Former children’s home boss, 77, accused of historic sex abuse of boys as young as nine is found dead at home weeks before he was due to stand trial

‘A suspected paedophile children’s home boss has been found dead – just weeks before he was due to stand trial for allegedly abusing boys as young as nine.

John Stingemore, 72, was set to face a string of historic sex abuse charges relating to his time as manager of Grafton Close children’s home in West London in the 1970s and 1980s.

Stingemore, who was charged in September 2013 with multiple counts of indecent assault, taking indecent images of a child and one count of conspiracy to commit buggery, was found dead by police.

A spokeswoman from the coroner’s office in Hastings, near where he lived in St Leonard’s on Sea, East Sussex, said: ‘He has passed away.”

Read more: Former children's home boss, 77, accused of historic sex abuse of boys as young as nine is found dead at home weeks before he was due to stand trial