The Welsh Government is conducting an internal review after it was discovered they had awarded a research contract related to sexuality and gender to a firm whose director had been jailed after admitting three charges of sexual activity with a child.
The director, James Mullen, had previously served eight months in prison after he was caught “writhing” on a girl at the Catholic boarding school where he worked as a history teacher. The incident occurred in 2013, just after a parent-teacher event on campus.
According to a Daily Mail article from the year the incident occurred, Mullen had groomed the girl over the course of his six months of employment, with text message exchanges being uncovered wherein Mullen acknowledged the relationship he had with the girl was immoral.
During a court hearing, it was also learned that Mullen had been sent to complete a child protection course when he was hired at the school which he passed with a 100% score.
Mullen ultimately pleaded guilty to three charges of sexual activity with a child while in a position of trust. He was then banned from teaching for life and was subjected to a 10-year sex offender registration following the completion of his prison sentence.
After being released, Mullen returned to school and was awarded a PhD in Ancient History from Newcastle University. According to his LinkedIn, during the course of his studies, Mullen “contributed to the Westminster All Party Parliamentary Groups reviewing safeguarding policy.”
In 2022, the same year he received his degree, Mullen set up a company called “Laurel Research Consulting,” later bidding for a contract with the Welsh Government to research conversion therapy on the basis of gender and sexuality.
According to Nation Cymru, the Government’s contract read that it was seeking to “understand more about the experiences of conversion practices in Wales. The term ‘conversion practices’ refers to any efforts to change, modify or suppress a person’s sexual orientation, gender, expression of sexual orientation and/or expression of gender, regardless of whether it takes place in a healthcare, religious or other setting. The research will understand who experiences conversion practices, the forms these practices take, by whom they are conducted, and the reasons why they are carried out; identify settings where conversion practices occur; provide insight into the impact of conversion practices; understand the support available; and provide evidence-informed actions, recommendations, and best practice.”
In 2023, Mullen’s company was awarded the contract, despite having no relevant experience or expertise in the field of gender or sexuality. At the time, Mullen would have still been registered as a sex offender.
The government is now reviewing how it came to award Mullen’s company the research contract, and whether any vetting had been conducted prior to the decision being made.
This controversy is the latest in a series of recent incidents involving pedophiles being linked to LGBT causes in the United Kingdom.
As previously reported by Reduxx, the founder of the largest Pride organization in Surrey was arrested last month and charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse against children. Stephen Ireland, 40, was was taken into custody with one of the volunteers from his organization, David Sutton, 26.
According to Surrey Police, Ireland and Sutton, both of whom worked with local pride organization Pride in Surrey, were jointly been charged with 15 offenses, including:
- Six counts of conspiracy to sexually assault a child;
- One count of conspiracy to kidnap a child;
- Four counts of arranging the commission of a child sex offence;
- One count of conspiracy to administer a substance with intent;
- One count of publishing an obscene article;
- One count of voyeurism;
- One count of perverting the course of justice.
Ireland was further charged with an additional 22 offenses of a serious nature, including the rape of a child, the sexual assault of a child, six counts of making indecent photographs of children, two count of possessing prohibited images of children, and more.
In all cases, the victim is said to be under the age of 13.
But just weeks following the announcement about Ireland and Sutton, another charity was rocked by scandal after it was learned that one of their contributors had been convicted for distributing videos of babies being raped.
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