The founder of a Pride group who raped an ‘extremely vulnerable’ boy he met on Grindr has been jailed for 13 years.
Stephen Ireland, 42, who co-founded Pride in Surrey in 2018, raped the child at the flat he shared with his then partner and co-defendant David Sutton, 27, in Addlestone on April 19, 2024.
Judge Patricia Lees didn’t mince her words at Guildford Crown Court on Monday. She told Ireland he “took advantage” of vulnerable child.
Sick Messages to Missing Child
Ireland had arranged for the 12-year-old boy, referred to in court as Child A, to meet him at his flat after messaging on dating app Grindr, the court heard. The boy, who had been reported missing at the time, told police they had sex in the flat.
The boy said they also smoked a bong which was later found to have contained methamphetamine, and that pornography was played on a laptop.
When the child initially told Ireland he was 17 but later admitted he was just 13, Ireland’s response was chilling.
OK – we just have to keep it a secret,” he messaged back.
Judge Lees told him: “Your response was telling. Far from finding that repugnant, you found that exciting, and sought to do it again.”
‘Naughty and Kinky’
In a Telegram chat after their encounter, Ireland sent Child A message describing his age as ‘naughty and kinky’, the court heard.
On the same day, Ireland asked the boy if he would have a threesome and sent the child pictures of himself and Sutton.
Even more disturbing, jurors heard that Ireland sent picture of Child A to Sutton, describing him as a ’14-year-old baby’ who ‘wants to play with men’s bodies’, and the pair exchanged messages about the child.
Judge Lees said: “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 and been concerned for him instead of taking advantage of him.
Birthday ‘Present’ Plot
The depravity didn’t stop there. In August 2022, Ireland and Sutton discussed arrangements to procure a 13-year-old boy for Sutton’s 25th birthday in October of that year, the court heard.
Both men were also sentenced on one count each of voyeurism after Ireland watched live camera footage of Sutton having sex with another 16-year-old boy at their flat in March 2024.
The teenager didn’t know he was being recorded, with Ireland sending Sutton messages such as ‘he doesn’t know I’m here’ and telling him what to do.
You fed off one another,” Judge Lees told the defendants during sentence hearing on Monday.
“You definitely supported one another in your perversions.”
Educate and Celebrate Link
Here’s where it gets even more shocking. Ireland wasn’t just the co-founder of Pride in Surrey – he was also patron of controversial LGBT+ charity Educate and Celebrate.
The group, which received a £214,000 grant from the Department of Education in 2015, was allowed into thousands of schools across the UK. Their stated aim? To “completely smash heteronormativity” in schools.
Educate and Celebrate quietly folded in January 2024 after being plagued by scandal. They were forced remove celebrity patron, transgender comic Jordan Grey, after he stripped naked on Channel Four and played the piano with his genitalia.
Grey had boasted about going into schools to “talk about gender” on behalf of the charity, adding that “toddlers kind of get it straight away.”
Cover-Up Attempt
Ireland and Sutton also perverted the course of justice by intentionally deleting material and search history from their phones after they were released on police bail in June 2024.
Ireland, who sat in the dock dressed in a large red T-shirt and showed no emotions throughout the hearing, was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment.
His convictions included one count of rape, three counts of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, sexual assault, conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child, arranging commission of a child sex offence, six counts of making indecent photographs of children, four counts of distributing indecent photographs of children, possession of prohibited images, and possession of an extreme pornographic image.
Partner in Crime
Sutton was sentenced to four-and-a-half years‘ imprisonment for offences including voyeurism, possession and distribution of prohibited images of children, and perverting the course of justice.
Surrey Pride released a statement condemning the crimes, saying the two individuals were removed from organisation last year following investigations by Surrey Police.
“We remain committed to prioritising the safety and well being of our community,” they said.
Ireland’s defence lawyer Alex Kirkler told the court his client did not abuse his position within the Surrey Pride organisation to commit these offences.
Yeah, right.
Christian Chaplain Was ‘Safeguarding Risk’ But Not This Monster
Meanwhile, a Christian chaplain who raised concerns about Educate and Celebrate was reported to counter-terrorism, sacked and blacklisted as safeguarding risk to children by the Church of England.
Rev. Dr Bernard Randall gave a sermon encouraging debate after the group came into his school. For that, he was deemed dangerous.
But Ireland – who had access to vulnerable young people through his Pride work and school visits – that was all fine apparently.
Dr Randall said: “I would not be where I am now if E&C had not been invited into Trent College, it is as simple as that.
Mr Ireland has been charged with horrific crimes, and I am appalled, but sadly not surprised at his connection with a group like E&C.
The case has raised serious questions about safeguarding in organisations that work with young people. How many other vulnerable children did Ireland have access to through his various roles?
As one parent put it: “They let these people into our schools while calling anyone who questioned it a bigot.”
Food for thought.
