Former councillor Timothy Herbert Darch (formerly known as Julian Timothy Darch) who raped teenage boys he met in Swindon in the mid-1990s has been sentenced for 22 years.
During the mid-late 1990s, Darch groomed three young teenage boys. He used his position of trust as a counsellor with a charity that supported young gay men in Swindon.
Richard Hall, one of the three victims has come forward publicly to call out lazy local journalism as one of the reasons Timothy Darch was able to live his paedophile life for three decades, read his personal blog HERE.
Judge Taylor said 62yr old Mr Darch from South Road, Kingsway in Quedgely had “not shown one iota of remorse” for the the crimes he committed in 1996-97, in which Darch had “preyed on” the teenagers and “remorselessly prioritised his sexual gratification over their welfare”.
Darch was previously convicted for child porn offences in 2017, and just a few months later went on to become a local Wiltshire councillor – Read HERE how this paedophile was able to live under the radar for three decades.
The child rapist, who is a former councillor for Lyneham & Bradenstoke Parish Council between 2018 and 2020 groomed these boys by taking them to pubs & clubs as well as supplying cigarettes, and giving them gifts and a roof over their head at his home in the Liden area of Swindon.
The, the judge added, “was cynically and manipulatively designed to make them so dependent on Darch that they would submit to his sexual desires”.
Darch appeared at Swindon Crown Court on Thursday morning via a video link from HMP Bullingdon where he was told his sentence would be 22yrs.
Victim statements read out in court indicated how the abuse at the hands of paedophile Mr Darch had caused serious mental health problems, which had left his victims feeling paranoid and full of shame, and that they struggled to trust others, process what happened, or form meaningful relationships.
Read our full coverage on this story HERE.
In a statement read to the court one of his victim’s said: “I was a child when I met Tim, so manipulating me and sexualising and abusing me was easy for him. The damage he has done to me has affected my whole life. He played various mind games and was very good at manipulating me and others to get whatever he wanted.
“I came forward as I was worried, he was subjecting others to abuse like he did me. I wish I had the strength to come forward sooner, but this has taken so much strength from me to get this far.
“I am aware that no amount of justice will ever give me back what I have lost, I am however hoping that I can get some sort of closure from all of this.”
Another victim added: “Tim brought me into a world which wasn’t real, where work and responsibility didn’t matter, and having fun did.
“To cope with the education he gave me, I was an alcohol and drug abuser by the time I was 16. It made living with my reality, and the memories of what Tim did to me, easier.
“I will forever be damaged by what happened. My life was shaped by his perversions and desires.”
“I can’t move on from the feelings of shame and blaming myself. I look back at the things I did as a child, and I apportion blame on myself for not behaving as I would now. I have started to release the shame I have for being abused by Tim, but I can’t simply let it go. It moved and changed into shame for not speaking sooner. I now have blame for everyone that Tim did this to after me.”
Darch was charged with four counts of rape on a boy under the age of 16yrs and four counts of indecent assault on a boy under the age of 16yrs.
Wiltshire Police Detective Constable Ross Duff said: “Darch put himself in a position of trust and exploited those vulnerable children.
“I would like to thank his victims for their incredible bravery throughout this process.
“I hope this sentence reassures our community that we take these allegations very seriously, and that this behaviour will not be tolerated.
“We will relentlessly pursue offenders to secure justice for their victims and want to reassure anyone who reports incidents of serious sexual assault and rape to us that they will be believed”.
Mr Darch was sentenced to 22yrs behind bars, of which he will serve a minimum of 14yrs before he is released on licence and will be placed on a SHPO (Sexual Harm Prevention Order) for the rest of his life.
Judge Taylor told Darch: “The victims were homosexual at a time when it was far more difficult to be. You preyed on the lack of opportunities for them to explore their sexuality and the vulnerabilities of the positions they found themselves in.”
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