Police praise victims of Army Cadets sex abuser

A police officer has praised the victims of an Army Cadets leader who sexually abused them for speaking to police and in court.

Rylan Ray was found guilty of 23 sexual offences, many involving teenage boys, on Thursday. He had already admitted another five charges.

The case involved 11 male victims, many of whom the 26-year-old, of Westgate, Peterborough, met through his role with the Cambridgeshire Army Cadet Force.

Det Con Gordon Logan, from Cambridgeshire Police, said the victims "should be really proud of themselves".

Ray's trial at Ipswich Crown Court lasted more than three weeks, during which many of his victims gave evidence.

A jury convicted Ray of offences which took place over a six-year period, including rape and sexual assault.

Police found more than 700 indecent images of children on his devices and have not yet identified all of the youngsters in them.

Logan told the BBC work was "always going on to try and identify further victims".

During the trial, the court heard how Ray had posed as a teenage girl called Chelsie on the social media app Snapchat to encourage boys to share nude images of themselves.

The detective said not all of the people pictured on Ray's devices may be aware of who they had really been speaking to.

"Please be as brave as the victims that have come forward already," he urged anyone who thought they may have been contacted by Ray.

"Tell your story. We need to hold him to account for everything that he's done and that's our intention."

He thanked his colleagues, the Crown Prosecution Service and the barristers involved in the trial.

"Most importantly, [I'd like] to thank the victims and witnesses that came forward," he added.

"Without their evidence we wouldn't be here. It's an incredibly difficult thing to do – to come to a crown court and provide that evidence – and they should be really proud of themselves."

Ray, a former Conservative member of Peterborough City Council, will be sentenced on 8 January.

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