September 2015 Partner of founder of Paedophile Information Exchange Peter Righton jailed A former school teacher and long term partner of the founder of the Paedophile Information Exchange has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for molesting an 11-year-old boy. Richard Alston, 70, of Bury St Edmunds, met the now adult victim while working at Cavendish School for “maladjusted boys” in Greenford, Middlesex, in the late 1970s. Together with his partner, Peter Righton, the pensioner forced the youngster to watch pornography and then perform sex acts on him. Alston was today sentenced to a total of 21 months in prison for one count of indecent assault and one count of indecency with a child at Southwark Crown Court. Righton, who is now dead, was a founding member of the Paedophile Information Exchange – a group set up in the 1970s that campaigned to lower the age of consent. It was the investigation into Righton, who was convicted of importing child pornography in 1992, that led to MP Tom Watson using parliamentary privilege in 2012 to allege that there was “clear intelligence” of a VIP child sex abuse ring. Alston met Righton – 19 years his senior – when he was just 16 years old and they spent some 40 years together. Judge Alistair McCreath today said: “I acknowledge that at the time you committed these offences you were in a very close relationship with an older man who had very particular and aggressive views about the propriety of sexual behaviour with minors and whilst you had the intelligence, maturity and ability to say no I’m prepared to acknowledge that to some extent at least your behaviour was influenced by him.” He added that Alston had not abused children in the years between the assaults and his conviction, despite having the opportunity to as a teacher. Alston only nodded as the sentence was passed. A jury at Southwark Crown Court in London last month cleared Alston of molesting the youngster on school grounds and during a camping trip when he was alleged to have crept into his tent after “story time”. Despite being cleared of a number of offences, Alston was convicted of incidents that took place when Righton was present and a participant. Jurors found that he and Righton groomed the schoolboy after he began visiting them at their flat, plying him with alcohol and buying him gifts such as cigarettes and toys. Although the youngster said nothing of the alleged abuse at the time because he was “embarrassed”, when he was 16 he confronted Righton about what he had been subjected to. The court heard that Righton and Alston’s friend Charles Napier – now a convicted paedophile – would also be present for some of the meetings with the boy. Last December, Napier, the half-brother of senior Conservative MP John Whittingdale, was jailed for 13 years for carrying out hundreds of sexual assaults on young boys. Alston, of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, was cleared of four counts of indecent assault and two counts of indecency with a child. The jury was unable to reach verdicts on one count each of the same offences and they will now lie on file. In January 1979 in Aberdeen, Scotland, he was admonished – the equivalent of a caution in English law – after admitting one count of lewd, indecent, libidinous practices, namely placing his hand on a boy’s thigh in the cinema. Detective Sergeant James Townly, from the sexual offences, exploitation and child abuse command, said: “Alston abused his position of trust to abuse someone who should have been under his care. “We take allegations of sexual assault seriously and will do everything in our power to bring these cases to the courts – no matter what the passage of time.” August 2015 Partner of founder of Paedophile Information Exchange found guilty of molesting 11-yr-old boy A former remedial school teacher from Suffolk and long-term partner of one of the founders of the Paedophile Information Exchange has been found guilty of molesting an 11-year-old boy, it can be revealed. Richard Alston, 70, of Vinery Road, Bury St Edmunds, met the victim while working at Cavendish School for “maladjusted boys” in Greenford, Middlesex, in the late 1970s. Together with his partner, Peter Righton, Alston forced the youngster to watch pornography and then perform sex acts on him. It was the investigation into Righton, who was convicted of importing child abuse images in 1992, that led to MP Tom Watson using parliamentary privilege in 2012 to allege that there was “clear intelligence” of a VIP child sex abuse ring. Righton was also a founding member of the Paedophile Information Exchange – a notorious group set up in the 1970s that campaigned to lower the age of consent. Click this for more on Righton He and Alston were together for 40 years and lived in Thornham Magna after Righton’s conviction. Although Alston denied indecently assaulting the schoolboy, while giving evidence he conceded it was “possible” his lover may have done. Giving evidence, Alston explained that he realised he was gay as a young adult, and met Righton – 19 years his senior – when he was just 16 years old. Despite being cleared of a number of offences, he was convicted of incidents that took place when Righton was present and a participant. A jury at Southwark Crown Court in London cleared Alston of molesting the youngster on school grounds and during a camping trip when he was alleged to have crept into his tent after “story time”. The verdicts were reached last week, but can only be reported now for legal reasons. Alston, who was in a position of trust as a teacher, was found guilty of one count of indecent assault and one count of indecency with a child, showed no emotion as he was convicted. Jurors found that he and Righton groomed the schoolboy after he began visiting them at their flat, plying him with alcohol and buying him gifts such as cigarettes and toys. On one occasion Righton – who died in 2007 – gave the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, a pair of silk swimming trunks, which he asked him to “parade” in front of himself and Alston. Alston was found to have made the schoolboy watch pornographic films and then ask him to perform sex acts on him and Righton. The court heard that their friend Charles Napier – now a convicted paedophile – would also be present for some of these viewings. Alston