Update September 2012 – Porter has been looking to rent property in the Wallington/Croydon area

August 2007

Jehovah’s Witness paedophile spared jail

A Jehovah’s Witness from Barnet has been spared prison despite being convicted of a string of sickening sexual offences against children, including an assault on an 18-month-old baby.

Michael Porter, 38, thought to be an elder at the Mill Hill Kingdom Hall, escaped with a three-year community rehabilitation order after being found guilty of 24 acts of indecent assault and gross indecency on children.

A respected member of the church in Somerset, Porter regularly babysat for youngsters, took them on holiday and invited them for sleepovers at his home.

At Bristol Crown Court yesterday, Judge Tom Crowther said he had decided against a jail sentence because Porter had undergone therapy.

He banned the paedophile from working with anyone under the age of 18 and added his name to the Sex Offenders Register.

But even Porter’s sister Tina Hughes, 40, described him as “an evil monster” and called the ruling “ludicrous”. She warned that her brother was a danger to society and likely to commit further offences.

The Mill Hill Kingdom Hall is said to have stood by Porter, despite him admitting the crimes.

Porter was a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Portishead and Clevedon. He left the family home in Clevedon and moved to Mill Hill in London in 2000 after his mother died. Porter, who was supported in court by his wife, Joanne, confessed after one of his victims threatened to go to the police.