Former Scout Leader Jailed

21 June 2012, 12:15 | Updated: 21 June 2012, 12:27

A former scout leader from Leighton Buzzard, who sexually abused three boys between 1977 and 2001, has been jailed for 14 years.

Robert Major, 63, (right) from Steppingstone Place, Leighton Buzzard was a scout leader in the town from the 1960s to the 1980s.  He also used to be a pool supervisor at a leisure centre in the area.

The offences were committed at two addresses and the leisure centre in the Leighton Buzzard area between 1977 and 1982 and an address in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, between 1997 and 2001.

Thames Valley Police was first contacted in the summer of 2009 when a man reported his son had been sexually abused by Major at a house in Aylesbury.

Following further enquiries, it was discovered the man who reported the abuse on his son had also been abused by Major in the Leighton Buzzard area when he was a boy.

A third victim was identified in 2010 and provided the investigating team with a statement in February 2012.

The investigation also focussed on Brian Bailey, aged 42, of High Street, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, who was jailed for six years in October 2011 for abusing six boys within a 15-year period.

Bailey had lived with Major at the address in Aylesbury, but they were not jointly charged with any offences.

Case investigator Jo Simmons, from Thames Valley Police, said: "This has been a long and complex investigation which has resulted in three victims coming forward to report the abuse Robert Major subjected them to.

“He was in a position of trust and abused this position to target young boys by plying them with cigarettes and alcohol.

“I would like to pay tribute to the bravery shown by all the victims as they have been through a horrendous ordeal. I hope this result will help them find a way to move forward with their lives.”

As well as his prison sentence, Major will have to sign onto the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.