was cleared of four counts of indecent assault and two counts of indecency with a child. The jury was unable to reach verdicts on one count each of the same offences. The verdicts can now be reported after the CPS took the decision in private not to pursue a retrial on the outstanding charges. In January 1979 in Aberdeen, Scotland, he was admonished – the equivalent of a caution in English law – after admitting one count of lewd, indecent, libidinous practices, namely placing his hand on a boy’s thigh in the cinema. Alston is due to be sentenced on September 28. Last December, Napier, was jailed for 13 years for carrying out hundreds of sexual assaults on young boys. He was convicted of conducting a “campaign of abuse” at the school where he worked in the late 1960s and early 1970s, grooming and assaulting 21 victims aged as young as eight on scores of occasions. August 2015 The long term lover of a founding member of the Paedophile Information Exchange is facing jail for the abuse of an 11-year-old boy in the 1970s, it can be revealed. Richard Alston, 70, taught at the Cavendish School for ‘maladjusted children’ in Greenford, Middlesex, even though he had a previous conviction for sexual assault. He groomed the ‘needy’ and ‘vulnerable’ child with his boyfriend, the notorious paedophile Peter Righton. Together they plied the boy with gifts including beer, cigarettes, silk swimming trunks and a remote control plane before abusing him. Shortly after his sixteenth birthday the victim plucked up the courage to confront Righton but he was scared into silence after the abuser boasted of the couple’s ‘connections to powerful people’. Last Thursday a jury panel of eight men and four women found Alston guilty of one counts of indecency with a child and one count of indecent assault. He was cleared of a further four counts of indecent assault and two counts of indecency with a child. The jury were unable to reach a verdict on a remaining count of indecent assault and one count of indecency with a child. The verdicts can now be published after the CPS opted not to pursue to retrial on the outstanding counts in a secret hearing.  White haired and rail-thin Alston, who was supported during the trial by his brother from the public gallery, did not react as the verdicts were read. Oxford alumni Alston had insisted to jurors that he never touched the child but said ‘it is possible’ Righton, who he was in a relationship for 40 years, abused the boy. Righton, who died in 2007, was convicted in September 1992 for possession of child porn and is widely believed to have been influential in a powerful network of child abusers. Prosecutor Peter Clement said: ‘This defendant was in a position which brought with it a considerable degree of trust, not only of the child who he was charged with caring and educating but also the child’s parents and the trust of colleagues at the same school. ‘This defendant exploited and breached the trust that came with his position and he breached it for his own sexual gratification.’ Alston was convicted of performing a sex act on the victim and forcing the victim to perform a sex act on him at his flat. The victim was forced to parade in front of the paedophile couple, who he believed to be ‘really nice guys’, in a pair of silk swimming trunks they gave him. He told jurors he was bowled over after receiving a 75 pence tip for delivering milk to the couple’s home. ‘Back in the ’70s at 11 years old that was a lot of money, that was a lot of money in those days,’ he said. ‘I was fine with going to their house, they seemed to be really nice guys. ‘In a word I wouldn’t want for anything, I could get whatever I liked – toys, sweets, anything, money –they were always very generous,’ he said. ‘I was going through a bad patch at home and needed somebody else to talk to about the problems so I decided to ring them up as normal to go to their home,’ the complainant told jurors. ‘I was given some alcohol which I didn’t like the taste of and they put some lemonade in to make it taste better… ‘ After the drink I wasn’t feeling very well and I fell asleep and I woke up some time later on a bed,’ he said. ‘Were you clothed,’ asked Mr Clement. ‘Yes I was clothed,’ replied the alleged victim welling up with tears in the witness box. The victim was also shown pornographic films imported from Amsterdam during sessions that were also attended by convicted paedophile and former PIE treasurer Charles Napier. Napier, who is the half-brother of Tory MP John Whittingdale, was locked up for 13 years in December last year after admitting 28 charges concerning 21 boys aged eight to 13 between 1967 and 1972. ‘By this point the prosecution suggest this defendant and his partner had something of a hold over this boy,’ said Mr Clement. The boy decided to confront the pair at their home shortly after his 16th birthday but Righton scared him into keeping his silence, the court heard. ‘He confronted him about what he had been subjected to but Peter Righton dismissed his complaint and told him that he, Righton, had connections to powerful people, that the boy had no evidence and that no-one would believe him and that worked because the complainant didn’t say anything for many, many years,’ said Mr Clement. It was only when researching a book the alleged victim stumbled across an article about Righton that he plucked up the courage to contact investigators. While giving evidence Alston admitted he hid a conviction for groping a teenager in an Aberdeen cinema from the authorities in 1978. He stroked the thigh of a boy, who he guessed to be 16 or 17, in an ‘attempt at a sexual approach’ but the youth reacted ‘aggressively’ and pushed the teacher into a nearby alley where his friends threatened him with a broken bottle unless he handed himself into the police. He received the equivalent of a caution after admitting touching the boy. Alston, of (4) Robin Hood Court, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, was convicted of one charge of indecent assault and one charge of indecency with a child. He was cleared of four charges of indecent assault and two counts of indecency with a child. Jurors were unable to reach verdicts on further charges of indecency with a child and indecent assault. He will be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court tomorrow.