The brother of This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield has been found guilty of sexually abusing a teenage boy over a period of three years.
A majority verdict of 10-2 was delivered by a jury at Exeter Crown Court after more than five-and-a-half hours of discussion, finding Timothy Schofield guilty of all 11 sexual offences against a child that occurred between October 2016 and October 2019.
On Monday (April 3), the 54-year-old civilian police worker from Bath was found guilty of three charges of causing a child to observe sexual activity, three of engaging in sexual activity in front of a child, three of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, and two of sexual activity with a child, despite his denial of the charges.
During the trial, Schofield maintained that he had only watched pornography with the teenager, who he believed was over 16 at the time, and that they had engaged in mutual masturbation while sitting separately, but he denied any sexual acts with the boy.
The boy, who alleged the offending started when he was 13, explained that he felt “emotionally blackmailed” and “forced” to participate in sexual activity. Closing the case for the prosecution, prosecutor Robin Shellard said: “We are not dealing with morals but criminal abuse against a child.”
He continued: “There are good reasons why society—and we here are all part of this society and the law which is founded because of society—treats those under 18 and those under 16 not as full adults. Society tries to protect children from adults who want to abuse them and tries to protect children from themselves.”
Judge Mrs. Justice Cutts remanded him in custody ahead of sentencing at Bristol Crown Court on May 19. In a statement released by his lawyer after the verdict, British TV presenter Phillip said: “My overwhelming concern is and has always been for the wellbeing of the victim and his family. I hope that their privacy will now be respected.
“If any crime had ever been confessed to me by my brother, I would have acted immediately to protect the victim and their family. These are despicable crimes, and I welcome the guilty verdicts. As far as I am concerned, I no longer have a brother.”
