week she was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) for ten years.Bournemouth Echo · 13 Oct, 10:08

In this story: Clare Louise Townsend · Sherborne · Salisbury Crown Court · Dorset County Safeguarding Hub

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