PAEDOPHILIA
COUNT 2
The words paedophile and paedophilia would seem to be words which have only recently entered common usage. The Collins Paperback English Dictionary first published in 1986, offers this definition : Paedophilia n. the condition of being sexually attracted to children – paedophile or paedophiliac n., adjective.
Anyone who has ever studied in depth what is known as case law, will be aware of various tricks, deceptions etc. which some defendants, including sexual predators, have used to justify their claim that consent was lawfully, or in good faith, obtained. One such well-documented case was that of a choirmaster who had sexual intercourse with a young girl whose parents had entrusted her to his care. He convinced the girl that by having intercourse with her, it would enhance her singing voice. Fortunately, he did not get away with that one, and was convicted of rape.
As a child, I was personally sexually abused. I was under the age of 11 when, with my family, I moved away from North London and took up residence in Romford, Essex. We had been living in Rhyl Street, Kentish Town, London, NW5, within easy walking distance of London Zoo, and the currently extremely popular modern market at Camden Lock. My younger sister and I, through our parents’ encouragement, became regular attendees at St Silas’ Church, NW5. We became very keen and could hardly bear to miss a church service or Sunday school. Additionally, I became an altar server, assisting the Priest and of course, wearing a cut-down surplice and cassock. Over time, my sister joined the church-based brownie pack, whilst I became a member of their cubs-pack and later, the scouts group.
The sexual abuse took place whilst I was either a wolf cub or a very young boy scout. There was an adult, single, male member of the church congregation, apparently well-thought of, who lived very nearby and used to assist with the cubs and scouts. His full-time occupation was with W.H.Smith, the chain of newsagents, running one of the old, brown-painted kiosks with a metal roller shutter, found on practically every station in those days, where travellers bought their newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, etc. Through church and youth activities, at my young age, he befriended me and used to
get me to help him at his place of work, at Chalk Farm underground station,
on the Northern Line.
He was a very cunning and careful paedophile, as many of them are.
When it was time to close the newsagent kiosk, which he ran singlehandedly,
he would pull down the roller shutter and then lock it from the inside using the attached bolts. He would then take an old penny coin from
his pocket or the till drawer, and wedge it into the inside of the letter box
mechanism, so that nobody, such as underground railway staff, could take
him by surprise by peeping through and discover what he was up to.
He would then undo his trousers, as well as my short ones, and expose
his penis. He would have his handkerchief standing by whilst he encouraged
me to rub his penis. Then he would increase his own sexual desires by
fondling me down below and at the same time, showing me black and white
photographs of naked men and women, pictured in a magazine called
Health and Efficiency. Obviously I trusted him and cannot recall being
scared at all, but was too young to grasp the reality of what he was up to.
These indecent assaults took place on a regular basis, I think on Saturdays,
when there was no school. I recall his name to this day, but all I am
prepared to say as regards identification, is that at the time, he lived just a
few minutes walk from our church, in Prince of Wales Road, near the local
landmark, The Mother Shipton public house. He swore me to secrecy,
somehow,in such a way that I never told a soul about his dirty tricks until
much later when I disclosed the information to my wife.
Committing this series of sexual assaults to paper for the first time, in
2004, I was given to wonder if this individual had any other young victims
within the church/Sunday school/youth activities framework, bearing in
mind boy scouts and cubs used to leave home to attend youth camps, with
Mum's and Dad’s blessings, and trust that their offspring would be soundly
looked after in both body and mind, by the adult staff. In more recent years,
the fact that I too, had once been a victim of sexual abuse has helped me toempathise and bond with persons I have encountered, at the various
workplaces within the criminal justice system. These include so-called self harmers,
some of whom have stated that they self-harm because they have
been victims of sexual abuse. I have been able to try to motivate them to try
to rise above their self-pitying and negative line of thought, which can
virtually consume them at times, by suggesting that those bad memories
can be put behind them, and that if I could do it, so can they.
