Ex-Lord Mayor guilty of indecent assaults

A former British Lord Mayor has been found guilty of indecently assaulting two boys more than 30 years ago.

A jury at Portsmouth Crown Court found Freddie Emery-Wallis guilty of a total of five counts of indecent assault dating back to the 1960s and 1970s.

Emery-Wallis, of Craneswater Park, Portsmouth, has been cleared of one further count of indecent assault and one of attempted buggery after the jury failed to reach a verdict.

Emery-Wallis, former leader of Hampshire County Council for 19 years and chairman of the council until his arrest last year, denied indecently assaulting the boys, aged 14 and 15, who worked as paperboys at his Portsmouth newsagents in 1968 and 1974.

The jury of nine women and three men heard that Emery-Wallis, 74, had enticed the boys with pornographic magazines before assaulting them in the office above his shop in Paulsgrove. He is due to sentenced on Friday at the court.

The assaults on the 15-year-old boy in 1968 took place while he was Lord Mayor of Portsmouth. It was not until 33 years later that the victim confronted him about the abuse, despite meeting on several occasions previously.

Inviting Emery-Wallis to his home to discuss relationship problems on February 16 last year, the victim recorded the 74-year-old talking about his personal and sexual history.

Emery-Wallis was arrested in March. Six months after his arrest the second victim came forward to say he had also been indecently assaulted. The man claimed Emery-Wallis touched him on the legs, thighs and bottom.

Prosecutor Michael Butt said the 74-year-old had exploited his position of trust as employer and "corrupted the boys for his own sexual gratification".

During the trial, Emery-Wallis admitted he had a year-long gay relationship while serving in the Army but said he kept the affair secret because it would ruin his career. Bruce Maddick, defending, warned the jury not to view the admission of homosexual activity as proof of sexual abuse.