April 1978
‘Sinister Group Passed Boys Round The System’
A CHILD-SEX campaign was branded by an Old Bailey judge as a ‘sinister group’.
‘The Paedophile Information Exchange must cause deep anxiety to people who care about the welfare of children,’ said Judge Brian Gibbons.
His criticism came when he jailed four of the nine men who admitted homosexual acts with young boys and indecent assault. The others were given suspended sentences and fined.
Two of the men had met through the Exchange and a network of communication had been developed among the nine who ‘passed boys round the system.’
One of the men, 26-year-old Robert Bushell, of Golders Green was described by the judge as the worst offender.
He had committed some of the offences in the dormitory of a Surrey boarding school.
Judge Gibbons told him ‘You corrupted the uncorrupted at an early age. I consider you a grave danger to children.’
Judge Gibbons also jailed Geoffrey Taylor, aged 65, for four years for indecent assault; David Hooper, aged 35, four years for buggery; and Nigel Beatman, aged 32, jailed for 30 months for indecent assault.