This seems an appropriate time to raise the subject of regular or serial sexual
predators and how they find their young, innocent victims. The following list
includes some occupations or persuasions which are very relevant:
1) Members of the clergy, particularly Roman Catholic priests and
even Nuns;
2) Scout Leaders & other male leaders of youth groups;
3) School teachers;
4) Male nurses in hospital and engaged on community visits;
5) Employers of young people, such as milkmen, mobile ice cream
salesmen etc.;
6) Child-minders, baby-sitters and au pairs, which can often be of
the male gender;
7) Doctors;
8) Military instructors;
9) Driving instructors;
10) Care home staff, particularly where vulnerable & those with
learning difficulties reside.
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MR DAVID SELWOOD - FORMER JUDGE
AT PORTSMOUTH CROWN COURT
This man joined the Army and worked hard and was well-respected. He worked his way up to the top in the Army’s legal services department and retired as a Major General, which is almost as high as you can go, just two ranks below Field Marshal.
On retiring from the Army, probably on age limit,
he managed to get himself appointed as a Crown Court Judge, which
probably meant just attending a conversion course, with his extensive legal
background. He was appointed to Portsmouth Crown Court and seems to
have quite swiftly become the senior judge there. However, the one item
which he had never declared on his CV, was the very important one, that
he was a paedophile. He enjoyed downloading images of young boys, child pornography, from the internet. He paid for the services using his credit card and thus became one of the thousands of international child porn downloaders caught up in Operation Ore. 
He was visited by the police at his home in Winchester and was arrested, his computer seized and the evidence discovered. It was widely publicised in the national press in
2004 and the story was put around that he had retired on ill-health grounds. Nobody with half a brain was going to fall for that one. At first, it appeared that there would be a cover up, under the One Law For The Rich, Another For The Poor Act. However
that proved not to be the case. The police charged him with 12 counts of
making indecent images of young boys 8-14 years, and one count of
possessing 75 indecent images on his computer. Because the indecent
images of the boys were classified as level one, the least serious category of
child pornography, plus the fact that he has co-operated fully with police
throughout, AND had entered an early guilty plea, District Judge Timothy
Workman, in his wisdom, sitting at Bow Street Magistrates Court, decided
that a slap on the wrist was all that was required in Selwood’s case.
His barrister had suggested that a Conditional Discharge would suffice. In
the event, District Judge (The new name for Stipendiary Magistrates)
Workman sentenced him to a 12 months community rehabilitation order.
He was excused having to do any community service due to his age and ill health
and will not have to attend a programme for sex offenders.(Why the devil not?) He was also placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years.
The reason ex-Crown Court Judge Selwood did not appear at his local
magistrates court, is that Bow Street is the most senior magistrates court in
the land and is often used for dealing with very high-profile cases and
extradition hearings etc. However, you will be wondering why Mr Selwood
was not dealt with in a CROWN COURT, like anyone else, for having been
found in possession of child pornography? I think the relevant ‘legislation’
that covers this is The Old Pals Act, but I forget which year it was enacted.
Here is the icing on the cake, you’ll be pleased I researched this item for
you.
Whilst sitting in his black and purple robes and horsehair wig, as a stillundetected
paedophile Crown Court Judge at Portsmouth Crown Court, in
2002, a paedophile came before him. This man, Paul Hobbs, from Fareham
had been convicted of being in possession of hundreds of indecent images
of young girls. In his pre-sentence delivery speech, hypocritical Judge
Selwood said to the defendant, “Those who search for and download images
of this kind, create a market which encourages the abuse of young girls.” He
then sentenced the man to seven years imprisonment.
It’s easy for the imagination to run wild after hearing something like that.
Had Mr Hobbs’s indecent images been of young BOYS, might the judge have
slipped him a covert note via the court usher? Might he have visited him in
prison, with the intention of trying to set up an indecent image exchange or
trade-off? (Had he done so, Mr Selwood could have walked from his home
in Winchester, the short distance to HMP Winchester, which would have
been Mr Hobbs’s first port of custodial call, after being sentenced.) In all
seriousness, we have to face the fact that somebody in the JUDICIAL
HIERARCHY pulled a huge string for pervert Selwood, which diverted him
from the Crown Court, where you and I would have been tried, to Bow
Street Magistrates Court, where even a District Judge has limited
sentencing powers.
