Foster carer from Telford jailed for sex attacks on young boys
A 64-year-old man has been jailed for 18 years for sexually abusing three young boys he was fostering.
Leslie Bryan, from Telford, was convicted of 13 offences of historic sexual abuse involving the boys at a time when he and his then wife were looking after them in Clacton, Essex.
Recorder Simon Mayo QC, sitting at Chelmsford Crown Court, said: “These were children you had been trusted to care for but you grossly abused that trust by committing sexual offences against them for your own perverted sexual gratification.”
The judge said Bryan had continued and escalated his abusive behaviour against the boys and the most serious today would be classed as rape.
He added: “That statement alone is sufficient to indicate the gravity of your offending.”
To mark the seriousness, the judge imposed consecutive sentences of 11 years and seven years on two of the convictions.
Bryan, of Burton Close, Dawley, will serve half behind bars and the remainder on licence.
The court had heard that Bryan was in his 20s at the time of the offences and had preyed on vulnerable boys. The persistent abuse continued for years.
He was then married to a woman 30 years older than him and living in Clacton.
After he and his wife separated Bryan moved back to the Midlands.
The judge read passages from the three victims’ impact statements.
One wrote: “The mental scars run deep. If not for my wonderful wife I would have ended my life some years ago.”
He spoke of how he left a suicide note detailing Bryan’s abuse.
He wrote: “What Bryan did took away my childhood and will have a lasting impact on myself and my family.
“Now the truth has finally come out I hope to move forward with my life but I can never forget what he did.”
The third victim wrote: “For over 30 years I had to live with the psychological effects of the abuse.”
Recorder Mayo said Bryan would have to sign the sex offenders’ register for life.
He also imposed a sexual harm prevention order for 18 years banning him from contacting children.
Bryan was convicted of a series of serious sex offences including four charges of indecent assault and one of indecency with a child.
