Man killed himself after (false) paedophile allegation

Brighton, U.K.

A man wrongly accused of being a paedophile suffocated himself at home.

William Chandler, who was known as Bill, placed a plastic bag over his head after police were told he was grooming a young boy for sex.

But an inquest in Brighton was told detectives could find no evidence the 31-year-old had behaved in any improper way with the youngster.

A coroner suggested Mr Chandler had killed himself because he could not cope with the false allegations.

He was found dead at his flat in Eaton Gardens, Hove, on September 1.

Days earlier police had received a complaint from the boy’s father about online computer messages exchanged between his son and Mr Chandler.

A police investigation concluded there had been no offence committed and no sexual grooming had taken place.

The police had been handed 12 pages of transcripts of online conversations between the boy and Mr Chandler, which took place on August 25 and 26.

Detective Sergeant Vanessa Britton, of Sussex Police, told the inquest: “In my opinion it is a conversation between a curious young male and a role model he can trust.”

Mr Chandler, who worked for the Learning and Skills Council, was found after police were alerted by his worried family who had not been able to contact him and he had failed to turn up at work.

He had suffered from depression in the past and had left a suicide note addressed to his mother. The contents of the note were not read out at the hearing but the inquest heard the note did not mention the allegations about the boy.

Mr Chandler, a music lover, was described as a kind and cheerful man by his friends and family.

Dr Karen Henderson, Brighton and Hove’s assistant deputy coroner, said she concurred completely with the police report that there had been absolutely no evidence of any sexual grooming or paedophile activity.

She said he had been accused of something that is “every man’s nightmare”. Dr Henderson added: “Once accused it is so difficult to refute. There is no suggestion that his relationship with the boy was anything but loving and caring.

“I am sure he was a very fine and upstanding member of the community.”

She recorded a verdict that Mr Chandler took his own life. 

[Ed: In previous centuries many of those accused of witchcraft also took their own lives rather than endure the hell which was sure to follow. Pity that in some ways we have made no progress.]