The brother of This Morning star Phillip Schofield has been found guilty of sexually abusing a teenage boy over a period of three years

 

A jury today found he had begun sexually abusing the boy years earlier, including coercing him into performing sex acts on him.

Timothy Schofield, 54, had admitted to watching pornography and masturbating with the schoolboy but claimed he only did so when the alleged victim was over 16.

 

Schofield, who is seven years younger than his famous sibling, pleaded not guilty but was convicted of 11 counts of sexual offences at Exeter Crown Court.

 

He told his TV star brother in September 2021 that he masturbated with the boy a year before, according to a witness statement Philip gave to the court.

 

The police IT technician, from Bath, had repeatedly blamed his actions on his ‘mental health struggles’ and suggested the complainant is ‘exaggerating’ what happened.

 

Meanwhile, his defence lawyer said that while he was guilty of ‘the most serious crimes in the court of public morals’ he had not committed a criminal offence.

 

But closing the case for the prosecution, prosecutor Robin Shellard said: ‘We are not dealing with morals but criminal abuse against a child.’

 

He added: ‘There are good reasons why society – and we here are all part of this society and the law which is founded because of society – treats those under 18 and those under 16 not as full adults.

 

‘Society tries to protect children from adults who want to abuse them and tries to protect children from themselves.’

 

Referring to the defendant’s claims of ‘exaggeration’, Mr Shellard said: ‘The problem for Mr. Schofield is how restrained the boy is in his allegations.

‘

Is that person motivated by hate and spite or is he saying things about what happened? We say the evidence shows the boy is not motivated by hate and lies.’

 

Schofield was convicted of three counts of causing a child to watch sexual activity, three of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, three of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, and two of sexual activity with a child. He will be sentenced at a later date.