Former reverend and youth club leader jailed for indecently assaulting 3 boys in the 70s and 80s

A former parish reverend and youth club leader has been jailed for indecently assaulting three young boys in the 1970s and 1980s.

STEPHEN Hardwicke, 63, from Uxbridge was sentenced to five years’ in prison at Harrow Crown Court yesterday, January 15, for five counts of indecent assault against three boys aged between 10 and 18 years old.

He was found guilty of the historic abuse in November 2020 after a nine-day trial at the same court.

The initial allegation of abuse was reported to police in October 2015, and further inquiries led to police making contact with further victims in 2017.

The offences took place from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s when Hardwicke was a leader at a youth group attached to Stanmore Baptist Church.

Officers from Edgware Child Abuse Investigation Team investigated the allegations and on June 26, 2018, Hardwicke was charged on suspicion of sexual assault.

Detective Constable Nicola Cameron, the investigating officer from the Edgware Child Abuse Investigation Team, said: “Hardwicke took advantage of his young victims’ vulnerability, sexually abusing them on numerous occasions when the opportunities presented themselves.

“I would like to praise the victims’ courage in reporting what happened to them to police.

“A crime committed over 30 years ago is still a crime. While investigations into non-recent sexual offences can be challenging, we have specially trained officers who will follow up all lines of inquiry, and seek to prosecute when the evidence will support it.”

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