A 41-YEAR-OLD man who bigamously married one woman and deceived two more while pretending he was a CIA agent has been jailed for five years at Oxford Crown Court.

American-born William Jordan, 41, from Edinburgh, who has at least ten children - three by his first wife, two with her nanny, two by his bigamous wife and at least one other child in the US - wove an elaborate web of lies to con his victims, the court heard yesterday.

He explained his mysterious absences to his bigamously married wife, Mary Turner Thomson, by claiming to be a CIA agent seconded to the Ministry of Defence on covert business. In reality, he was with his real wife and his girlfriend, whom he defrauded of £4,500. He was finally arrested last November in a police operation in Kidlington.

Jordan, a convicted paedophile, was jailed yesterday after pleading guilty to bigamy, a string of dishonesty offences, failing to register his whereabouts as required by a sex offender and illegally possessing a stun gun.

Jailing Jordan, Judge Thomas Corrie said: "You are a conman, a convicted paedophile and a bigamist. You are an inveterate exploiter of vulnerable women, not just financially but also emotionally."

Jordan married his first British wife, Julie Cunningham, in 1992, going on to have five children with her, the court heard.

Ten years later he married Mary Turner Thomson, the mother of two more of his children who lives in Edinburgh, said prosecutor Sophie Eloquin.

Not satisfied with two women, Jordan also slept with his real wife's nanny, having two children with her. And in May 2005 he also struck up a relationship with Denise King, then based in Blackpool.

Peter Coombe, defending, said: "Despite what has happened to his partners, he is still concerned for them and his children. He says he is very remorseful."

CPS lawyer Andrew Morgan said: "Jordan is a serial fantasist who had no regard for the effect on those around him of the lies he told.

"The offence of bigamy is one of the gravest breaches of trust imaginable and at least two families have been deeply affected as a result of his deception.

"The CPS very much welcomes the substantial custodial sentence handed down today which will keep this manipulative person from offending again.