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John Humphreys, 59, was found guilty by a jury earlier this week and has today been jailed to 21 years imprisonment for historic sexual offences against two boys who were aged between 12 and 15.
Humphreys, the former Mayor of Exmouth from 2010 and 2012, sexually assaulted one boy aged 12 to 13 between 1990 and 1991, and a separate victim in the late 1990s who was aged 14 to 15. Both victims reported the incidents separately almost a decade apart.
Humphreys first met the younger victim at a public toilet in Exmouth, before abusing him at addresses in the town and in a shelter near Woodbury Common. The second victim was abused whilst he was on work experience at Humphreys home address.
Jill Macnamara of CPS said: This case demonstrates we do not hesitate to prosecute perpetrators of sexual abuse where there is sufficient evidence regardless of how long ago the crimes were committed.
It takes courage to come forward as an adult to report what happened to you as child especially where the offender has held a position of power within the local community.
The victims have shown a great deal of strength and bravery to step forward to report the incident and support the prosecution and I would like to thank them for their resilience.
Police Sergeant Angela Galasso of Devon and Cornwall Police said: This has been a long and protracted investigation involving historic sexual offences that occurred more 25 years ago during the early and late 1990s.
The sentencing today shows that nobody is above the law, regardless of their standing in the community.
I can only thank the complainants in this case for their tenacity, patience and the trust that they have continued to place in myself and colleagues investigating these matters.
Both victims have voiced separately that they feared they would never be believed or that their complaints would be taken seriously.
I sincerely hope that this guilty verdict will now provide this validation and allow them to feel that they can move on with their lives.