October 2020
Former scout leader jailed for sex offences
Oliver Cooper – Bognor
18 Sunday Oct 2020
Posted in Scout groups, Sussex
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Category Archives: Scout groups
Christopher Richards – Cullompton
05 Monday Oct 2020
Posted in Devon, Scout groups
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October 2020
Local hero ex-firefighter jailed for ‘twisted’ cub scout spanking abuse
An award-winning firefighter has been jailed for giving bare bottomed spankings to boys when he was a cub leader.
Christopher Richards, from Cullompton, invented petty excuses to dole out what he called punishments to the boys who were aged as young as seven.
He then made them take down their trousers and pants and either smacked or rubbed their bottoms.
He spanked one boy so hard that it hurt him to sit down afterwards and on one occasion Richards put water on his hand so it would sting more.
He beat the children for supposed offences as minor as painting a drawing outside the lines, getting a splinter in a finger and mis-connecting a battery.
He spanked one young boy because he overheard a friend asking whether Richards was a paedophile. The boy did not even know what the word meant.
He denied there was any sexual motive but a judge at Exeter Crown Court imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which will ban him from any future contact with children after he finishes his jail sentence.
Richards used his position as a well-respected member of the local community in Cullompton as cover for some of his crimes.
He is part of the residents’ association and chairs several local groups and charities. He was on the Parent, Teachers and Friends Association of a local primary school and a member of the Culm Local Action Group.
He is a former retained firefighter in Cullompton and won the Community Hero category in the 2012 St John’s Ambulance awards for saving the life of a man who collapsed at a football match.
He received the award from ex-footballer Fabrice Muamba, who survived a similar incident during an FA Cup game.
Richards started his abuse while a scout and cub leader in Northamptonshire in the 1980s and carried on after moving to Devon.
This time he spanked boys often after playing football or cricket.
The abuse caused serious psychological damage to the victims, many of who lost all faith in figures of authority and struggled in school as a result. One said he does not want to have children of his own because he would fear for their safety.
One of them sobbed as he read out a personal statement which said: “When I saw you, I used to crumble. I am here today to see you crumble. You are a bad man.
“You act in public as someone who does good but in reality, you are twisted. You stole my childhood and have ruined my life.”
Richards, aged 53, of St Andrews Estate, Cullompton, admitted 12 counts of child cruelty and was jailed for five years and three months by Judge Timothy Rose.
The judge told him: ”You came up with excuses and pretexts of your own devising to give you an opportunity to deal with the victims in the way that you did.
“I don’t accept that you seriously thought you were imposing reasonable punishments for real offences. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“You were inventing bogus reasons to be alone with the child and do what you did. They were clearly concocted. You deliberately engineered the situation to make sure they did not report it to their families.
“You had no right, no lawful purpose or any possible excuse for your behaviour. Any justification was wholly deluded.
“You had a very positive involvement in the community in Devon with organisations and charitable causes but it was precisely that status and level of trust that put you in a position to commit these offences.
“You betrayed the trust put in you as a scout leader and the trust of the parents of the boys. You pretended to punish but were in fact doing so for your own gratification.”
Tom Bradnock, prosecuting, said the offences started when Richards was a scour leader in Northamptonshire between 1989 and 2002 and continued after he moved to Devon in 2005 to start his own fire and safety business.
He punished two young scouts in a tent when they were aged seven to 11, making them take down their pants and smacking them gently on their bare bottoms.
He told them he was doing so instead of reporting their supposed offences to their fathers.
In Devon he administered more severe hand spankings to three boys aged about eight to 16.
After moving to Devon, Richards started his own successful fire and safety business – Total Safety Training and Consultancy
Alan Sewell – Bedford
08 Friday May 2020
Posted in Bedfordshire, Scout groups
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May 2020
Bedford Scout leader caught with ‘extreme pornographic images’ given 18 month community order
A Bedford scout leader, caught with child sex abuse and extreme pornographic images, has been given an 18 month community order and a £500 fine.
