A judge praised a victim’s bravery as he gave a child sex abuser an 18-year sentence at Hove Crown Court this morning (Friday 2 February).
Judge Gary Lucie praised Stephen Lewsey, 51, who waived his right to anonymity as he thanked Sussex Police and urged other victims to come forward.
Judge Lucie jailed 74-year-old Glenn Langrish, who now calls himself Glenn Stephens, and who was extradited to face justice in a case that took 13 years to bring to court.
Langrish was in his thirties when he first made contact with Mr Lewsey, who was then 10, using CB (citizens band) radio in the 1980s.
James Oliveira-Agnew, prosecuting, told the court that none of those early conversations were sexual. They arranged to meet up, he said, and Langrish offered Mr Lewsey a Saturday job.
Langrish worked at a lawnmower repair shop called Ree-Even Hire at their shops in Portland Road, Hove, and in Crawley. The job was at the Crawley store where much of the abuse took place.
Mr Oliveira-Agnew said that Langrish also gave Mr Lewsey lifts to and from work, driving via Lowfield Heath, near Gatwick, where he also carried out abuse in his car.
Mr Oliveira Agnew, standing in for trial counsel Rachel Beckett, added: “There was a significant degree of planning.
“The defendant had already been convicted of sexually assaulting numerous boys by the time he offered the victim a Saturday job. He had an entrenched sexual interest in young boys.
“Further, the defendant, as the employer of the victim at the relevant time, abused a position of trust. This is particularly true as the defendant provided transport to and from the place of work.”
The abuse ended after three to four years, the court was told, when Mr Lewsey left the job and Langrish was jailed for four years for abusing other boys.
He had previous similar convictions going back to the early 1970s – when he was in his early twenties – and had been sentenced to probation in one case at the Old Bailey.
In 1994, he moved to Sweden with his partner and became a Swedish citizen. The court was told that she was standing by Langrish.
And in 2011 Mr Lewsey went to the police to report what had happened to him – but it proved hard to trace Langrish.
As well as moving abroad, he had changed his name to Stephens – and, once he was traced, it was not possible to extradite him.
An international arrest warrant was issued and, when Langrish made a visit to Poland, he was arrested and, from there, extradited to Britain. He was then arrested at Heathrow.
