The patron of an LGBT+ charity that encouraged toddlers to question their gender has been charged child sex abuse offences including rape.
Stephen Ireland is accused of raping a child, multiple sexual assaults, voyeurism, making indecent photographs of youngsters as well as plotting to kidnap a child.
The 40-year-old, who was listed as a director of Pride in Surrey until June, appeared in court on Thursday accused of committing the offences over a two-year period from August 2022 to last month.
He was joined in court by David Sutton, 26, a fellow former Pride in Surrey volunteer who is accused of voyeurism, possession of extreme pornography, conspiracy to sexually assault a child and plotting to kidnap a youngster.
The pair, both from Addlestone in Surrey, were arrested on Wednesday and have since remanded into custody to appear in court again on September 12.
Ireland claims on his social media to be a patron of Educate and Celebrate, a LGBT+ charity which caused controversy after encouraging toddlers to question their gender.
The non-profit, which was set up by Dr Elly Cannon, said it had hoped to ’embed gender, gender identity and sexual orientation into the fabric’ of organisations including primary schools.
However, it mysteriously shut down at the start of 2024 after a series of controversies including pushing to replace ‘Sir’ and ‘Miss’ with gender-neutral terms and one of its other patrons – trans comic Jordan Gray – stripping off and exposing their penis during a TV skit.
When it closed in January, the charity’s chair of trustees Julie Bremner told MailOnline they would ‘continue our much-needed work through new projects’. There is no suggestion its closure was related to the charges faced by Ireland.
Ireland had been listed as a founder and director of Pride and Surrey, a charity which organises annual Pride marches and LGBT+ events in the county. Sutton is believed to have been a volunteer for the non-profit.
The organisation said it had suspended the pair after being made aware of a police probe into them in June, adding it was not aware what they were being investigated for until they were charged.
A spokesperson for Pride in Surrey told Surrey Live: ‘[We] have been made aware of an investigation that has been conducted by involving two former volunteers, both of whom have now been charged.
Hellbound and Down 