A former Warrington driving instructor has been jailed for 32 months for historic sex abuse involving a 10-year-old boy.
Keith Forsyth, who ran his own driving school until his arrest, was convicted of indecently assaulting a boy when he himself was a teenager.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that 53-year-old Forsyth, of Montrose Close, Warrington, still maintains his innocence of the eight offences of which he was found guilty.
A judge told him that the author of a pre-sentence report found he poses a medium risk to male children. “You have flawed thinking,” he said.
Recorder Ian Harris said that Forsyth, who was older than the victim, used to play hide and seek games together but the defendant “repeatedly moved onto sexual experimentation.
“As you grew older it developed into sexual abuse. You treated him as your sexual plaything.”
The judge said that because of the age difference, the victim was “in thrall” to Forsyth and he acquiesced to his behaviour until he became old enough to refuse to take part in the activity.
Recorder Harris said that the victim is still suffering but is now receiving expert counselling and had stated poignantly “what happened to me all those years ago has affected me throughout the rest of my life.’
The offences occurred in the 1980s when the defendant was aged about 14 to 18 and began when the boy was ten.
They took place in an area called the ‘Dirty Backsies” and also the “Twiggeries’, which was an area of parkland near Warrington cemetery, said Arthur Gibson, prosecuting.
The offences only came to light in 2019 when the victim went to the police. When interviewed Forsyth admitted knowing him but denied ever engaging in any sexual activity with him.
He also denied contacting him on Facebook about ten years earlier and asking if he wanted to meet up and if he remembered ‘what they did a long time ago.’
When the victim refused and said he would tell the police what had happened all those years ago if he harassed him, Forsyth said that if he did he would say the complainant had made him do it at knifepoint.
The victim showed a friend the message and told him he had made him do ‘rude things’ when he was young. He also told a relative about being touched inappropriately in the ‘Backsies’ by someone who was then a driving instructor.
Forsyth was convicted of two offences of indecency with a child and six offences of indecent assault, some involving multiple incidents of oral sex.
In an impact statement, the victim said his mental health had been affected and he has suffered from anxiety and panic attacks all his life. He regretted not telling his late parents about what had happened and he is nervous to start relationships.
He is now on stronger anti-depressant medication which affects his quality of life and if he goes to Warrington he worries about bumping into the defendant or his family, said Mr Gibson.
The victim had worried that he would not be believed and “feel at times I am then one with the sentence.”
Anna Pope, defending, said that Forsyth had not committed any other offences. He had always worked after leaving school at 16 and had been a full-time driving instructor from 2000 to 2021.
He looked after his mum who died in 2021 and has since cared for his 74-year-old father who is in poor health. He has been prescribed medication for anxiety and been referred to the mental health team, she said.
The judge ordered Forsyth to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for life and imposed an indefinite restraining order.
As the defendant was led to the cells he waved over to his wheel-chair bound father and said, ‘goodbye dad, love you very much.”
