Sussex Police
Jonathan Grieves-Smith
The conductor of world-class symphony orchestras has been sentenced to 24 years in jail for historic intercourse crimes.
A court docket heard that the sufferer had suffered abuse by the hands of British-born Jonathan Grieves-Smith, 57, from the time she was 5 years previous.
Grieves-Smith was sentenced on Could 19 after he was convicted in March on 16 counts of intercourse offenses together with rape, buggery, indecent assault and gross indecency courting again to the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.
His Abuse “Forged a Horrible Shadow” Over Her Actuality & Led Her Right into a “Spiral of Despair”
The Sydney Morning Herald reported on elements of the sufferer influence assertion, together with feedback relating to the lasting trauma of Grieves-Smith’s crimes, which the sufferer testified had “forged a horrible shadow over (her) actuality”, and saved her “in a cage of self-destruction”.
“The life I needed to survive whereas I grew up in silence was not pleased, I didn’t really feel like different kids. I felt soiled and needed to preserve secrets and techniques.
“I hope Grieves-Smith won’t ever have the possibility to harm or destroy the lives of different trusting kids and their households via his manipulative and evil methods.”
Sentencing Grieves-Smith at Hove Crown Court docket in England, Decide Paul Tain stated, “whereas many individuals communicate extremely of you… the expertise in these courts is that lots of people of seemingly good character harbor secrets and techniques that their household and buddies aren’t conscious of. To anybody taken in by your claims that you’re in reality harmless, they may very well be flawed.”
He claimed that Grieves-Smith’s “focusing on, grooming, threats and blackmail” had led the sufferer “right into a spiral of despair”.
Fired From His Job When Allegations Got here to Mild, He Continued to Work With Orchestras Worldwide
Grieves-Smith carried out in conducting posts around the globe, together with the U.Ok., Europe, the U.S. and New Zealand. Among the orchestras he labored for included the Academy of St Martin within the Fields, BBC Singers and London Mozart Gamers.
We will unveil Jonathan Grieves-Smith, Creative Director of Hallelujah Junction and Hamer Singers as the most recent Virtuoso to affix #TeamOnV. pic.twitter.com/6zeqpgEkqQ
— OnlineVirtuoso (@Online_Virtuoso) October 10, 2017
Grieves-Smith had been residing in Melbourne, Australia, since 1998. In accordance with The Sydney Morning Herald, his employment was severed with Trinity School in Australia when warden professor Ken Hinchcliff first discovered of the costs towards him in 2015. Regardless of this, he continued to carry out across the nation.
He was extradited to the U.Ok. in July 2019 after a warrant for his arrest was issued at Brighton Magistrates Court docket. He’ll serve his jail sentence in Britain.
Detective Constable Lisa Wells, from the East Sussex Safeguarding Investigation Unit, stated the sufferer’s proof had helped guarantee Grieves-Smith’s conviction after she had wrestled together with her secret for greater than 20 years.
“She has suffered with the trauma and misery of what occurred to her, in secret, and it was not for greater than an extra 20 years that she felt sturdy sufficient to get again in contact and share her experiences with us.”
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Australia launched a press release in the present day following the conviction, claiming they have been “shocked to study of historic sexual abuse allegations” towards Grieves-Smith.
The assertion stated the MSO had contacted ex-chorus members and teams identified to have labored with Grieves-Smith, providing help, however at this stage had not acquired any complaints of misconduct.
MSO Managing Director Sophie Galaise stated she “supplied the Orchestra’s heartfelt sympathy to the sufferer and her household”.
READ NEXT: Feminine Instructor Intercourse Crimes Accusations