Bristol paedophile ‘predatory and depraved’

A 75-year-old former Bristol man deported from the Philippines has been convicted of sexual offences against children committed between the 1960s and 1980s in the UK.

Douglas Slade, who lived in Sea Mills and Totterdown, was found guilty of all 13 offences following a trial at Bristol Crown Court.

The offences, committed in Bristol and other parts of the country, were against five children and the youngest was 10 years old at the time.

A second man, 72-year-old Christopher Skeaping, formerly of Hounslow in London, was convicted of one count of indecent assault against one of these five victims. This victim had been introduced to Slade by Skeaping.

One of Slade’s victims described him as “evil and a coward who has shown no remorse”.

Both men were involved with the former Paedophile Action for Liberation, which later became the Paedophile Information Exchange – campaign groups in the 1970s and 1980s calling for the age of consent to be lowered to allow sex with children to be legalised.

They were also part of a wider paedophile network involving men interested in the sexual abuse of children.

Det Sgt Paul Melton, who has led the investigation into Slade and Skeaping, said: “In April 2010, one of the victims came forward to police to report being abused by several people, including Douglas Slade, in the 1970s.

“A second victim was identified and as a result of both their accounts three men were convicted of sexual offences, but charges couldn’t be brought against Douglas Slade because he was living in Angeles City in the Philippines at the time.

“When Douglas Slade was expelled from the Philippines in September 2015 he was brought back to the UK and charged.

“It’s clear from the evidence that both Slade and Skeaping were part of a network of men who wanted to abuse children. Evidence showed Slade would be contacted by some of these men asking him how to go about abusing a child – one of the many horrifying aspects of this case.

“Slade is the worst example of a predatory and depraved paedophile and he used every method he could think of to find children he could abuse. No child will ever be safe in his company.

“He’s shown absolutely no remorse for his sickening crimes or for the lasting emotional and psychological damage he’s caused his victims. If he hadn’t been arrested, charged and now convicted, I’ve no doubt he’d have continued to offend.

“Our investigation into Slade and his associates is ongoing and we believe there will be more victims who haven’t yet come forward.”My life has been affected in numerous ways. I viewed people in authority, specifically men, as predators and rebelled against the way in which they tried to get me to be.

In their impact statements, which have been released by Avon and Somerset Police, Slade’s victims described the lasting impact of his crimes:  “I didn’t feel like there was anybody that I could speak to back then, my distrust of people was so deep that I had to suffer with the things that happened to me on my own. I was so well groomed that I didn’t think anyone would believe me…I can even recall being told that I would go to prison if I said anything that happened to me.

“This court process has been extremely difficult for me to go through, as were the police interviews where I laid my soul bare and spoke about memories which I had kept locked away for so many years.

“The thing that has kept me going is that by doing this, the offenders will not be able to hurt anyone else and that children will be safe from them.

“I have been asked how I feel about Douglas Slade. He is evil and a coward who has not shown any remorse for his actions.

Another of his victims wrote: “His (Slade’s) behaviour in a different jurisdiction (The Philippines) caused considerable worry and grief for me on a regular basis each time causing my heart to sink and bringing back the memory of his abuse of me 50 years ago.

“My wife asked me after I had given evidence – whether a weight has been lifted from my shoulders – and it hasn’t. His actions will go with me to my grave, but I shall now store it at the back of my mind again.

“I believe his mind is set to denial that he has ever done anything with children let alone anything that he would consider to be wrong. Forgiveness can only come with a complete and honest admission of guilt and an expression of sorrow. That I doubt I shall ever hear.

“I am grateful for the way I was treated in court and that at least made the unpleasant experience somehow more bearable.

“I shall be eternally grateful for the support, tenacity and dedicated work of Detective Sergeant Paul Melton who has, in my view, set the highest standards of police work and brought Douglas Slade to book, something I thought I would never see happen in my lifetime.”

If you have information which could help the police inquiry, please call DC Paul Melton via 101 and quote Operation Falcon.

Victims of rape or sexual assault, recent or non-recent, can also self-refer to The Bridge, a Sexual Assault Referral Centre available 24/7 365 days a year. Visit their website at thebridgecanhelp.org.uk or call 0117 342 6999

You can also visit thisisnotanexcuse.org