A former Radio One DJ has been convicted of a series of child sex offences. Mark Page, who worked at the station in the 1980s, was found guilty of four out of five allegations involving youngsters as young as 12.
The disgraced DJ, who was also known on Teesside after spending more than 20 years as match announcer for Middlesbrough FC, had denied all the allegations which date back to 2016 and 2019. He was accused of five counts of arranging the commission of a child sex offence.
A jury at Teesside Crown Court convicted him of four of the allegations. He was cleared of a fifth. Two of these offences were committed remotely from the UK in 2016, while two happened in the Philippines on separate trips made by Page in 2016 and 2019, reports Teesside Live.
The court was told during the trial how Page, 63, used regular business trips to the Philippines as well as his charity work as a cover for his sexual interest in underage children. Facebook alerted a charity following concerns raised about messaging on its platform.
The charity informed UK law enforcement and Cleveland Police carried out a search warrant at his home in January 2020. Analysts studied a tablet, mobile phone and computer tower and checked his Skype activity, texts, bank account and money transfers before charging him.
Page told the court that his devices had been hacked but did not mention this while he was being interviewed by police, as he gave “no comment” answers, later explaining to the jury he was in shock. Jo Kidd, prosecuting, drew parallels with higher profile paedophiles than Page during her closing speech to the jury.
Page, of Ingleby Barwick, Teesside, had no previous dealings with police and was of previously good character, but Miss Kidd said: “Some of you may be old enough to remember Jim’ll Fix It. You will remember watching It’s a Knockout.
“You will remember revelling in the size of Gary Glitter’s shoes. They were people who were spoken highly of, even people who were knighted by the Queen.”
She said there was almost a “state funeral” for Savile, with his golden coffin taken through the streets of Leeds adding: “I am not saying this on the basis that just because Mr Page was a Radio One DJ, that it makes him guilty of these offences.
“But it is worth noting, when one puts on a public face, when one carries out charity work, it does not mean the underbelly of their sexual depravity is not real.” Page will be sentenced at Teesside Crown Court on Thursday.
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