Pride group founder raped boy, 12, jury told

A man accused of multiple child sex offences allegedly raped a 12-year-old boy and smoked a bong with him at his flat, a trial has heard.

Stephen Ireland, 40, who co-founded Pride in Surrey in 2018, is facing 35 charges while his flatmate David Sutton, 27, a volunteer with the organisation, is accused of 20 offences.

The pair targeted "children for their sexual proclivities", Guildford Crown Court was told.

The defendants have denied all the charges and jurors were told they would argue the allegations were ill-founded and untrue.

Mr Ireland is alleged to have met a 12-year-old boy at his flat in Addlestone in April 2024 after messaging on dating app Grindr.

The boy told police that while in the flat, pornography was also played on a laptop, jurors heard.

In a Telegram chat afterwards, Mr Ireland allegedly sent the boy messages calling him "my secret underage boy" and described his age as "naughty and kinky", the court heard.

Mr Ireland also said "we just have to keep it a secret", prosecutor Isabel Delamere said.

On the same day, Mr Ireland asked the boy if he would have a threesome and sent the child pictures of himself and Mr Sutton, the court heard.

Jurors heard that Mr Ireland allegedly sent a picture of the boy to Mr Sutton and they exchanged messages about him.

Mr Ireland and Mr Sutton are jointly charged with 15 offences relating to a number of children, including six counts of conspiracy to sexually assault a child, one count of conspiracy to kidnap a child and four counts of arranging the commission of a child sex offence.

Jurors heard that Mr Ireland was charged with a further 20 counts, including raping a child and causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

Mr Sutton was also charged with another five offences, including making indecent photographs of children, the court heard.

The alleged offences are said to have happened between August 2022 and July 2024, Surrey Police said.

Ms Delamere said the children were mostly, but not exclusively, male.

The trial continues.

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