The founder of a top LGBT organization in the UK has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for raping a 12 year old boy, along with a plethora of other disturbing offenses related to the sexual abuse of children.
Stephen Ireland, 41, was found guilty in March of raping the boy, who he met on gay “hookup” app Grindr. The abuse took place in an apartment occupied by Ireland and his partner, David Sutton, 27, in April of last year.
In addition to child rape, Ireland was seperately convicted on three counts of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, one count of sexually assaulting a child under 13, one count of conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child, four counts of distributing indecent images of children, six further counts related to their distribution, and one count of possessing extreme pornography.
Sutton was found guilty of distributing four indecent images of children – one of which fell into the most serious category – and of possessing at least 64 indecent images himself.
Both men were also convicted of one count of voyeurism and one count of perverting the course of justice. While Ireland received the harsher sentence – 30 years in prison, with eligibility for parole after serving at least 20 – Sutton was sentenced to four and a half years. Both men will be subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will remain on the sex offender registry for life.
Over the course of the trial, the court heard that Ireland stayed in contact with his 12-year-old victim after the assault, and began to refer to the child as his “secret underage boy” in an encrypted Telegram chat, saying it was “naughty and kinky” that the victim was as young as he was. Ireland reportedly asked the boy if he would have a threesome with him and Sutton.
In other messages exchanged on WhatsApp between the couple, they discussed “snatching” or “kidnapping” schoolchildren. Some of their plans, according to prosecutor Isabel Delamere, involved them pretending to be talent coaches or music managers outside of school gates. Further conversation between the two seen by the court revealed that Ireland labelled himself a “f***-up sick pedo perv,” while Sutton spoke about 14-year-olds making sexual advances towards him.
Despite even more messages indicating they planned to pick up a teenage boy and his younger sister to rape together as a “birthday present” for Sutton, the pair were found not guilty on the charges of conspiring to kidnap children.
In a statement made after the initial guilty verdict in March, Detective Chief Superintendent Debbie White, Head of Surrey Police’s Public Protection Team, said that Ireland was “a sexual predator who targeted a young boy and took advantage of his age and vulnerability for his own gratification.” White paid tribute to the victim of the two offenders “for their courage in coming forward and for giving evidence,” adding that she hopes the guilty verdicts will allow them to start to rebuild their life.
“Both men have demonstrated an extreme sexual interest in children and the fact that the jury has found them both guilty of multiple sexual offenses today means that they will no longer pose that risk,” White continued. “Both men then tried to cover up their offending by intentionally deleting material from their phones once they became aware of the police investigation and following their arrests,” she concluded.
But White’s statement failed to mention that Ireland, as the head of Pride in Surrey, was in close and regular contact with Surrey Police, who repeatedly recommended that people follow his group from their official social media accounts.
Ireland established Pride in Surrey in 2018, and the organization was responsible for arranging the annual Pride festivities, which included activities for children and youth. As a result of his activism, Ireland garnered the support of Surrey Police, who regularly attended events he organized in cars outfitted with rainbow decals.
Ireland was invited to speak at events by Surrey Police multiple times, including at a training day for their LGBT task force. As previously reported by Reduxx, Ireland even accompanied police to speak on LGBT awareness at a local secondary school in June of last year, at a time when police would have already been aware he was set to be prosecuted on child rape charges.
Local women’s rights group Women in Surrey sent representatives to cover the trial, and noted that evidence and arguments presented during the proceedings also suggested that a larger network of predatory men existed within Pride in Surrey. They suggest that these men still have access to children through their activism.
Stephen Ireland, founder of Pride in Surrey, has been sentenced to a 30 year custodial sentence for multiple child sex offences including the r*pe of a 12 year old boy. #prison#PrideInSurrey 👇
— Women of Surrey (@Women_of_Surrey) June 30, 2025
1/ pic.twitter.com/R0sLloRLdi
“During the trial we learnt that Ireland was previously married to a man who went on to identify as a woman. Ireland told the court that as a gay man he found this ‘difficult’ as he is ‘not attracted to women,” Women in Surrey wrote.
“In an effort to keep the marriage alive, Ireland and his husband introduced a third person into their relationship: Charlie Watts. Watts and Ireland went on to set up Pride in Surrey. Watts remains the current CEO.” In 2020, then-university student Sam Powell became involved with Ireland and Watts, taking the position of Volunteer Manager at the organisation, which he remains as today.
In August of 2024, Reduxx learned that Ireland had further used his influence in the LGBT community to groom and encourage a teen girl to embrace being a transgender “leather pup.”
The earliest messages between Ireland and “Julie” date back to 2018, when she was just 16. One year later, at the August 2019 Pride event, Julie can be seen dressed in “leather pup” fetish gear, a community most associated with gay males that involve sexually submissive partners roleplaying as dogs. In a photo, Ireland can be seen holding a lead fastened around the teenage girl’s neck.
Julie eventually took testosterone, and underwent a double mastectomy and hysterectomy. Ireland spent her 18th birthday with her, while she was wearing the pup fetish gear.
Ireland had previously defended minors being involved in the BDSM community, claiming children “inherently understand everything.”
Reduxx is your source of pro-woman, pro-child safeguarding news and commentary. We’re 100% independent! Support our mission by making a one-time donation.
