Neil Turner, 67, of Pevensey Garden, Worthing, was sentenced to 28 months in prison at Hove Crown Court yesterday (August 5) after admitting to assaults on six young boys and on an adult with learning disabilities.
His latest victims, who were abused from the mid-1980s, came forward after Turner was jailed in 2017 for similar assaults on three other boys.
The court heard the latest charges bore many similarities to Turner’s previous offences, which revolved around the music teacher’s self-confessed foot fetish.
Judge Jeremy Gold QC said many people had provided positive character references for Turner, but he had abused positions of power.
“You are now 67 years old and in many respects you have led an exemplary life,” he said. “We have had many excellent references speaking to your character.
“However, to a large extent, therein lies the problem. Underneath the veneer of respectability lies a man with sexual urges which sadly you have consistently failed to control throughout your life.
“You have a foot fetish which has led you to sexually touch a number of youngsters and a vulnerable young adult who no doubt trusted and admired you. Because they trusted you, they found themselves in a situation where you could teach them and you took advantage of that situation for your lustful benefit and to their disadvantage, resulting in their long term psychological damage. This sort of behaviour to young people has life-long effects.”
The court heard that in 1999 Turner was sacked by Shoreham College after receiving a caution for common assault on a minor. He was allowed to continue as choirmaster at his church, but forced to sign a contract forbidding unsupervised contact with children.
Judge Gold sentenced Turner to four months in jail for each victim, a total of 28 months. He was placed on the sex offenders register, on which he was already listed, and given a sexual harm prevention order.
Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cullimore said: “This case is an example of the way in which we will always take such reports seriously, no matter how long ago the events took place, and will seek to investigate and wherever possible to achieve justice and some closure for victims.”
Charles Derham, Director and Solicitor-Advocate at Remedy Law comments “regardless of the fetish an individual has, it is not appropriate to use this as an opportunity to make excuses for sexually abusing children”.
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