Rhys Young

A DIRECTOR who set up an award-winning youth theatre company in Trowbridge is facing a string of child sex charges.

Rhys Young, 48, of Dovecote Close, Trowbridge, appeared before magistrates in Chippenham on Saturday morning to face five charges of sexual activity with a 15-year-old boy dating back to August 2006.

The charges include paying the boy for sexual purposes, touching him sexually and making him look at pornographic images on his computer over a 19-month period.

Young, who has staged plays at theatres in west Wiltshire and surrounding areas, went into Trowbridge police station in Polebarn Road voluntarily on Thursday and asked to speak to detectives, who later charged him with the five offences.

Detective Sergeant Pete Auburn, of Trowbridge CID, appealed for anyone else who believes they may have information in connection with this inquiry to come forward.

Young set up Eklypse Musical Theatre in 2000 to provide young people with the chance to perform on stage at venues across the district.

The company won Best Youth Musical at the prestigious Rose Bowl Awards in 2001 for its first production, The Boyfriend.

Young regularly put on performances at The Arc in College Road, Trowbridge and The Athenaeum in Warminster as well as the Rondo in Bath and the Wharf Theatre in Devizes.

He also performed on stage with the Trowbridge Amateur Operatic Society in 1999-2000.

Eklypse Musical Theatre has not put on any performances recently and Young had started to rent out flats in Trowbridge, Southampton and Berlin instead.

Police seized three computers and a laptop from Young's home in Trowbridge over the weekend.

He did not enter a plea at the magistrates' court hearing but was remanded in custody to reappear at Swindon Crown Court next Friday.

2:10pm Friday 28th March 2008

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