A DISGRACED policeman who committed dozens of sexual offences against children over a 38 year period will have his pension withheld, the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner has announced.
Allan Richards is currently serving a 22 year prison sentence, with an additional five years on licence when he is released.
He was found guilty of 40 charges relating to assaults and voyeurism between 1976 and 2014 – against 17 boys who were between the ages of eight and 19.
This included one count of rape, one count of indecent assault on a male and five counts of misconduct in a public office.
Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) David Jamieson has taken the decision to withhold pension contributions made to Richards by the force.
After an application was made to the government’s policing minister to forfeit Richards’ pension, a hearing was presided over by the PCC on July 24 and a formal decision to withhold his contributions was taken on August 7.
The PCC said: “Richards committed a series of crimes that brought shame on the force and misery to his victims.
“His crimes are the ultimate breach of trust. He exploited his position and the victims he was meant to be protecting at the lowest point in their lives.
“I have ensured West Midlands Police put in place measures to stop something like this ever happening again.
“I have decided to withhold as much of Richards’ pension as legal advice allows.”
In the case of Richards, legal advice allowed for 50% of his total pension to be withheld.
Richards, from the Tile Cross area of Birmingham, also spent most of his life as a scout leader and used this respected position in the community to commit many of his crimes.
The offences ranged from touching boys inappropriately in a local swimming pool and on scouting trips to serious sexual assaults he carried out after enticing children to his home in Tile Cross.
His most serious crimes happened either at his home or in the local park, where he groomed many of the children while walking his Boxer dog – a detail which helped corroborate his victims’ accounts.
In May 2014 police arrested Allan Richards after a man came forward and reported a sexual assault committed against him in 2006 when he was aged 15-years-old.
