A Brighton sex therapist faces years in prison for raping a 14-year-old boy in the toilets of the King Alfred Leisure Centre in Hove.
Nick Gully, 48, was found guilty by a jury at Lewes Crown Court today (Monday 31 July) of one charge of rape and two counts of sexual assault.
The self-employed psychotherapist, who worked from offices in Hove, denied all three charges but was convicted after a six-day trial which started last week at Hove Crown Court.
He was remanded in custody to await sentence on Wednesday 6 September.
Judge Christine Henson told Gully, of Eley Crescent, Rottingdean, that he faced several years in jail.
The starting point would probably be eight years, he was told, although the judge would listen to representations from prosecutor Amy Packham and Gully’s barrister Beverley Cherrill.
The boy cannot be named for legal reasons. But his mother said: “The last six months have been a horrendous time for my son and my entire family.
“What started off as a perfectly normal Sunday, with my son attending the leisure centre having newly acquired membership on turning 14, turned into every parent’s worst nightmare.
“The unimaginable events that took place that day with him being deliberately targeted and attacked by a serious sexual predator while waiting for a lift home from me have had devastating consequences for my son and close family.
“He has had to come to terms with what has happened to him and also deal with the police investigation and trial.
“What has stood out to us is his outstanding bravery in coming forward immediately after the incident and the incredible support of his close friends and the professional services involved including the police and Survivors Network workers.
“I believe the perpetrator to be a serious sexual predator who if he had not been detained would have been an ongoing serious threat to young people.
“We are so relieved that the trial is now over and are looking forward to moving forward with our lives.”
Gully admitted having sexual contact with the boy and said that he thought he seemed old enough, although he conceded it was borderline. He denied rape and sexual assault.
Beverley Cherrill, defending, had told the jury that “an independent prosecution witness thought (the boy) was 16 – just as Mr Gully did”.
Amy Packham, prosecuting, had told the court: “There are a lot of people who think very highly of Mr Gully – personally and professionally. He has helped a lot of people. That is a side of him.
“On the surface Nicholas Gully is the loving father and respectable professional that you have heard so much about.”
She accepted that people who knew him described him as “a man with the utmost integrity” but added: “There always seems to have been another side – a secret side to him.”
He had a long history of seeking out others for sexual encounters – something he had managed to conceal from almost everyone who knew him.
Miss Packham said: “No one in his household was aware of his interest in boys and young men. He has hidden his sexual fantasies from people his entire life.”
On Sunday 29 January he had followed a 14-year-old boy into the toilets at the King Alfred and sexually assaulted and raped him, she said.
Gully has worked as a counsellor for people with addictions, including sex and love addictions, for more than 20 years.
He has worked as a part-time lecturer at Brighton University, specialising in addiction and cognitive behavioural therapy, and was previously director of addiction services at the Priory Hospital in London.
He has practised in Brighton and Hove as well as in London, also working with people addicted to drink, drugs and gambling, those with compulsive spending habits and eating disorders.
Detective Sergeant Julie Greenwood, from Sussex Police, said: “Gully deliberately targeted this young boy who he spotted in the reception area where the boy was waiting for his mother.
“He followed him and subjected him to the most degrading assault.
“Thanks to swift reporting by the boy the same afternoon and our inquiries which – with the help of CCTV – quickly identified Gully, he was soon arrested and picked out in an identification procedure.
“Other evidence also connected him to the offence.
“Gully initially refused to comment in our interviews with him.
“He subsequently admitted the encounter but pleaded not guilty, claiming in court that it was consensual and that he reasonably believed the boy was 16 or over despite not having any evidence to support that belief.
“The jury clearly saw through this account.
“We very much admire the courage of the victim in giving evidence in court.
“We also acknowledge the readiness of three of his friends, who engaged in text exchanges with him immediately after the crime and encouraged him to contact the police, they were fully prepared to give evidence in court but were not required.
“Anyone who wishes to report sexual offences of any kind can always contact us.
“You can report online or call 101. All reports will be treated in confidence and you can arrange to speak to experienced investigators.”
How much of this incident is a spill over from areas such as the ‘Duke’s Mound’ – an infamous gay meeting point and an area that is no-go after dark.
The law seriously need to look at this and introduce stiffer penalties for people who practice such outrageous and disgraceful indecency in public places using the flag of ‘LGBT persecution’ to protect themselves.
Jack you seem to be mixing pedophiles with gay men. What time is it Jack, oh look it’s 1953. Go educate yourself……
I have absolutely nothing against gay men in general.
What I find repugnant is that some gay men use public places like Duke’s Mound as well as public toilets to perform acts of gross indecency in full public view in a prolific and reckless manner with no concern for other members of the public such as the family that were walking through Duke’s Mound and came across 2 gay men who were openly engaged in sex on a bench and carried on regardless of the presence of the family.
I have used the King Alfred swimming complex where the assault on the boy happened and seen ‘glory holes’ in the connecting toilet cubicles which from what I understand are used for the practice of anonymous gay sex and ‘cottaging’ a subject that Gully wrote a play about.
I think I have made an important and valid point.
You can’t have consensual sex with a minor, the boy reported rape. what is your point?
