Britain’s “first gay dads,” have been charged with rape and multiple other offenses.
57-year-old Barrie Drewitt-Barlow and 32-year-old Scott Hutchison have been charged with rape, sexual assault, and modern slavery trafficking for sexual exploitation. The two appeared in Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on Friday.
Essex police raided the pair’s Danbury home on Wednesday, with forensic units searching the property. Drewitt-Barlow, a multi-millionaire and the UK’s first openly gay football club owner, was set to star in a documentary next week about his career, which has since been cancelled.
The pair have previously received attention after becoming one of the first gay couples in the UK to have children via surrogacy back in 1999. Hutchison previously dated Drewitt-Barlow’s daughter before marrying her father.
Crown Prosecution Service said the two men are alleged to have “recruited” young men before grooming them and subjecting them to assaults.
“Detectives have secured charges against two men in connection with an investigation into human trafficking for sexual exploitation, rape and other sexual offences,” Essex police said in a statement, according to the Daily Mail. “Officers from the Serious Crime Directorate at Essex Police carried coordinated searches at premises in Danbury, Maldon, and Braintree on Wednesday and arrested two men. Since then we have been liaising with the Crown Prosecution Service.”
“We can now confirm that 57-year-old Barrie Drewitt-Barlow and 32-year-old Scott Drewitt-Barlow, both of Danbury, have both been charged with multiple offences including rape, sexual assault, and modern slavery trafficking for sexual exploitation,” the statement continued.
57-year-old Barrie Drewitt-Barlow and 32-year-old Scott Hutchison have been charged with rape, sexual assault, and modern slavery trafficking for sexual exploitation. The two appeared in Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on Friday.
Essex police raided the pair’s Danbury home on Wednesday, with forensic units searching the property. Drewitt-Barlow, a multi-millionaire and the UK’s first openly gay football club owner, was set to star in a documentary next week about his career, which has since been cancelled.
The pair have previously received attention after becoming one of the first gay couples in the UK to have children via surrogacy back in 1999. Hutchison previously dated Drewitt-Barlow’s daughter before marrying her father.
Crown Prosecution Service said the two men are alleged to have “recruited” young men before grooming them and subjecting them to assaults.
“Detectives have secured charges against two men in connection with an investigation into human trafficking for sexual exploitation, rape and other sexual offences,” Essex police said in a statement, according to the Daily Mail. “Officers from the Serious Crime Directorate at Essex Police carried coordinated searches at premises in Danbury, Maldon, and Braintree on Wednesday and arrested two men. Since then we have been liaising with the Crown Prosecution Service.”
“We can now confirm that 57-year-old Barrie Drewitt-Barlow and 32-year-old Scott Drewitt-Barlow, both of Danbury, have both been charged with multiple offences including rape, sexual assault, and modern slavery trafficking for sexual exploitation,” the statement continued.
