British paedophile ordered to pay £127,000 compensation to Filipino victims in 'landmark case'

Seventy-seven-year-old who campaigned to legalise child sex likely to have abused boys, UK's High Court rules

Douglas Slade campaigned to legalise child sex during the 1970s (Avon and Somerset Police)

A British paedophile has been ordered to pay £127,500 compensation to five Filipino abuse victims in a “landmark” legal ruling.

Douglas Slade, who once campaigned for child sex to be legalised, was sued in the UK’s High Court by four men and a teenage boy who allege he abused them over decades in their home country.

The 77-year-old, who is serving a 24-year prison term for unrelated child sex crimes in Britain, denied wrongdoing and has not been convicted of the offences in the Philippines.

But, following a High Court trial, a senior judge ruled Slade had “on the balance of probability” abused the boys.

Slade was ordered to pay each of the victims, now aged between 14 and 20, sums of compensation ranging from £20,000 to £35,000.

It is believed to be the first time foreign victims have sued a British national in a UK court over abuse committed overseas.

“This landmark case is unprecedented for a High Court in London, showing how the legal system in England and Wales delivers justice for victims of sexual abuse whether they live in England or overseas,” said solicitor Alan Collins, of legal firm Hugh James, who represented the claimants.

He added: “The judgment has finally provided a sense of vindication for the victims after Slade avoided justice for so many years through his lying and deception and I’m sure this case will set a precedent for others in a similar situation to seek justice.”

Slade, originally from Bristol, was a founding member of a group which spawned the Paedophile Information Exchange, which campaigned in the 1970s and 1980s for the age of consent to be lowered to make sex with children legal.

He lived in the Philippines from 1985 until 2015, when he was extradited to the UK to face 13 counts of child abuse and rape involving five British boys.

Slade was jailed for 24 years after being convicted of those offences in 2016. But despite several criminal investigations, he was never successfully prosecuted over abuse claims in the Philippines.

While living in the southeast Asian country, he was alleged to have groomed young boys before sexually abusing them at his home in Angeles City.

The five Filipino victims, who gave evidence over video link from Manila during the trial, said Slade “rewarded” them for the abuse with gifts, chocolate and money.

One, now aged 18, told the court he was “disgusted” by the abuse, which took place over two months in 2014. He said was too scared to go to the police after he found a gun in a drawer at Slade’s house.

The teenager, who cannot be named, added: “I feel really, really dirty. I want justice for myself.”

Another victim, now aged 19, said Slade first invited him into his house to watch television as he passed on his way home from school.

He was molested and raped during weekly visits to the house between November 2013 and May 2014. Slade gave him money, food and clothes and offered to buy him a mountain bike to entice him back.

“Sometimes, he would make me enter his room with another kid and he would do everything he wanted there,” the teenager said. “I didn’t tell my parents about it because I was scared that they wouldn’t let me leave the house anymore.”

Slade described the allegations as “malicious” and claimed they were “fabricated” in a bid to win compensation.

But Honour Judge Mark Gargan, sitting at Teesside Combined Court, said the paedophile’s “extensive lies” had destroyed his credibility.

He added: “On balance of probability, I am satisfied that these claimants were abused by the defendant.”

A senior police officer who gave evidence during the trial described Slade as “without doubt the most dangerous and manipulative child sex offender I have ever encountered”.

“Slade always thought himself to be beyond the reaches of justice. I maintain that no child will ever be safe in his company,” said detective sergeant Paul Melton, of Avon and Somerset Police.

He added: “The evidence given by the five young victims from the Philippines was harrowing to hear and further exposes the prolific extent of Douglas Slade’s offending both here and overseas.”