Peter Francis, an exiled former Yorkshire cub scout leader, has been incarcerated once more after confessing to the act of indecently abusing a juvenile male during the 1990s. However, the duration of his imprisonment is a mere 30 months.
Peter Francis, a former resident of Ilkley, who is currently 68 years old, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2002 for a series of severe sexual assaults committed against both boys and girls. While still serving this sentence, he received an additional five-year prison term in 2014 for sexually abusing another boy.
The Bradford Crown Court was informed yesterday (July 3) that Francis had spent 18 years in prison. It was his imminent release by the Parole Board in 2020 that led another victim to come forward and disclose the long-held “dark secret.”
The Parole Board granted Peter Francis parole on July 1, 2020. However, he was apprehended the following day, and an investigation into the recent allegations was initiated.
During the court proceedings, it was revealed that Peter Francis, residing in Grattan Road, Bradford, admitted guilt in May to four counts of indecent assault on the victim, who was a minor in the early 1990s. However, the victim’s identity cannot be disclosed due to legal restrictions.
In July 2020, Peter Francis was initially examined regarding the charges. However, his solicitor advocate, Julian White, stated that Peter Francis had no memory of the precise wrongdoing.
Mr White submitted that because his client had been out of prison for the last three years and the risk he posed was being properly monitored the judge could take an exceptional course and suspend his prison sentence.
But Judge Colin Burn said it was important not to lose sight in an extremely complex sentencing exercise of the fact that there was a victim in the case who had suffered significant psychological harm on a long-term basis.
He said Peter Francis would have been jailed for 40 months following a trial, but his guilty pleas meant that sentence could be reduced to 30 months.
In his victim impact statement the complainant described the abuse he suffered decades ago as horrific and said it had changed him forever.
He said he had been carrying a “dark secret” and Francis’ actions had not allowed him to fulfilled his potential.