Questions on how sex attacker John Humphreys was honoured

A report into how a councillor got an honorary title while under investigation for child sex crimes is to be carried out.

Former Conservative East Devon councillor and Exmouth mayor John Humphreys was made an alderman in December 2019.

At the time he was under investigation by the police for sexual assault of two boys between 1990 and 2001.

He was jailed for 21 years in August and stripped of the title in September.

Humphreys was arrested in 2015 and put on bail in 2016 for the crimes he eventually convicted of.

East Devon District Council's scrutiny committee has asked for a report into how honorary awards are administered.

It could mean the alderman title being scrapped or updated to create greater transparency and accountability, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

The committee's chairman, Conservative Tom Wright, said: "Had it not been for the horrific, scandalous affair of the councillor from Exmouth [John Humphreys], this [issue] probably would not have raised itself."

He admitted that nobody quite understood what such titles were for, beyond a general recognition of services to the council.

Labour councillor Paul Millar told the committee that the award was "full of potential cronyism and done in total secrecy without any safeguards".

Conservative councillor Helen Parr questioned allegations of cronyism and said she doubted whether anyone knew Humphreys was under investigation at the time of the award.

Humphreys was among 11 aldermen named by the council in December 2019.

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