Phillip Schofield’s brother has been found guilty of sexually abusing a teenage boy over a three-year period.
A jury found him guilty today of sexually abusing the boy for years, including coercing him into performing sex acts on him.
Timothy Schofield, 54, admitted to watching porn and masturbating with the schoolboy but claimed he did so only when the alleged victim was over the age of 16.
Schofield, who is seven years younger than his famous sibling, pleaded not guilty but was convicted at Exeter Crown Court of 11 counts of sexual offenses.
According to a witness statement Philip gave to the police in September 2021, he told his TV star brother that he masturbated with the boy a year before.
The police IT technician, from Bath, had repeatedly blamed his actions on his ‘mental health struggles’ and suggested the complainant is ‘exaggerating’ what happened.
Meanwhile, his defence lawyer said that while he was guilty of ‘the most serious crimes in the court of public morals’ he had not committed a criminal offence.
But closing the case for the prosecution, prosecutor Robin Shellard said: ‘We are not dealing with morals but criminal abuse against a child.’
He added: ‘There are good reasons why society – and we here are all part of this society and the law which is founded because of society – treats those under 18 and those under 16 not as full adults.
‘Society tries to protect children from adults who want to abuse them and tries to protect children from themselves.’
Referring to the defendant’s claims of ‘exaggeration’, Mr Shellard said: ‘The problem for Mr. Schofield is how restrained the boy is in his allegations.
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Is that person motivated by hate and spite or is he saying things about what happened? We say the evidence shows the boy is not motivated by hate and lies.’
Schofield was convicted of three counts of causing a child to watch sexual activity, three of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, three of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, and two of sexual activity with a child. He will be sentenced at a later date.
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