A verdict was reached on Monday in the trial of Timothy Schofield, the brother of Phillip Schofield, who was charged with sexually abusing a teenage boy over a three-year period. The 54-year-old was found guilty of all 11 counts involving a child between October 2016 and October 2019, after more than five-and-a-half hours of deliberation by the jurors at Exeter Crown Court.
Phillip Schofield, who has UK and New Zealand citizenship, and the presenter of the television program ‘This Morning’, reacted to the news by condemning his brother’s actions as “despicable”. He also made a statement indicating that he no longer considers Timothy to be his brother, saying “As far as I am concerned, I no longer have a brother.”
“My overwhelming concern is and has always been for the wellbeing of the victim and his family,” the TV star said.
“I hope that their privacy will now be respected.”
“If any crime had ever been confessed to me by my brother, I would have acted immediately to protect the victim and their family. “These are despicable crimes, and I welcome the guilty verdicts.”
Timothy Schofield, a civilian police worker from Bath, has been found guilty of 11 counts of sexual abuse involving a teenage boy. During his trial, he denied performing sex acts on the teenager but admitted to watching porn with him and masturbating separately. Schofield claimed that he believed the boy was over 16 at the time, although he did admit to searching for terms such as “young boy teen sex” and “gay teen torrents” on a legal pornography website.
Schofield told the court that he had informed his brother, Phillip Schofield, in September 2021 that he and the complainant had watched pornography together. Phillip Schofield provided a written statement to the trial, stating that his brother had made it sound like a one-off incident and that he had told him “it must never happen again”.
During their conversation, Timothy Schofield revealed to his brother that he had engaged in sexual activity with the boy. Phillip Schofield became upset and told his brother that he didn’t want to know any more details. The victim, who alleged that the abuse started when he was 13, told the court that he felt “emotionally blackmailed” and “forced” to participate in sexual activity.
Timothy Schofield has denied all the charges brought against him, which include causing a child to watch sexual activity, engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, causing a child to engage in sexual activity, and sexual activity with a child. Despite his denial, he has been remanded in custody by Judge Mrs Justice Cutts and will be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on May 19th.
