Two former Tory mayors found guilty of child-sex offences in just 48 hours
Two former Tory mayors have been convicted of multiple child-sex offences in just 48 hours. One of them has been found guilty of raping a young girl, while the other admitted to over 20 counts of child abuse.
Former mayor of the Welsh county town of Pembroke, David Boswell, 57, was found guilty of rape and three other indecent assaults against two girls at Swansea Crown Court on Monday.
The jury heard that he raped a nine-year old and indecently assaulted another girl aged around 13 between 1990 and 1994.
Boswell, who is a still Pembrokeshire county councillor, was cleared of another three indecent assault allegations by two complainants.
He denied the allegations, which he described as “complete lies” and said they “made me feel sick.” He volunteered to take a lie detector test to prove he was telling the truth.
“I can put my hand on the Bible and say I have never sexually assaulted that girl,” Boswell said. “If I had done something, why has it taken so long for it to come out?”
He was remanded in custody by Judge Keith Thomas, who told him he should expect a lengthy jail sentence.
Separately, former councilor and Conservative mayor of Godalming, Simon Thornton, pleaded guilty on Monday to 22 child-sex offences and was subsequently jailed for nine years at Guildford Crown Court.
Thornton, whose offences include possession of indecent photographs and videos, had been in a sexual relationship with a 13-year old.
When he was arrested on October 24 last year at his butcher's shop in Godalming, Thornton reportedly told police: “You know I'm the mayor of Godalming, you know I have a 10-year-old daughter.”
Investigating officer Police Constable Tamzin Ede said: “Simon Thornton displayed predatory behavior to abuse a child for a prolonged period. He clearly believed he would get away with this offending, given how long it carried on, and has now rightly been jailed for his abhorrent crimes,” Get Surrey reports.
“Simon Thornton’s crimes have impacted the victim through her childhood and into adult life, the offending against her have caused low confidence, depression and difficulties in building new trusted relationships.
"The victim in this case has shown real courage in reporting and supporting the police investigation,” Ede added.
Thornton, of Abraham Way in Borden, Hampshire, will be placed on the Sexual Offenders Register and will also be indefinitely subjected to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
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