Gary Coy 70

Description

Gary Coy, 65, former Waterlooville scoutmaster and teacher, has received a two-year suspended sentence for indecently assaulting a 12-year-old boy in the late 1980s.

Coy, who taught at Priory School in Portsmouth and Crookhorn School, groomed, isolated and abused the boy. He rubbed the child’s body and genitals when they were alone. Prosecutor William Sneddon said the boy felt “unwell and nauseous.”

The victim described how Coy “pulled” him close, “asked if it was okay” and began “rubbing my chest” before touching him intimately. “I knew it was wrong but I didn’t understand what was happening,” he said. “I couldn’t work out what was going on. I felt like it was happening to someone else. In my head I thought I needed to get help.” After the assault, Coy was “crying and apologising.” The victim “tried to blank it out.”

In his victim statement, the man said the abuse “has had a massive impact on my life,” causing relationship difficulties and alcohol abuse. “The incident is never going to go away, and affects everything.”

Coy had previously been jailed in 1995 for nine indecent assaults on young boys. At the time he admitted 23 further offences but “forgot” about this victim. In April 2009 he received a community rehabilitation order for two indecent assaults on boys under 14 committed in 1973. He was reinvestigated in 2019 over the late-1980s offence and pleaded guilty earlier this year.

HGV driver Coy, of Snellgrove Close, Calmore, Southampton, was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years. He must complete 30 days of rehabilitation activity requirements and sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years. He was also ordered to pay £5,000 compensation.

Judge David Melville QC said it would be “unjust” and “going too far” to jail him immediately, but told Coy: “You behaved in a disgraceful way. You groomed this child aged 12 and it’s quite obvious that was your plan… You assaulted him sexually in a way which has caused him untold harm and damage ever since.”

Defence counsel Keely Harvey said Coy had recognised his “disturbing behaviour” after the 1995 case, completed courses in prison, and has had no further incidents. He has worked for 20 years and cares for his elderly sister.

In 1995, *The News* reported one abused boy’s father saying Coy had “manipulated him, and destroyed his life.” Community leaders at the time said Coy “appeared to lead a double life” as a “dedicated” scoutmaster who secretly preyed on children.