Two former BBC radio presenters have been found guilty of indecently assaulting under-age boys in the 1990s.<\/p>\n
Husband and wife Tony and Julie Wadsworth were found guilty by a majority verdict of encouraging boys to take part in sexual activity.<\/p>\n
The pair were also convicted at Warwick Crown Court of outraging public decency by having sex in woodland.<\/p>\n
She admitted having sexual encounters with “young men” but repeatedly denied they were were under age.<\/p>\n
They were each jailed for five years.<\/p>\n
Following a three-week trial, Julie Wadsworth, 60, was convicted by majority 10-2 verdicts of nine indecent assaults against boys and five counts of outraging public decency.<\/p>\n
Her spouse, 69, who acted as a “look-out”, was found guilty of the same charges, also by majority verdicts.<\/p>\n
Both were found not guilty of three counts of indecent assault, two of which related to a single complainant.<\/p>\n
The husband and wife duo were employed in BBC local radio at the time of the alleged offences.<\/p>\n
Giving evidence in his defence, Mr Wadsworth described two separate encounters involving up to three males each time.<\/p>\n
He told the court they appeared to be “16, 17 – possibly 18”.<\/p>\n
Mr Wadsworth described a claim he had illegal sexual encounters as “outrageous”, and denied a prosecution allegation he had a threesome with his wife and a boy at his then home in Warwickshire.<\/p>\n
When describing the couple’s first encounter in the woods with one of the complainants, Mr Wadsworth said he found it “erotic” to watch his wife with the young stranger.<\/p>\n
“She felt empowered as a woman,” he said.<\/p>\n
He claimed he and his wife had been “kissing and cuddling” when they became aware of a young man watching them.<\/p>\n
Mr Wadsworth, 69, said: “I turned, looked around and saw this fella and must confess it was something of a shock.<\/p>\n
“It was clear what he was hoping to do. He came forward as I stepped to one side.”<\/p>\n
He said the encounter took place without a word being exchanged.<\/p>\n
He said: “After the heat of the moment was over, it was all very embarrassing and awkward.<\/p>\n
“We tidied ourselves up and we all went our separate ways.”<\/p>\n
Asked by his barrister Michelle Clarke why he allowed his wife to be approached by another man, Mr Wadsworth said her past with an abusive partner had left her insecure.<\/p>\n
He told jurors he wanted to prove others found her sexually desirable.<\/p>\n
“I think it’s fair to say that Julie was and to some extent still is today a damaged person,” he said.<\/p>\n
“And as our relationship developed she began to confide in me and tell me about her abusive partner who was absolutely vile – the things he perpetrated on her.<\/p>\n
“So I did my best to bring out the woman inside her, I suppose.”<\/p>\n
Mrs Wadsworth has accepted going on to have a sexual relationship with the first complainant, after bumping into him some years later.<\/p>\n
Her husband said he was angry when he discovered that tryst and rejected a Facebook friend request from the complainant in 2015.<\/p>\n
He said the couple – who previously worked for BBC Leicester and Birmingham-based BBC WM – had taken part in a second woodland encounter involving three males.<\/p>\n
Afterwards he said the couple agreed what was happening was “ridiculous, foolhardy and stupid and there would be no repetition”.<\/p>\n
The couple, from Broughton Astley, Leicestershire, denied five counts of outraging public decency which allege they engaged in sexual activity “against a tree” in view of others between July 1992 and June 1996.<\/p>\n
Mrs Wadsworth had pleaded not guilty to 11 charges of indecent assault, while her husband denied nine counts of the same offence.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"