Les Merton is a convicted child-abuser from Medlyn Moor, Cornwall, England, UK, subsequently living in Redruth before his 2015 conviction. [1] Educated at Halwin School, and employed in various ways in his life, he has written in a range of genres including humour and Cornish dialect. [2]
In 2002 he founded Poetry Cornwall/Bardhonyeth Kernow, [3] now defunct. In the same year his poem "Gud News" won the Cornish Gorsedd, [4] and in 2004 he was made a bard of that organisation for his services to Cornish literature, [2] which have been described as "new investigations of Cornish experience". [5] His bardic name was Map Hallow (Son of the Moors), [2] however since his conviction he has been removed from the Bardic Roll. [6] His guide to the Cornish dialect entitled Oall Rite Me Ansum?: a salute to Cornish Dialect was published in 2003. [1] [7]
In 2005 Merton accepted a police caution for entering his credit card details into a website hosting indecent images of children, but had claimed that this was a mistake which happened whilst carrying out research into the Russian mystic, Rasputin. [8]
In January 2015, Merton was found guilty and jailed for 13 years for child sex abuse which was carried out on girls as young as seven and over a period of over 20 years. [9]
Les Merton is a convicted child-abuser from Medlyn Moor, Cornwall, England, UK, subsequently living in Redruth before his 2015 conviction. [1] Educated at Halwin School, and employed in various ways in his life, he has written in a range of genres including humour and Cornish dialect. [2]
In 2002 he founded Poetry Cornwall/Bardhonyeth Kernow, [3] now defunct. In the same year his poem "Gud News" won the Cornish Gorsedd, [4] and in 2004 he was made a bard of that organisation for his services to Cornish literature, [2] which have been described as "new investigations of Cornish experience". [5] His bardic name was Map Hallow (Son of the Moors), [2] however since his conviction he has been removed from the Bardic Roll. [6] His guide to the Cornish dialect entitled Oall Rite Me Ansum?: a salute to Cornish Dialect was published in 2003. [1] [7]
In 2005 Merton accepted a police caution for entering his credit card details into a website hosting indecent images of children, but had claimed that this was a mistake which happened whilst carrying out research into the Russian mystic, Rasputin. [8]
In January 2015, Merton was found guilty and jailed for 13 years for child sex abuse which was carried out on girls as young as seven and over a period of over 20 years. [9]