Ex-scout leader David Hopkins convicted AGAIN for offences in relation to children

Hopkins, who was previously jailed for the systematic abuse of dozens of young boys over a period of almost 30 years, admitted four offences of possessing indecent images between April and May last year. Hopkins was today given eight months behind bars suspended for two years. Below is further information regarding Hopkins previous convictions.

Scout leader David Hopkins, who was jailed for a 30-year-reign of sex abuse against young boys, was released from prison in 2010. Hopkins, 72, served just six and a half years of his ten-year stretch. It is understood he is in halfway-house accommodation near Maidstone, where he was jailed by Judge David Croft at the town’s crown court in 2003. He was caged for abusing boys in his care at the 3rd Hawkinge Scout Group in the 1970s and 1980s, although it was clear his offending went back to the 1960s.

Hopkins kept a meticulous record of his child abuse in ledgers and took thousands of photographs of his sick activities. Much of the abuse – aimed at children from vulnerable single-parent or particularly poor backgrounds – took place in the crumbling cottage in Skeete Road, Lyminge, where he lived alone. Detectives were alerted to the abuse in 2003 when a man arrested blamed his criminal history on abuse at the hands of Hopkins. The man said he was not alone. After a media appeal, other victims came forward, although police are convinced there were many dozens more and possibly tens of thousands of separate offences committed.

It is likely that there is a potential claim to bring against the Scouts Association for the abuse carried out by Hopkins which was closely connected to his scouting work. We understand that it is not unusual for those who were subject to abuse to come forward later in life.

If you or somebody you know were subject to abuse please do not hesitate to contact our specialist child abuse team. We will treat any communications with the strictest of confidence.