Tory councillor facing child sex charges after Grindr hook-up turned out to be 14
A former Conservative councillor is facing a child sex charge – after finding out a boy he met on Grindr was actually 14.
50-year-old John George Reaney, who served as a town councillor in Colwyn Bay, had used the gay hook-up app to find men.
On June 29 last year, Reaney made plans to meet up with a boy – who cannot be named for legal reasons – via the app, taking him to his home where “sexual acts took place”.
The former politician told police that the boy assured him he was of age before the hook-up – but when it emerged the boy was actually 14, the ex-councillor was left facing child sex charges.
He denies a charge of inciting and causing a child engage in sexual activity.
Reaney appeared for the hearing at Caernarfon Crown Court this week, according to the Daily Post.
Prosecutor Simon Mills argued: “The law is there to protect. Consent is irrelevant because it is illegal to exercise whatever they are consenting or not.”
The politician conceded he had “probably got swept along in the moment”, but told police it was “difficult” to know people’s age.
He added: “I probably should have walked away, but I didn’t. We had a bit of fumbling and it shouldn’t have happened.”
Grindr’s terms and conditions state that “no persons under the age of eighteen years may indirectly view, possess or otherwise use the Grindr services”, and that users “affirm and warrant that you are currently over the age of eighteen years”.
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