Will ex-Judge Selwood’s exposure as a child pornography pervert prove to
be the judicial scandal of the century? – Only time will tell.
DISTRICT JUDGE TIMOTHY WAKEMAN
BOW STREET MAGISTRATES COURT
Here is a second version of the Judge Selwood paedophile saga well worth
including for your information:
During mid-April 2004, at his home in the Winchester area of Hampshire, a
top Crown Court Judge, David Selwood, the resident judge at Portsmouth
Crown Court, was arrested over the nationwide child pornography
allegations. The married father of four, who boasts an illustrious military
record and a lengthy entry in Who’s Who? was interviewed at Eastleigh
police station, near Southampton. He was quizzed by detectives over
allegations of possessing indecent images of children and released on police
bail pending further inquiries.
At his £500,000 home in leafy Magdalen Hill, the curtains remained
drawn and the senior judge refused to talk to reporters about the allegation,
when he answered his intercom. Judge Selwood, 69, would only say: “Thank
you for your enquiry, but I am afraid that I am not in a position to say
anything at the moment.” The former Army Major General had been listed
to sit in Court 1 at Portsmouth Crown Court on Thursday 22nd April 2004
but did not attend. He was due to preside over the trial of Francis Snook,
70, of Portsmouth, accused of indecent assault. Legal argument was instead
heard by Judge Roger Hetherington. A Portsmouth Crown Court spokesman
confirmed: “Judge Selwood has not been at work due to illness. We are not
expecting him in next week either.” A Hampshire police spokeswoman said:
“The police can confirm that a man was arrested at an address in
Winchester on Wednesday, in connection with a countrywide paedophile
operation. The man was interviewed at a police station in Hampshire and
has been subsequently released on bail pending further enquiries.”
Judge Sellwood has been married for more than 30 years to his wife
Barbara, with whom he has three sons and a daughter. In Who’s Who? the
judge lists a distinguished military career dating back to 1957, when he was
a 2nd Lieutenant on National Service. He held military posts in the Army
Legal Services in Germany and Cyprus, before being appointed Director of
Army Legal Services in the Ministry of Defence in London from 1990 to
1992. The son of a naval commander, he has been a Circuit Judge in
Hampshire since 1992 and resident judge at Portsmouth Crown Court since
1996. He is also an author of the Crown Court Index, a respected legal
publication which gives advice on crown court issues. Judge Selwood has
presided over a number of high profile cases at Portsmouth Crown Court.
In 2001 he called a teacher who ran off with a 15-year-old schoolgirl, ‘Every
parent’s nightmare’. He jailed Paul Tramontine, then 33, for 18 months after
hearing that the girl’s mother could never forgive him. He also made
headlines the same year after a legal loophole meant he had to free a man
from jail who was branded ‘Britain’s most dangerous paedophile’.
A spokesman for the Department for Constitutional Affairs said: “We can
confirm that he is not currently sitting. We cannot comment on anything
which may or may not be pending with this individual.”
On 1st June 2004 it was announced publicly on BBC South TV news that
Judge Selwood was being retired prematurely on health grounds! (What?
No court case? Why on earth not?) I wouldn’t mind betting that, like me,
certain questions sprang to your mind as you read this report.
1) Did Judge Selwood receive the early morning sledge hammer
knocking on his door?
2) Were police covering the rear as well as the front of his house in case
he ran off?
3) Was his computer seized by police? How many vile images were
downloaded or inspected by him?
4) Was he handcuffed behind his back?
5) Was he videoed for the continuance of the national ‘pay-as-you-view’
child porn TV documentary?
6) At the police station, was he allowed his single phone call and did he
turn his pockets out?
7) In 1992 did he walk straight into his Army-to-Judiciary career
change under The Old Pals Act?
8) In the last few years, has he sentenced any other ‘pay-as-you-view’
child porn offenders?
9) If so, could they have been members of a paedophile ring to which
he might have belonged?
10) If the answers to questions 1-6 above are ‘No’, we have a ‘one law
for rich, another for poor’ scenario.
