Phillip Schofield’s brother ‘sexually abused boy for years then confessed to TV star’

PHILLIP Schofield’s brother carried out a campaign of sexual abuse against a schoolboy before confessing some of his crimes to his famous sibling, a court heard.

Timothy Schofield, 54, allegedly had an ‘obsessive sexual interest’ in the teenager and travelled to the home of the This Morning presenter to confide in him.

But when he told the TV personality that he and the boy performed a sex act together, Phillip responded: ‘What did you say?’ And after the defendant described the ‘time’ he and his alleged victim had together, the celebrity hit back: ‘What the hell is [that]?’

The TV presenter, 60, told his brother it ‘should never happen again’ and later gave a statement to police which forms part of the case against his younger sibling.

Schofield faces 11 charges of sexual offences allegedly committed against the boy over three years from October 2016. He denies them all.

He is accused of causing him to watch sex acts and engage in sex acts. He also allegedly performed sex acts in front of the accuser. The police IT technician dressed in a grey shirt shook his head as the charges were read out to the jury at Exeter Crown Court.

Opening the case, prosecutor Robin Shellard said: ‘This is a case about the obsessive sexual interest of Timothy Schofield in [his victim] and the subsequent sexual abuse of that teenage boy.’

The jury heard how the abuse progressed until the alleged victim confronted Schofield in August 2021 and said ‘things’ need to stop.

The defendant, who was working for the police in a civilian role at the time, then visited his elder brother the next month.

Mr Shellard said the ‘perverted relationship’ was clearly ‘affecting’ the defendant as well as his alleged victim. He said: ‘ On the 12th of September 2021 he phoned his brother Phillip saying that his head was in a mess and could he come and see him.

‘The defendant is seven years younger than Phillip and they had not been particularly close growing up, however in December 2019 the defendant told his brother he was gay.

‘According to Phillip, the defendant travelled up that day and he was extremely agitated. His brother described him as very angry and distressed.

‘The defendant also told his brother that he was impotent.

The defendant then said his brother would hate him for what he was about to say, but Phillip said that he wouldn’t. Then the defendant said ... that last year [he and the boy] had watched porn and w***** together.

‘Phillip Schofield then said, “What did you just say?” and the defendant repeated it was last year and just once. Phillip said it should never happen again.’ Schofield then went on to describe the boy’s body in a sexual way and said he had a name for the ‘time’ they spent together, the court heard. The TV presenter responded, ‘What the hell is [that]?’ and was ‘shocked’.

Mr Shellard said the defendant then ‘left for home’ and ‘it was not spoken of again’. The alleged victim had started counselling and told a therapist about the claims of abuse in November 2021. They alerted the police and Schofield was arrested days later.

Judge Mrs Justice Johannah Cutts revealed to the jury that the defendant’s sibling was a celebrity and asked them to ignore any possible distractions stemming from his fame.

She said: ‘His brother is Phillip Schofield, and he happens to be the well-known television personality. I say “happens to be” as that fact has no relevance at all in this case.

‘He is not going to be coming to this court to give evidence, any evidence that he could have given is not in dispute.

‘The fact that he is the defendant’s brother changes nothing in this trial, the defendant will be tried in the same fair way as every other defendant.’

In a police interview played out to the court, the alleged victim

‘Obsessive sexual interest’

‘Very scared of the repercussions’

described the first time he was abused. ‘ It was horrible, like truly,’ he said. He said Schofield bought a projector for them to watch adult movies together. Some films included ‘violent’ acts and animals.

He said he realised the defendant ‘had this whole fantasy to be sexually active with me’ and accused him of developing the ‘scheme’ over several years.

The accuser was afraid to go to the police because of the ‘evil and vile’ defendant’s ‘terrible temper’ and was ‘ very scared of the repercussions’.

Police arrested Schofield, of Bath, Somerset, on December 3, 2021, and raided his home.

They seized his electronic devices where browsing history showed searches for ‘young teen box set’ and ‘gay teen porn torrents’. He also had ‘a number of images’ of ‘teenage boys in sexualised poses’ among 30 indecent images of children.

The trial, which is expected to last a week, continues.