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Stephen Ireland (pictured) , who co-founded Pride in Surrey in 2018, was jailed after being found guilty of raping a child at his flat
Posted on 06/30/2025 12:42:09 PM PDT by dennisw
The founder of a Pride group, who raped 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, 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.
'A was quite obviously to any adult an extremely vulnerable child who was highly sexualised.
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.'
On the same day, Ireland asked the boy if he would have a threesome and sent the child pictures of himself and Sutton.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Stephen Ireland (pictured) , who co-founded Pride in Surrey in 2018, was jailed after being found guilty of raping a child at his flat
The real obscenity here is that this monster only got 13 years.
Guilty. Chop off his unit. Next in line.
He should have claimed he was Muslim. It’s the new black.
Seems there should be liability from grinder for allowing a 12 year old on their site.
Yeah, I was wondering why a 12 year old was on Grindr
He’ll be living his dream in prison.
They definitely need to slice the private parts off these perverts. Not to make them women but to make them harmless to everybody else.
Any comment on USAID financing the disgusting, pride ‘manifesto’ parade in Kiev, Ukraine ???
Rope meet neck. . .
Sick and Demented....
He’ll be out in 2-3. Britain is lost.
For shame, for shame, for shame ...
“...Yeah, I was wondering why a 12 year old was on Grindr...”
Indeed. Last I heard, in most jurisdictions, adult-oriented services are legally mandated to have pretty stringent age-checks in place.
Hopefully that’s now come to an end, since the pride flags only help the Russians justify their own murder, rape and war.
Yeah these people are truly sick and shouldn’t be allowed to live in proper society
Grindr needs to be investigated. I’ve heard many underage kids are on that site, which is a gay social dating app. The boy isn’t innocent, since he did know what Grindr is.
Agree 100%
As a young person, I got around the age restriction by saying Yes to ‘Are you over 18?’. I wasn’t on Grindr, but a few adult stories sites (I was a horny teenager)😀
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