A former youth theatre director has been jailed for six years after admitting non-recent sexual offences against four teenage boys.

Peter Harding, 75, of Merrieleas Drive, Chandler’s Ford, admitted three counts of sexual assault and two counts of sexual activity with a boy, at a hearing on Tuesday 11 March.

Today (Friday 16 May), at Southampton Crown Court, he was sentenced to a six-year jail term.

The offending took place between 2006 and 2012, when Harding was the director at the Centrestage Productions Youth Theatre in Chandler’s Ford.

The court was told that some of the assaults took place at the theatre when Harding was fitting costumes for boys. 

Other assaults took place at Harding’s house.

The court heard that Harding was sacked from the theatre following an investigation into downloading indecent images of children, which resulted in a criminal conviction in 2015.

The sexual assaults were first reported to police in 2021, leading to an investigation by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary’s specialist Operation Marmion team, which investigates allegations of non-recent sexual abuse perpetrated within institutions or by people of prominence.

Speaking after the sentence hearing, Detective Constable Leanne Boyd said: “I would like to pay tribute to all the victims for the courage they have shown throughout this investigation.

“We have been able to secure these convictions thanks to the bravery they have shown in firstly coming forward, and then while we made our enquiries and the court process.

“We take all sexual offence and child sex abuse allegation extremely seriously. We would encourage people to continue to come forward and report these offences to us, so that we can take action to target perpetrators and safeguard vulnerable people.”

We know that not everyone has the confidence to speak to police, but there are support services available that can help you if you are a victim of abuse.

Anyone impacted by child sexual abuse can contact Childline on 0800 11 11, or if you are an adult that has been affected, you can call the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000.

Alternatively, anyone impacted by sexual abuse or any other crime, can access free, confidential and independent help and support by contacting the Victim Care Hub on 0808 178 1641 or Hub.hiow@victimsupport.org.uk Monday to Saturday 8am to 8pm.

Outside of those times, or if you live outside Hampshire, you can call 0808 168 9111 or live chat www.victimsupport.org.uk/livecha

ENDS