Pride Group Founder Who Targeted Author Over Gender-Critical Views Sentenced to 24 Years for Child Rape
JK Rowling has revealed how a convicted paedophile harassed her over her transgender views before he was jailed for 24 years for raping a 12-year-old boy.
The Harry Potter author, 59, posted on social media after Stephen Ireland, 42, was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court on Monday for the rape of an “extremely vulnerable” child.
Ireland, who co-founded Pride in Surrey in 2018, raped the youngster after luring him to the flat he shared with co-defendant David Sutton, 27, and plying him with drugs.
The sex predator had arranged to meet the boy, referred to in court as Child A, after linking with him on homosexual dating app Grindr in April 2024.
Four years before Ireland molested the boy, he had been vitriolically abusing Rowling online for her gender-critical views.
In a June 2020 post aimed at the multi-millionaire author, Ireland raged: “How to ruin a legacy... become a TERF! Very disappointing JK!”
“What happens when women enter menopause? What about women who had hysterectomies? Women who don’t menstruate because of hormonal issues? Are they not women? Nothing YOU say stops Trans Women from being Women.”
After Ireland was jailed alongside Sutton, who received four-and-a-half years, Rowling wrote: “Stephen Ireland, who targeted me with endless abuse on here because I oppose the chemical castration of children and the removal of protected spaces for women and girls, has just been sentenced to 30 years in jail for child rape.”
Ireland was actually sentenced to 24 years in prison, not 30, plus an additional six years on extended licence.
Guildford Crown Court heard the boy, who had been reported missing at the time of his rape, told police he had sex with Ireland in his flat, smoked a bong later found to contain methamphetamine, and that pornography was played on a laptop.
Judge Patricia Lees told the hearing Ireland “took advantage” of a vulnerable child, stating: “Stephen Ireland is a man who prided himself on being versed in and highly alive to the vulnerabilities of young people linked to the Surrey Pride organisation he was at the time pivotal to.”
“A was quite obviously to any adult an extremely vulnerable child who was highly sexualised. Any responsible adult would have quickly appreciated that there was a high likelihood A is a young man who had been the subject of sexual grooming by adult men at a very early age.”
The court heard the boy initially told Ireland he was 17, but when he later claimed to be 13, Ireland replied: “OK – we just have to keep it a secret.
“Your response was telling,” Judge Lees told Ireland. “Far from finding that repugnant, you found that exciting.”
In a Telegram chat after their encounter, Ireland sent Child A a message describing his age as “naughty and kinky.” On the same day, Ireland asked if he would have a threesome and sent pictures of himself and Sutton.
Jurors heard Ireland sent a picture of Child A to Sutton, describing him as a “14-year-old baby” who “wants to play with men’s bodies.”
Ireland and Sutton were found guilty of multiple sexual offences including voyeurism, arranging commission of child sex offences, and possession of prohibited images of children.
In August 2022, the pair discussed procuring a 13-year-old boy for Sutton’s 25th birthday. They were also convicted of voyeurism after Ireland watched live footage of Sutton having sex with a 16-year-old boy in March 2024, with the teenager unaware he was being recorded.
“You fed off one another,” Judge Lees told the defendants.
Ireland’s defence lawyer Alex Kirkler said his client did not abuse his position within Surrey Pride to commit the offences. Both men also perverted the course of justice by deleting material from their phones after being released on bail.
Rowling added that Ireland was not the only sex offender to find themselves behind bars after berating her online for her trans-critical views.
“[Sutton] follows in the footsteps of trans-identified man Lexi Secker, who also sent me reams of abuse on here, especially for my belief that women should have single-sex spaces and rape crisis centres. Mr Secker has since been sentenced to six and a half years in jail for rape,” she wrote.
Secker, born Alexander Secker, 35, was obsessed with the Harry Potter creator and slammed other women – including MP Rosie Duffield – who have spoken out on trans issues.
The father-of-two, who began identifying as “Lexi” after his arrest, called Rowling a “shallow, insecure pleb who mistook success for intelligence” and labelled her a “holocaust denier,” “Nazi,” and “transphobe.”
Secker was convicted of raping a woman in Blunsdon, Wiltshire, in April 2023. Despite being tried as a woman with court officials using feminine pronouns, Judge Jason Taylor KC told Secker during sentencing: “At the time of this offence, you were a man. You identified as a man and you were, on the evidence, clearly attracted to women.”
Secker was sentenced to serve his time in a male prison.
The cases have reignited debate about safeguarding and the targeting of women who raise concerns about gender ideology, with Rowling’s posts highlighting the pattern of abuse she receives from individuals later convicted of serious sexual offences.
