Scout leader jailed for sex offences against boy

A former scout leader has been jailed for sexual offences against a teenage boy committed more than 20 years ago.

Hampshire groundsman Robert Iskett was sentenced to five and a half years at Portsmouth Crown Court yesterday (31 August).

The 49-year-old was last month convicted of three offences against the then-teenage boy, while he was leader of a group of sea scouts in the West Sussex coastal town of Selsey in the late 1990s.

Iskett had denied all charges against him. He will also be registered as a sex offender for life.

Police said the scout leader indecently assaulted the unnamed boy during a group trip to the West Midlands. Iskett also indecently assaulted and carried out acts of gross indecency with the boy at an address in Selsey, where the scout leader lived at the time.

Iskett was arrested in November 2015 after the victim realised that the groundsman still involved with the scout movement. The groundsman was the district scout commissioner in Hampshire.

Iskett was suspended from his role after his arrest and following his conviction has been permanently barred from the Scout Association.

Detective Constable Erica Lawrie said: "Iskett denied his guilt throughout and the victim had to attend court and give evidence, which the jury clearly found compelling.

"This case shows once again that we will always take such reports seriously and investigate wherever possible, no matter how long ago the alleged events occurred."

In July, another former West Sussex-based scout leader Taffy Mark Evans, was jailed for 26 years for historical sex offences against boys under 14.

Evans, 56, of Lancing, carried out the attacks in Surrey, Sussex and south Wales during the 1980s and 1990s.

Following a trial at Lewes Crown Court, he was found guilty of 19 historic sex offences, and seven counts of making indecent photographs of children.

The offences were committed in Charlwood and Redhill in Surrey, Brighton, Burgess Hill and Crawley in Sussex, and Swansea, in south Wales.

After the hearing, Sussex Police said Evans, had systematically groomed and sexually assaulted the boys.

Detective Constable Heidi McCall said: "He first gained their confidence as a helpful family friend who took them out on trips, including train journeys, swimming and fishing, bought them presents and treats, but then gradually began to abuse each of them."