June 2000 Paedophile uncle jailed for sex in paradise A serial paedophile who sexually abused young boys was yesterday jailed for a total of 14 years. Judge Graham Cottle said 57-year-old John Adams – known as Uncle John to some of his victims – was someone who “represented a serious risk to young boys”. After a six-week trial at Exeter Crown Court, Adams was convicted of 28 offences of indecent assault, six serious sexual offences, three of indecency with a child, and three of an attempted serious sexual offence. The convictions were in respect of 11 of the 14 boys, aged between seven and 14, who were victims between 1992 and last year. The judge ordered that two seven-year sentences imposed in respect of the six convictions for the serious sexual offences should run consecutively. Adams, who had been living in Weymouth, Dorset, was found not guilty of a charge of perverting the course of justice, five counts of indecent assault, and three serious sexual offences. He was said to have carried out some of the abuse at his detached house and grounds in Somerset where, the court heard, he had created a “paradise for children”. Some of Adams’ victims were youngsters who holidayed with him at the “paradise” house under a scheme run by with social services and the WRVS. They stayed at the house, which had five acres of grounds, which he stocked with mini motorcycles, go-karts, musical instruments and a computer. Judge Cottle told Adams that at the outset the prosecution said it was their case that he was a serial paedophile. “They have proved their case,” he said. “I have had an extended opportunity to assess you, an opportunity which has helped me reach the conclusion without any hesitation whatsoever that you are a man who represents a serious risk to young boys. “You are clever, devious and a compulsive liar. “For a period spanning the best part of a decade you preyed upon young and mainly disadvantaged boys, targeting them, grooming them, winning their trust and affection by a display of kindness – all part of the stock in trade of a paedophile and designed to achieve only one purpose. “I must pass a sentence which protects young boys from your activities for a long period of time.” After the case, Insp Guy Vickers said for many years Adams had presented himself as a champion of children‘s rights, but that was a “thin veneer” to cover his true actions – that of a “predatory paedophile”. “A large number of children have had to give very difficult evidence in this trial, and they have exposed him for what he is,” added the officer. During the trial, Adams appeared to be a “pillar of the community,” said prosecutor Ms Linda Sullivan QC. But he had a “sinister and ulterior motive for his interest in boys” and “groomed” them for abuse. Adams claimed to have devoted his whole life to the need of others – particularly children, the court heard. He had done a great deal of work for a number of organisations, mostly involving children, and had raised money for the NSPCC. During the 1990s Adams was “virtually never to be seen without the company of one or more small boys”, the proecution told the court.. Adams told the jury that he denied all the allegations made by the boy