IMPORTANT UPDATE RE THE ABOVE CASE OF (NOW-RETIRED)
JUDGE DAVID SELWOOD
On the front page of the Daily Express newspaper dated 14th July 2004,
beside a picture of him in his wig and robes, appeared the following banner
headline:
Was this paedophile let off with a soft sentence because he is a
Crown Court judge?
The main full-page article on page 11, carries two eyecatching,
bold banner headlines:
1) OUTRAGE AS HE WALKS AWAY WITH COMMUNITY ORDER
2) Paedophile judge is let off with just a slap on the wrist
As this serious case of a senior judge, who was still sitting as Resident Judge,
or ‘judge-in-charge’ at Portsmouth Crown Court, when he was arrested for
downloading indecent images of young boys on his computer, is of such
national importance and with far-reaching implications as to what goes on
in the dark, murky world of paedophilia, I will now supply you with a
verbatim report of the case, straight from the Daily Express.
“CHILDREN’S charities hit out at ‘soft justice’ after a former judge was
given a 12-month community order for downloading indecent images
of young boys. Experts condemned the sentence as ‘little more than a
slap on the wrist’ and demanded a major overhaul of punishments for internet paedophiles. The NSPCC said: “Behind these indecent images
are real children who will have suffered immense trauma. Receiving or
downloading abusive images of children perpetuates its production and
reinforces the cycle of exploitation. It is important to send out a strong
warning to everyone, including those in all walks of life and
professions, that they cannot remain anonymous and escape the law by
using the internet to access abusive images of children.”
David Selwood, 70, looked relieved as he emerged from Bow Street
Magistrates Court in central London, holding hands with his wife
Barbara. He resigned recently as a £110,000 a year judge at Portsmouth
Crown Court. He was once head of the Army’s Legal Service, holding
the rank of Major General (This is just 2 ranks below the very top rank
– Field Marshal), and gave advice to the SAS. While sitting as a judge in
2002, Selwood jailed an internet paedophile for seven years for having
hundreds of indecent images of girls on his computer. He told Paul
Hobbs, of Fareham: “Those who search for and download images of this
kind, create a market which encourages the abuse of young girls.”
Selwood admitted 12 counts of making indecent images of boys, aged
from eight to fourteen and one count of possessing 75 indecent pictures
in his computer. The father of four was arrested at his £500,000 home
in Winchester, Hants, after detectives were tipped off by US
investigators that he was using his credit card to download pay-perview
paedophile websites. The court heard that the images were
considered to be level one, the least serious of the five categories of
child pornography. District Judge Timothy Workman was restricted by
court sentencing guidelines in punishing Selwood. He dismissed an
application by Richard Hallam, defending, to give a conditional
discharge. But legal experts said a 12-month community rehabilitation
order was hardly a more severe penalty. Selwood was excused working
in the community as part of the Order, because of his age and health.
He will also not have to attend a programme for sex offenders. District
Judge Workman told the court: “The defendant is a man who until now
has had an exemplary record and who has throughout his career in
both the Army and in the law, provided long and distinguished public
service. He is entitled to credit for pleading guilty at the earliest
opportunity and for his co-operation throughout with the police
investigation. The commission of these offences and the convictions
now recorded, are undoubtedly a personal tragedy to him and his
family.”
Selwood was put on the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years, at a
hearing last month. A senior lawyer involved in child porn prosecutions said: “This is little more than a slap on the wrist. The sentencing guidelines urgently need to be looked at again. A year’s community rehabilitation order in cases like these simply does not
represent an effective deterrent.” Children’s charity Childline welcomed the prosecution.Detective Chief Superintendent Jon Hesketh, who led the investigation said: “Mr Selwood disgraced the position of authority he held as a crown court judge.” Despite calls that he should face severe financial penalties, Selwood will receive a £35,000-a-year pension plus a lump sum, thought to be around £75,000. He also has a substantial Army pension. Meanwhile, nine people were arrested by detectives and questioned at a London police station as part of the Operation Ore inquiry into child pornography on the internet.”
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