Jail for child sex offender stopped at Gatwick Airport trying to board flight to France

Fabrizio Broussett was stopped at Gatwick Airport trying to fly to France to meet a teenage girl he had been sexually abusing.

Broussett, 23, of Chartham Road in Croydon, came to the attention of Sussex Police in April, 2025, when Counter Terror officers seized his mobile phone as part of a separate investigation.

The phone had no evidence of terror offences. But officers did find 18,000 videos – some depicting violent sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl in France – and 33,000 messages with the teenager.

Broussett had images of her ID card and passport confirming she was only 14 years old, and many of the messages were degrading and sexually aggressive, with texts including ‘6 days and I’m gonna rape my 14-year-old child’. The victim was not related to Broussett.

Sussex Police engaged with Interpol to conduct urgent welfare checks on the victim, who located her and made sure she was in no further danger.

On 18 May, 2025, Broussett was arrested at Gatwick Airport attempting to board a flight to Lyon, France.

Further enquiries found Broussett had visited the victim for two separate weeks in February and April, 2025, booking BnBs in the Saint-Etienne area. There was also evidence Broussett was planning to meet her again before he was detained.

He was charged with two counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child, four counts of making indecent images of a child, three counts of arranging/facilitating a child sex offence and one count of engaging in sexual communication with a child.

Broussett admitted all the charges at Croydon Crown Court on Friday, 11 July, 2025.

At the same court on Tuesday, 17 February, he was jailed for 15 years, with another three spent on extended licence. He was also given a 20-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and indefinitely placed on the sex offenders register and barred from working with children and vulnerable people.

Detective Constable Tasha Smith said: “Fabrizio Broussett is a committed offender who proactively groomed and abused a child for his own sexual gratification.

“The victim in this investigation must live with the impact of his offending for the rest of her life, but I hope her abuser being now behind bars can bring her some measure of comfort.

“I would like to thank our partners in Counter Terror policing and Gatwick Airport for their support in helping to bring a dangerous offender to justice.

“If you are a victim of sexual offending, please report to police online or via 101. Always dial 999 in an emergency. We will support you and we will do everything we can to get you the justice you deserve.”

If you are a victim of sexual offending in Sussex, we and our partners will do all we can to support you. There are a range of independent partner services, including:

• Survivors Network: providing emotional and practical support.
• Life Centre: trauma-informed therapy and counselling services.
• Mankind: dedicated support for male victim-survivors delivered by men.
• Veritas Justice: independent support for victims of stalking

Find out more about the free support available to victim-survivors of crime on the Safe Space Sussex website.