Pride group founder who r@ped a 12-year-old boy he met on dating app is jailed alongside his partnera
The founder of a Pride group, who r@ped an 'extremely vulnerable' boy who he met on Grindr, has been jailed for 13 years.
Stephen Ireland, 42, who co-founded Pride in Surrey in 2018, r@ped the child at the flat he shared with his then partner and co-defendant David Sutton, 27, in Addlestone on April 19, 2024.
Ireland had arranged for the 12-year-old boy, referred to in court as Child A, to meet him at his flat after messaging him on the dating app Grindr, the court heard.
The boy, who had been reported missing at the time, told police they had s£x 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.
Judge Patricia Lees, sentencing at Guildford Crown Court on Monday, told the hearing Ireland 'took advantage' of a vulnerable child.
She 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.
The boy, who had been reported missing at the time, told police they had s£x in the flat.
The boy said they also smoked a bong which was later found to have contained methamphetamine, and that porn0graphy was played on a laptop.
Judge Patricia Lees, sentencing at Guildford Crown Court on Monday, told the hearing Ireland 'took advantage' of a vulnerable child.
She 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 s£xualised.
'Any responsible adult would have quickly appreciated that there was a high likelihood A is a young man who had been the subject of s£xual gro0ming by adult men at a very early age and been concerned for him instead of taking advantage of him.'
The court heard the boy had initially told Ireland he was aged 17 - but when he later claimed to be aged 13, Ireland replied: 'OK - we just have to keep it a secret.'
'Your response was telling,' Judge Lees told Ireland, who sat in the dock dressed in a large red T-shirt and showed no emotions throughout the hearing.
'Far from finding that repugnant, you found that exciting, and sought to do it again.'
In a Telegram chat that took place after their encounter, Ireland sent Child A a message in which he described 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.
Jurors heard that 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', and the pair exchanged messages about the child.
Ireland along with Sutton, who was a volunteer for Surrey Pride, were found guilty of a string of s£xual offences against children including voyeurism, arranging commission of a child sex offence, and possession of prohibited images of children, after a trial at Guildford Crown Court earlier this year.
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 s£x with another 16-year-old boy at their flat in March 2024.
The teenager did not 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, the court heard.
'You fed off one another,' Judge Lees told the defendants during the sentence hearing on Monday.
'You definitely supported one another in your perversions.'
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 was sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment on one count of r@pe, three counts of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, s£xual ass@ult, conspiracy to engage in s£xual activity with a child, arranging commission of a child s£x 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 porn0graphic image.
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.
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