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7/1/2025, 12:02:06 AM
The founder of a Pride group, who raped an 'extremely vulnerable' boy who he met on Grindr, has been jailed for 24 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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