Alan Sewell, who had been involved with the scouts and cubs for 30 years, was arrested after he had uploaded a picture to the internet.
He must now register as a sex offender and abide by the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.
Police raided the married 65-year-old’s home on 14 September 2017 and seized a Dell laptop and other computer devices, Luton crown court heard
Prosecutor Fern Russell said investigators found a total of 55 images; nine movies and five stills were at Category A, the most serious level.
There was one movie and eight stills at Category B and 26 Category C stills. In addition, there were six images of extreme pornography.
Ms Russell said most of the images were of male and female children aged between 10 and 12.
The extreme pornographic images were of women having sex with animals.
When interviewed last year, Sewell told the police he had been involved in the scouts for over 30 years and had been a leader of a cub group.
He said he had not looked at child abuse images since the 2017 raid.
Sewell of Aldburgh Close, Bedford appeared for sentence via Skype having pleaded guilty to making (downloading) Category A, B and C images of children and possessing extreme pornography.
Judge Rebecca Herbert said he had “developed an unhealthy attraction to children.”
She said, “You are 65 and for many years had volunteered to work with the scouts, latterly as a leader.”
The judge passed an 18 month community order with a condition that he attends 30 rehabilitation activity days and pays a £500 fine. He must register as a sex offender and abide by the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.
Phil Richardson/John Nicholls – March/Doncaster
21 Tuesday Jan 2020
Posted in Cambridgeshire, Police, Scout groups, South Yorkshire
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January 2020
Pervert police officer who admitted downloading baby rape images spared jail
A former Cambridgeshire police officer and scout leader that downloaded vile images including the rape of a baby has avoided prison
But in giving Phillip Richardson a suspended sentence the judge said that being named and humiliated was part of his punishment.
Richardson – who has changed his name to John Nicholls – admitted downloading and distributing sex abuse images of boys.
Judge Barbara Mensah told him: “They are vile, disgusting and cruel images. It amounts to torture.
“The public revulsion and humiliation which you have received is part of your punishment.”
Prosecutor Margia Mostafa told Luton crown court that the 49-year-old officer was arrested on May 16 last year by Bedfordshire police who raided the married officer’s home in March.
An iPad and three laptops were examined. Officers found 99 Category A still and moving images – the most serious level. There were 208 at Category B and 218 at Category C, the least serious level.
Search terms used by Nicholls including the words: “F…… Boys,” “Incest”, “Brazilian boys” and “Teen boys kissing.”
In one image a baby was being raped and in another a 12 year was being orally raped. He had used the internet site Tumblr to distribute a Category B and a Category C image.
When he was interviewed he did not answer police questions, but in a prepared statement he apologised and said he would seek professional help.
Nicholls, who now lives in Doncaster, appeared for sentence having pleaded guilty to three charges of making (downloading) indecent photograph/pseudo photographs of a child and two of distributing indecent photographs/pseudo photographs of a child.
He had been a beat bobby and the Fenland licensing officer, before being sacked by Cambridgeshire police on July 3.
In 2011 he told a local community website in March that he wanted the town to be a dangerous place for criminals. He boasted on the ShapeYourPlace website: “I love locking them up, the more I can get off the streets the better the chances of me having a smiley photo.”
Judge Mensah sentenced him to 15 months in jail suspended for two years.
He must attend a ‘Horizon’ sex offender programme, carry out 20 days of a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement and 200 hours’ unpaid work. The iPad and Laptops were forfeited and he has 28 days to pay £300 costs.
In addition, he must register as a sex offender and abide by the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.
Phillip Richardson/John Nicholls – Doncaster/March
14 Saturday Dec 2019
Posted in Cambridgeshire, Police, Scout groups, South Yorkshire
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Update: The sentencing of Phillip Richardson, now known as John Nicholls, has been adjourned until January 21.
December 2019
Sentencing of former March policeman over indecent images adjourned until January
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