Nottinghamshire scout leader jailed for sexually abusing children

Police said Jonathan Withey was a danger to children

A former Nottinghamshire scout leader has been jailed for sexually abusing two children.

Nottinghamshire Police said Jonathan Withey abused a boy and a girl after meeting them at a scout camp in 1997.

Withey, of Tindall Close, Chilwell, was jailed for 16 years at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday.

Police praised Withey's victims and said the 42-year-old would have remained a danger to children had they not spoken out about his offending.

The force said Withey was 16 when met his victims at the camp and he began abusing them the following year.

He abused the girl over a four-year period and the boy, who was in his early teens, for three years, officers said.

No remorse

Withey denied two charges of rape, three indecent assaults, six counts of indecency with a child and two of having sexual intercourse with a girl under 13 but was convicted on those counts after a trial in August.

After he was jailed, police investigator Kerry Humphreys said: "Withey abused his position of trust as a scout leader to prey upon these children over a long period of time.

"Withey continued to deny his offending and subjected his victims to a court trial."

She added: "Throughout the proceedings he has not expressed any remorse about the ordeal they have gone through.

"He is a devious and predatory sex offender whose offending has unsurprisingly had a very significant impact on these two victims."

She praised the bravery of his victims adding: "Withey would have remained a danger to any children he came into contact with if they had not spoken out about what happened."