Senior Lib Dem Councillor Jailed For Raping Teenage Boy And Possessing Child Pornography

Former senior Lib Dem councillor Ryan Langley had been told he would likely face jail time when after admitting to a series of child sex offences.

Langley, 34, the former deputy leader of Hull City Council’s Liberal Democrat group, pleaded guilty at Hull Crown Court to causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child.

Langley left the party and admitted to three counts of making indecent images of children and one count of distributing them. All the offences took place between 2019 and 2021, whilst Langley was a Lib Dem Councillor.

He was remanded in custody until his sentencing on October 6th, with Judge John Thackray KC warning him he should “expect custody as the most likely outcome”.

His sentencing hearing was, however, brought forward. Today, Langley was jailed for three years because of his “morally corrupt behaviour” and “depravity” that involved him having sex with a teenage boy and being found with indecent images of children.

Prosecutors said that he seemed to “rejoice” when he found out the boy’s real younger age and, instead of being “shocked and appalled” about it, he carried on with similar sexual activity. It was “very much a fall from grace” for the ex-councillor who once hoped to step up to “frontline” Westminster politics, Hull Crown Court heard.

Langley, 34, of Hessle Road, west Hull, had also admitted causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a teenage boy between January 2019 and April 2021, along with distributing indecent images of children and three offences of making indecent images of children.

Former Hull councillor Ryan Langley has been sent to prison after admitting he committed child sex offences.

Dale Brook, prosecuting, said that the parents of a teenage boy discovered sexual messages on his mobile phone and he admitted that he had met some adult men for sex – one of them being Langley.

He and Langley met on a website and the boy told him that he was aged 16, which would be the legal age with no offence committed. Langley claimed that he thought that he was 18 but it turned out that the boy was actually not even 16 but only 14.

When the boy told Langley that he was only 14, the ex-councillor told him: “You’re the youngest I have had.” Langley continued to send messages despite knowing that the boy was only 14.

They continued to exchange photographs and videos and Langley discussed having further sexual contact with the boy. Langley was arrested and his phone and laptops were seized.

His WhatsApp messages revealed highly sexualised messages with males aged over 18. During those conversations, he acknowledged that he had sex with the boy, who he believed was 16 but later learned was 14.

Images of the boy were shared and he expressed the hope of having further sexual contact with him before he turned 16. Langley distributed several photographs and videos of his sexual contact with other boys under the age of 16, including one aged 15.

Police also found other indecent images of children, including 62 in the most serious Category A, 44 at Category B and 75 in Category C.

Ayman Khokhar, mitigating, said that Langley had no previous convictions but the offences showed that he had betrayed the trust of others. “He will be living with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life,” said Mr Khokhar.