Tony and Julie Wadsworth

Tony Wadsworth and Julie Wadsworth (née Julie Mayer) are English radio presenters who were most recently heard on BBC Radio Leicester. In 2017, they were both jailed for historic child sexual abuse.

Tony Wadsworth was born in Leicester, and worked for a time in his family's business, before getting into broadcasting. He met Julie Mayer in the 1980s while she was working as a seamstress and hired her to make a costume for a charity event. They were married in 1994.[1] From the BBC WM studios at Pebble Mill in Birmingham, Tony presented all the mainstream programmes including Breakfast and Drive. Alongside Julie, he also presented the regional Late Show. They returned to his hometown and began broadcasting on BBC Radio Leicester in 2005. The Wadsworths remained there until their arrests in 2015 and a spokesperson for the corporation said they no longer were employed after their convictions.[2]

Tony Wadsworth won several awards, including: a Sony award for the Best Local Radio Programme, a Gillard gold award for the Best Daytime Programme, a Gillard silver award for the reality radio soap series: The Street, and a Gillard bronze award for The Street Party. He holds an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters awarded in 2012 by De Montfort University Leicester in recognition of his services to broadcasting and to the Leicestershire Community.[3] Julie once posed for a BBC-sanctioned Calendar Girls-style photoshoot to raise funds for Children In Need.[1] Following the couple's conviction for child sex offences, the Leicester Mercury reported that the university announced it was considering stripping Wadsworth of the award.[4]

In January 2016, the Wadsworths went off air for "personal reasons",[5] and in April 2016 it was announced that both were charged with historical child sex offences.[6][7] Their trial began on 19 May 2017; the couple denied the charges.[8] The charges mostly involved the couple luring young boys into sex with Julie while Tony acted as a "lookout".[1] The incidents occurred between 1992 and 1996, when the boys were aged from 11 to 15.[2] On 9 June 2017, they were convicted of indecently assaulting six under-age boys and outraging public decency. Each were jailed for five years.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Baynes, Chris (9 June 2017). "Ex-BBC radio couple Tony and Julie Wadsworth jailed for five years over sex crimes against underage boys". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 "Ex-BBC presenters Tony and Julie Wadsworth jailed for sex offences". BBC News. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  3. ↑ "Honorands 2012". De Montfort University. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  4. ↑ Fagan, Ciaran (13 June 2017). "Child abuse ex-BBC presenter Tony Wadsworth could be stripped of university honour". Leicester Mercury. Local World. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  5. ↑ Martin, Dan J (4 January 2016). "BBC Leicester's Tony Wadsworth, Julie Mayer and Jonathan Lampon off air dealing with personal issues". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  6. ↑ "BBC Radio Leicester couple Tony Wadsworth and Julie Mayer face child sex charges". BBC News. 8 April 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  7. ↑ "BBC presenter Julie Wadsworth 'performed sex act on boy', court hears". BBC News. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  8. ↑ "Tony and Julie Wadsworth 'had sex in parkland'". BBC News. 19 May 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.


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