Well I’d report these dirty old men to the police. They’ll have lots of fun with the bigger boys in prison. They’re not going to traumatise my family.
How much? None. Read the article ,he’s described a loving father.
Take your homophobia elsewhere.
He’s described as a rapist and paedophile?
None of it is a spill over from Duke’s Mound, it’s about paedophilia.
Jack London July 31, 2017 at 3:54 pm Reply So that would include straight people out in parks and ‘dogging’? I say that because you only mention gay people, but they are not the only ones out with their personal parts in public places, despite your one-sided comment. Just saying.
This man was working for The Cabin, chiang Mai, Thailand at the time of the attack as their COO. How many other vulnerable kids were put at risk by this dangerous pedo? He is scum. His Thailand link needs to be investigated. Thankfully, he’s locked away now for sometime and can’t harm others
He didn’t ever get to Thailand… he was due to go on the Friday after the attack. I did a mindfulness course with Nick.. and had attended his leaving do the night before this attack. Very shocking!
He’s been there before
He was there throughout December, there are lots of photos of him at The Cabin Chiang Mai, with his new car, new house etc and bragging about his job and condeming western people in Thailand as sex tourists. How ironic.Maybe the press will write about that, cos it certainly did happen.
Very interesting the thailand information. Why wasn’t this in the article? It seems there’s a lot of thailand links in Brighton with the people who commit these crimes. Maybe an investigation into this is needed as it’s coming up time and time again.
This poor young lad has had his life changed forever by this vile person. And for this to be perpetrated by someone who was in a position of trust with access to other vulnerable people is particularly hateful. I pray he gets the help he needs to overcome this
The reports say he was working in Harley Street, he was working as The COO of The Cabin Chiang Mai, which is a rehab centre in Thailand. I was working at that centre during the time (left due to the lack of ethics), and he was working in Chiang Mai in December. All staff were told that it was to be denied that he ever had anything to do with the organisation, and they have done everything to bury his association. It is scary that part of the organisation is an all male 18-25 year old center (The Edge Rehab), which has lots of vulnerable young males. Gully would have had open access to them in his role. I am very pleased to see that this man has been sentenced, but sad that he has put that young man through significant trauma. People like him are in positions of significant trust, and the courts need to deal with them accordingly.
“found guilty by a jury at Lewes Crown Court today (Monday 31 July)”…after a six-day trial which started last week at Hove Crown Court. Was it at Lewes CC, Hove CC or both? Strange
Both. Mostly at Hove, finished at Lewes.
Given this convicted paedophile has lied over and over and even forced his own children to stand up in court to try to worm his way out of this shows his total disregard for the feelings of others.
He is a psychopathic paedophile who should be locked up for the maximum time possible.
Refards his time at the Cabin and Edge Rehab in Chiang Mai that should also be investigated as soon as possible to find out what he has been up to in Thailand.
Evil evil man.
I am appalled by this story, and have great sorrow for the poor young man who has been raped by this fake Buddhist, and dragged and through the courts to feed his ego. As a parent it is also scandalous that he was in an entrusted position such as been mentioned here at The Cabin in Chiang Mai with it’s young mans program. I would certainly not send any of my loved ones to an organisation that obviously doesn’t vet it’s staff properly. I dread to think what he got up to whilst in Thailand, though it probably could have been a lot worse. I hope the local police and Thai police will share information to make sure that no offences were committed whilst he was at The Cabin Chiang Mai
Well you all suddenly believe everything the press say so it must be tru.iv read utter
Rubbish about this man,he was hung by the press,public and police already.if you think the jury didnt read it all before hand and already made there minds up,you must be all stupid..something is seriously wrong with this case and people jumping on the bandwagon never help.funny how many people are ready to put the boot in after he had fallen from grace. He never worked in Thailand he got the job but never got there.
Oh. The 14 year old boy must have made it up then after consenting to have sex with a middle age man he never met before.
Dont tell me, your one of those that makes a log of “chem trails”
This man is a vile pedo, hiding under a caring man, enlighten buddist, therapist front. He wasnt even a qualified, trained therapist.
Suddenly believe the press? He did admit it?
I was a victim of this man when I went to the same High School I was in the same class as him and he tried to rape me then.Nobody believed me at the time and thought I was making it up,he also had a Gun which he threatened me with and a Stanley Knife to stop me from telling somebody.
Paul, please report this. It will be investigated and you have a good chance he will be brought to justice and given a further sentence. I doubt he will ever change as he didn’t plead guilty and put that poor lad through a court appearance, so the longer he is kept of the streets, the better.
Amazing how someone can be egotistical enough to say that it was coessential, when, you can’t have sexual consent from a minor, by law. Then to go on about being a vegetarian Buddhist, like that mitigates paedophilia?
I would be very surprised, if this man, who clearly engages in ‘risk taking behaviour’, would not have made this error before? I mean, how can you not sense if someone doesn’t give you consent?
Given the extremely bold methods he used, from using the same buildings as a place of work, and, somewhere to sexually predate on minors (King Alfred), it seems highly likely that this man was, skilled, familiar, and, practiced, in such affairs.