February 2019

Paedophile music teacher who sexually abused a boy in South London

A music teacher and organist who claims to have played at more than 1,000 weddings used his status as a performer to groom youngsters.

Andrew Simon Wilson, 57, was put on trial for 19 sexual offences, 16 of which related to crimes against three boys aged between nine and 14.

The paedophile claims to be ‘reliable, qualified and experienced’ on his website, but on Friday (February 15) he was sentenced to 12 years in prison at Lewes Crown Court.

Detectives have said he used his position as an experienced musician to isolate, target and groom underage boys.

Wilson, of Norwood Way, Walton-on-the Naze, in Essex, was found guilty of a string of offences on Tuesday (February 12) following a 17-day trial.

Some of his sickening crimes took place in South London while he was a choirmaster and music teacher at St Mary’s Church, Beddington.

The majority of his offending took place in Warnham, West Sussex, near Crawley.

His vile behaviour spans decades; some crimes took place in the 1980s while others were committed as recently as 2011.

Sussex Police published a full catalogue of the offences Wilson was found guilty earlier this week,

His 19 crimes are as follows:

Two cases of indecent assault and two cases of gross indecency on a boy at locations in Warnham, West Sussex, in the mid-1980s;
Eight cases of indecent assault and two cases of gross indecency on another boy at locations in Warnham in the mid-1980s;
One case of sexual assault and one case of meeting a child for sexual activity, both relating to another boy between 2008 and 2011, at locations in South London, and in Germany on choir tours; and

Three cases of making a total of 1,366 indecent images of children.
The trial judge directed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty in relation to one other case of alleged indecent assault on another boy in Warnham in the mid-1980s.

Wilson will be a registered sex offender for life.

He was also made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

In addition, the paedophile was handed a 12-year prison term.

The prosecution revealed how an investigation by detectives from the Sussex Police Public Protection Command took place.

Wilson’s crimes in Warnham occurred while he was choirmaster at St Margaret’s church in the village.

The offending in South London and Germany occurred while he was a choirmaster and music teacher at St Mary’s Church in Beddington, Surrey.

The indecent images, all believed to have taken from the internet, were found when police searched his address after his arrest.