Former BBC WM presenter Tony Wadsworth 'stepped aside' to allow stranger to perform woodland sex act with wife, court hears
An ex-BBC WM presenter has told a court he ‘stepped to one side’ to let a young stranger engage in a public sex act with his wife because it ‘empowered’ her.
Tony Wadsworth said his wife, Julie Wadsworth, was ‘a very special human being’ who had found the daytime encounter with the male in woodland in the 1990s ‘exhilarating and exciting’. He added: “It was a positive, because she felt empowered as a woman. That it’s not just me – the world and his wife can see the beautiful woman that she is.”
The Wadsworths are on trial at Warwick Crown Court accused of encouraging boys to take part in sexual activity in Warwickshire woods between 1992 and 1996. Both have accepted having sexual encounters with what Mrs Wadsworth described as ‘young men’ in the forest, but deny they were children.
Giving evidence in his defence yesterday on Friday, Mr Wadsworth said that in two separate encounters, involving up to three males each time, they appeared to be ‘16, 17 – possibly 18’.
He described a claim he had sexual encounters with anyone aged 16 as ‘outrageous’. Explaining their ‘first encounter’ in the woods with one of the complainants in the trial, Mr Wadsworth said he found it ‘erotic’ to watch his wife engage in a sex act with a lone stranger in front of him. In his account of the moment, the couple were ‘kissing and cuddling’ when they became aware of a young man watching them in the undergrowth.
Mr Wadsworth said: “I turned, looked around and saw this fella and must confess it was something of a shock.
“I didn’t know what he was going to do. But very shortly after it was clear what he was hoping to do. He added: “It just happened, he came forward as I stepped to one side.”
The 69-year-old claimed the whole incident had taken place in woodland, well off the beaten track, without a word being exchanged.
He said: “After the heat of the moment was over, it was all very embarrassing and awkward.”
Mrs Wadsworth has accepted going on to have a sexual relationship with that complainant, after bumping into him some years later, but has repeatedly denied he was under-age.
The couple, from Broughton Astley, Leicestershire, deny five counts of outraging public decency which allege they engaged in sexual activity ‘against a tree’ in view of others between July 1992 and June 1996. Mrs Wadsworth has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges of indecent assault, while her 69-year-old husband denies nine counts of the same offence.
Asked by his barrister Michelle Clarke why he allowed his wife to be approached by another male, Mr Wadsworth claimed his spouse’s past with an abusive partner had left her “damaged” and insecure.
Mr Wadsworth has presented shows with his wife on BBC Radio Leicester and Birmingham-based BBC WM.
The case continues.
