The Met Police believe there may be more victims that have not yet spoken out
Detectives are appealing for further victims to come forward after jailing a serial rapist martial arts instructor for 25 years. Anthony Swanson, of Wren Road, Sidcup, subjected a girl who was then in her early teens to repeated sexual abuse.
An investigation was started after the survivor came forward in 2022, years after the abuse. She detailed meeting the defendant through martial arts lessons held in a church hall in Beckenham.
Swanson was teaching the lessons through the Taoist Arts Organisation, which he founded in 1995. The now 75-year-old had groomed her and went on to sexually abuse and rape the victim several times, including one incident where he raped her during a martial arts trip.
The abuse lasted for three years, and she was also abused in the presence of her own mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons. The mother pleaded guilty at Woolwich Crown Court to three counts of sexual activity in the presence of a child, and was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment suspended for two years on Friday, August 28.
Swanson denied doing anything wrong in two interviews with officers, yet he was found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday, August 28, of 15 counts, including charges of rape, sexual activity with a child and indecent assault.
In an impact statement read to the court at Swanson’s sentencing hearing, the victim-survivor said: “When the abuse initially stopped, I locked it away in my mind and tried to forget and ignore what had happened. It was too traumatic.
“I came to realise through therapy that what he did happened, and that will never change. I will always have to live with the horrific acts of abuse he put me through.
“I am scared to bring children into the world knowing they could be hurt, abused or damaged at the hands of a paedophile like Tony Swanson, like I was.
“Swanson knows what he did to me and always has. He decided to abuse me again by pleading not guilty. He says I tried to ruin him. He has ruined me and shown no remorse.”
Detective Constable Leonora Simpson, of the Metropolitan Police, said: “What happened to this young girl was awful. Anthony Swanson is an evil predator who thought nothing of taking advantage of the position of trust he held to carry out this vile campaign of sexual abuse.
“Based on the gravity of Swanson’s offending, we believe he may have other victims who have yet to come forward.
“We know that Swanson began teaching children’s martial arts classes in the Beckenham and Sidcup area in the early 2000s. He led residential trips to the West Country and Inverness in Scotland.
“I am appealing to potential victims to come forward and speak to us about what happened. Any information will be treated extremely sensitively, and you will be supported by specialist officers.”
Swanson was found guilty of four counts of rape, four counts of indecent assault, three counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child, one count of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and three counts of sexual activity in the presence of a child.
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