DENNIS WARD, PLYMOUTH PAEDOPHILE SCOUT LEADER, SENTENCED IN 2008
In October 2008, Dennis Ward, a 66-year-old Scout leader from Plymstock, Plymouth, was sentenced to four years in prison for his role in a systematic abuse network involving the exploitation of boys through a breakaway Scout organization.Ward, who is seriously ill with a life expectancy of approximately 24 months, was convicted of conspiracy to commit a serious sexual offence.
The exact nature of his illness was not disclosed during the court proceedings.
Ward was part of a paedophile ring estimated to have abused up to 300 boys, some as young as eight, over a span of more than three decades.
The court was told that Ward had helped run the 22nd Waltham Forest Baden-Powell Scout Group, which had split from the main Scout Association in 1970.
During the sentencing at London's Snaresbrook Crown Court, Judge David Radford stated, "Ward has seriously undermined the reputation of the Scout movement and it is not the court’s place to show him mercy." He emphasized the damage caused to the Scout movement’s image and warned that this makes it more difficult for genuine Scout leaders to operate without suspicion.
Judge Radford remarked that it was within the Home Secretary’s authority to consider an early release for Ward under the royal prerogative of mercy.
Throughout the hearing, Ward remained expressionless as he listened to his sentencing.
Four men, including Ward, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to abusing a boy who was a member of their Scout group.
The others included Keith Spratt, 50, Robert Kearns, 50, and Brian Turner, 60, who are slated for sentencing in late October.
A fifth man, Douglas Braithwaite, had died before the ring was uncovered.
The judge highlighted the heightened danger posed by conspiratorial paedophile groups, noting that Paedophiles like Ward and Braithwaite, who conspired together, compounded the risk of harm.
In this case, the boy—who joined the Scout group at age 11—was described by prosecutor Mark Gadsden as being in a "particular vulnerability" due to family issues.
Gadsden explained, "He had been thoroughly corrupted by the time he was 12, and Braithwaite was in a position to introduce him to others in the paedophile ring, including Ward." Judge Radford specifically accused Ward, himself a Scout leader, of abusing the vulnerable 13-year-old boy on three separate occasions in the presence of his co-conspirator.
Gadsden further noted that Ward expressed genuine remorse and was "very, very genuinely disturbed" by the consequences of his actions.
The entire paedophile network was dismantled through a joint operation involving the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and five international police agencies including those from the UK, Holland, France, Spain, and Belgium.
Authorities conducted multiple arrests and uncovered an extensive collection of child pornography, comprising 14,000 negatives and 350 videos.
