A child abuser has died while awaiting sentence for a series of sexual assaults on a young girl.

Christopher Hudson was due to be sentenced at Exeter Crown Court after entering guilty pleas at a hearing on July 14 this year.

He was found dead at a hotel in Plymouth where he had been living and police are awaiting the results of toxicology tests to confirm his cause of death.

Hudson, aged 39, of Devonport, but originally from East Devon, admitted assault by penetration on a girl aged four or five, sexual activity in the presence of a child, sexual assault, and causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Judge Stephen Climie closed his case file and declared it to have no legal effect after being told of Mr Hudson’s death by prosecuting counsel Mr Lee Bremridge.

Mr Bremridge said Mr Hudson had been found dead on August 18 this year and that police are awaiting the results of toxicology tests.