A former social worker who weaponized his status in a live-action role-playing (LARP) community to groom and abuse teenage boys has been sentenced to nine-and-a-half years in prison.
William Power, 42, used his senior standing within the hobby—where participants engage in elaborate fantasy adventures—to target vulnerable youngsters. Investigators revealed that Power showered his victims with money, gifts, theatre trips, and alcohol, spending up to £10,000 on a single victim to secure their loyalty.
Maidstone Crown Court heard that Power, of Fort Road, Halstead, even hypocritically helped draft safeguarding policies for a LARP event while secretly grooming teenage boys he met through the community. In a severe breach of professional boundaries, he also used his employment records to unlawfully access personal data relating to one of his victims.
The predatory behavior came to light after concerned parents reported a disturbing remark Power made while intoxicated about “dating” a 13-year-old boy. Police arrested him in July 2023.
A jury unanimously convicted Power of eight offenses, including two counts of rape, sexual assaults, sexual activity with a child, and unlawfully obtaining data without consent.
Sentencing Power on Thursday, September 17, Judge Gareth Branston condemned his actions as “cynical and manipulative,” emphasizing that the victims were neither capable of nor able to consent to the sexual attention of an older man in a position of authority.
Alongside his nine-and-a-half-year prison sentence, during which he must serve up to two-thirds behind bars, Power received a 15-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and indefinite sex offender notification requirements.
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