boxing day 2012: Peter Petrauske and Jack Kemp convicted of abusing children in pagan sex rituals

Friday, December 14, 2012

Peter Petrauske and Jack Kemp convicted of abusing children in pagan sex rituals

Peter Petrauske and Jack Kemp were involved in pagan sex ring in 1970s

Pair abused girls as young as three in bizarre rituals, according to police

PUBLISHED: 09:14 EST, 14 December 2012 | UPDATED: 11:17 EST, 14 December 2012

Two pagans were today convicted of abusing children in bizarre sex rituals as part of a witches' coven.

Peter Petrauske and Jack Kemp were said to have worn ceremonial robes and pagan paraphernalia while they abused young girls in Cornwall during the 1970s.

Police believe one of their victims may have been as young as three when the abuse started.

Peter Petrauske

Jack Kemp

Convicted: Peter Petrauske, left, and Jack Kemp, right, have been found guilty of sexually abusing young girls

Witch: Petrauske has described himself as the high priest of a white witches' coven

The pair, aged 72 and 69, showed little emotion as they were led from the dock at Truro Crown Court and into custody.

Petrauske, who described himself as the high priest of a white witches’ coven in St Ives, was convicted of one count of rape, one count of aiding and abetting an attempt to rape, and one count of indecent assault.

Kemp was found guilty of indecent assault and indecency with a child.

He was found not guilty of four other sexual offences, following more than 11 hours' deliberation.

The jury of nine men and three women are still considering their verdicts on several other sexual offences.

Judge Graham Cottle said he would accept a majority verdict on the remaining charges.

Pagans: The jury at Truro Crown Court, pictured, heard from victims about the ritualistic sex abuse

The pair’s victims gave harrowing evidence from behind a screen during the three-week trial. They said they were abused by their tormentors, then given money and sweets to buy their silence.

In a dramatic twist, witnesses also named murdered pagan Peter Solheim and notorious Cornish paedophile Stan Pirie as among their abusers.

Solheim was a 56-year-old parish councillor whose body was found five miles off the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall by fishermen on June 18 2004.

He had been drugged and mutilated by a machete or an axe, and his girlfriend Margaret James was later convicted of conspiring to murder him, though her accomplice was never discovered.

Peter Solheim

MARGARET JAMES

Deadly relationship: Peter Solheim, left, who was killed by his girlfriend Margaret James, right, was also believed to have been involved in the pagan sex crimes

The child abuse was only investigated further by police last year when Kemp was arrested in connection with another incident, causing rumours to spread around his home town of Falmouth and prompting the alleged victims of the historic offences to contact detectives.

The other charges include indecent assault and other sexual offences, and were believed to have been committed much more recently.

Petrauske was backed up by female members of the coven who said that while children were occasionally present, nudity never played a part in the ceremonies. One female friend also described him as 'a gentleman'.

Kemp denied any involvement in paganism, saying it 'wasn't his cup of tea', and claimed he was the victim of a bizarre conspiracy. He said the girls were wrong to name him in the case.

The jury have retired to consider verdicts on the remaining counts. The two men are set to be sentenced this afternoon.