March 2016 Victim of paedophile Cub leader David Hopkins awarded £48k A traumatised victim of a former Cub Scout leader and “serial paedophile” who preyed on young boys has been awarded £48,000 compensation by a judge. The man, who cannot be identified, was abused by David Hopkins over seven years, and forced to give in to his sickening demands hundreds of times. Hopkins, 77, of St Anne’s Court Maidstone, was jailed for 10 years in 2003 after admitting 25 sex crimes against children. Police found photographs and diaries of the abuse kept by Hopkins, who led a Cub Scout group in east Kent. Some of the crimes took place at his then home in Lyminge. His victim was one of many who suffered at Hopkins’ hands during the 1980s, and applied for £100,000 damages. He sued the Scout Association, which admitted it was legally liable for Hopkins’ misdeeds but disputed the amount of the man’s payout. Judge Martin McKenna said the man was “deserving of sympathy” for his blighted childhood and awarded him £48,000. However, he ruled the abuse could not be blamed for the man’s later descent into a life of crime and drug addiction, nor for a series of failed relationships. He had also “in effect blackmailed” Hopkins, getting money and gifts out of the paedophile which he “saw as compensation”. Judge McKenna said the man’s life of crime was “a matter of personal choice and unconnected to abuse”. He added: “He has come to believe all the adverse effects in his life are attributable to the abuse. “Whilst that belief may be sincerely held, I have come to a different conclusion.” The court heard earlier the victim was molested by Hopkins shortly after he joined the Cubs. David McLeneghan, his counsel, said the abuse became more severe and happened on hundreds of occasions. June 2013 Ex-scout leader David Hopkins shared child images with paedophile James Peck A predatory paedophile and a former Cub Scout master shared sickening images of child abuse, a court heard. James Peck, who was once convicted of using public library computers to set up a child abuse images website, used references such as “14 and really cute”, “alias 11 years old” and “10-year-old boy and 15” for the photographs found on a phone, DVD disks and memory sticks. Maidstone Crown Court heard the phone was one of two found among Peck’s belongings at the former Essex home he had shared with another sex offender he met while in prison, and at an address in Bright Road, Chatham. Three disks and two memory sticks, which had been hidden in a pair of binoculars and a magnifying glass, were also discovered at the sheltered housing home of one-time Hawkinge Scout leader David Hopkins. The 75-year-old, who was jailed for 10 years in 2003 for 25 sexual offences against young boys, later told police he was “quite sickened” by the images Peck had downloaded in his presence. Hopkins, of St Anne’s Court, Maidstone, admitted four offences of possessing indecent images between April and May last year. Peck, 32, of Queenborough Road, Sheerness, admitted six offences of possessing indecent photographs of children and three breaches of a sexual offences prevention order, namely using or having equipment capable of accessing the Internet.  Peck, who also admitted two offences of fraud in April last year, was jailed for a total of 21 months. Hopkins was given eight months behind bars suspended for two years. Passing sentence Judge Martin Joy said the two men had “different involvement” in the offences, with different records of offending. But he added that although the probation report on Peck was “somewhat disturbing” in light of his sexual obession with young children, it did not fulfil strict criteria which would enable him to brand Peck dangerous in the legal sense and impose an indeterminate sentence for public protection. This was despite the report’s author stating that Peck posed a significant risk. “The report author is extremely realistic and indeed of the view that you are a predatory paedophile,” said Judge Joy. “The author pulls no punches and expresses the clear view that you are a very high risk of harm to male children.” As part of his sentence Hopkins must attend the Thames Valley sex offender treatment programme. Both men were made subject to sexual offences prevention orders and must sign on the sex offender register. Prosecutor Andrew Forsyth told the court the images were both stills and movie clips and covered all levels of seriousness. They featured a boy as young as three, pre-pubescent boys performing various sex acts and a teenage boy being abused by a male adult. Peck had a total of 367 and Hopkins had 156 Peck was jailed in 2004 for three years, with an extended licence period of five years, for making, distributing and inciting the distribution of indecent images. He had used public library computers in Tunbridge Wells, Rochester, Chatham and Maidstone to set up his own website inviting people to upload images of naked, young boys with the restriction that they not appear older than 14. Hopkins was previously jailed for the systematic abuse of dozens of young boys over a period of almost 30 years. In 2003 Maidstone Crown Court heard he kept diaries of what was described as his “debauchery and corruption”, with details such as victims’ names, how often they were abused, locations and positions. One boy was said to have been abused almost 300 times over six years. Hopkins, then of Skeete Road, Lyminge, admitted 20 charges of indecent assault between 1961 and 1989, four of taking indecent photographs and one serious sex offence.