The boy abused by Timothy Schofield, the brother of TV star Phillip Schofield, detailed the impact of what happened in a statement to Bristol Crown Court on Friday. Timothy Schofield was jailed for 12 years at the court after being convicted of 11 child sex offences during a trial at Exeter Crown Court in April.
Timothy Schofield, 54, was convicted of 11 sexual offences involving a child between October 2016 and October 2019, including two of sexual activity with a child, after a trial at Exeter Crown Court in April.
A victim personal statement from the boy was read by prosecution barrister Robin Shellard. Avon and Somerset Police later released the following sections of the statement with the boy’s approval.
The extract said: “Before Tim was arrested, I felt I had no freedom. I often felt panic, stress and fear.
“I felt like I was trapped in a loop of fear and anxiety of the abuse happening again and again. It was only after Tim was arrested that I felt safe.
“It was only after Tim was arrested that I felt free. Free to be me, free to be happy, free to be relaxed.
“When I think about what happened, it wasn’t just what happened to me, it was who it made me become. I felt trampled on and feel I became a person who didn’t expect a lot from people and how they treated me and therefore, I didn’t get a lot. I feel numb to life and I know I should feel really happy or really sad but I don’t have the ability to emotionally connect with what is happening.”
Schofield, a civilian police worker from Bath, Somerset, told the jury while giving evidence that he had watched pornography with the boy who he insisted was over the age of 16 at the time. He denied performing sexual acts on the teenager.
However, the jury found Schofield guilty on all counts with a majority of 10-2 after more than five-and-a-half hours of deliberation. Avon and Somerset Police later dismissed Schofield, who had been suspended from his job at the force’s headquarters in Portishead after being arrested and charged, without notice.
Mrs Justice Cutts, sentencing Schofield at Bristol Crown Court on Friday, told him: “You exploited his innocence at this stage of his life for your own sexual gratification. It was wrong on every level for you to behave as you did.
“He felt forced to do what you wanted, trapped and unable to escape. He felt he couldn’t tell anyone and did not do so for many years. You took away his ability to be the teenager he should have been – carefree, relaxed, happy. It is clear to me that you became utterly obsessed with him.”
She added: “Your actions and behaviour have had a devastating impact on the boy. In doing what you did, you thought only of yourself.
“I have not heard a single word of remorse from you, only self-pity.”
The judge, who imposed a sexual harm prevention order on Schofield and barred him from working with children, commended the courage of the boy for reporting the abuse.
