Congleton man found guilty of historic child sexual offences

A former football coach, who preyed on and abused several children over a 30-year period, has been found guilty of nearly 60 historic child sex offences.

William Woods was found guilty of 57 offences at Chester Crown Court on Tuesday 24th June, including inciting children under the age of 14 to commit an act of gross indecency, incite boys aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity and attempted rape.

In addition, he was found not guilty of one count of sexual assault and one count of neglect.

The 67-year-old, of Lawton Street in Congleton, has been remanded in custody and is to be sentenced for his crimes on Friday 15 August.

During the course of his eight-week trial, it was heard that between 1976 and 2006, Woods had sexually abused eight children across the Northwich and Crewe areas of Cheshire.

Woods was football coach over the course of his offending and used his connections with family friends to build a position of trust and influence over the children, isolating them from their loved ones before sexually abusing them.

Woods also encouraged the young people to abuse one another, bringing multiple children together at his home to act out his warped sexual fantasisies.

Alongside his campaign of sexual abuse against these children, Woods was also physically abusive, with the court hearing how he had locked one of his victims in a cupboard for a prolonged period and burnt them with cigarettes and a pan that was being used for cooking.

In 2018, officers from Cheshire Police were approached by one of Woods’ victims. Subsequent enquiries into this victim’s case resulted in officers uncovering seven more victims, all of whom had been sexually and physically abused by Woods between the late 1970s and early 2000s.

Woods was interviewed on several occasions throughout the entire investigation before being formally arrested in 2022, outright denying any abuse - going so far as to tell interviewing officers that he had never even met several of the victims and that the ones he had previously met were lying about being abused.

The 67-year-old would be charged with 59 offences in January 2024.

Police Constable Emma Hughes, who oversaw the investigation, said:

"While on the outside William Woods looked to be a respectable member of the community; a coach of the local youth football team who had a good relationship with the children of family friends, he is, in reality, a malignant and opportunistic sexual predator who has already served a six-year sentence for sexual offences against young people in his care prior to our investigation into him in 2018.

“Being taken on holidays and camping trips are meant to be experiences that children should look back on with positive memories, but instead, Woods used the trust instilled in him to abuse the young people in his care, isolate them from their families and force them to act out his warped sexual fantasies over a period of 30 years.

“Despite the overwhelming amount of evidence against him, Woods refused to accept any responsibility for his own horrific actions. However, their abuser has now, at long last, been served justice and I hope that today marks the end of a very turbulent chapter in their lives that will allow them to find some sense of closure and begin to heal.

"Today's result is the culmination of over seven years policework and working alongside Woods' eight victims in bringing almost three decades of horrific abuse to a conclusion.

“Coming forward to disclose offences of this nature takes a huge amount of bravery. So, I would like to take this opportunity to commend each of the victims in this case whose evidence was vital in helping us build a case against William Woods, as I know it will not have been easy for them or their families to process.

“I would like to stress that, as this case has shown today, we take all reports of historic sexual abuse extremely seriously and we thoroughly investigate every report we receive, placing the victim's needs at the heart of the case, regardless of how long ago the offence occurred.”

If you have been a victim of sexual abuse, or know of someone who has, please call us on 101 or: 

visit the website.

Information can also be reported anonymously, via Crimestoppers, on:

0800 555 111

Pictured - Williams Woods of Lawton Street in Congleton.