Octogenarian Richard Burrows convicted of 97 child-abuse offences after 30 years on the run

Richard Burrows, an 80-year-old former boarding school housemaster and scout leader, has been convicted of nearly 100 offences, including multiple child abuse charges.
According to The Guradian, he committed these crimes over three decades, from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s. Burrows fled to Thailand in 1997 to evade justice but was finally arrested in 2023 when he ran out of money and returned to the UK.
His offences took place while he worked at a Cheshire school for troubled teenagers and later as a scout leader in the West Midlands. In 1997, when faced with legal action, he fled to Thailand, evading justice for nearly three decades.
His past caught up with him in 2023 when he was arrested at Heathrow Airport. Authorities had been tracking him for years and finally located him using facial recognition software. He had been living under a stolen identity in Phuket.

During his trial at Chester Crown Court, Burrows admitted to being a paedophile but denied the more serious allegations. Out of the 105 charges against him, he pleaded guilty to 43. The court ultimately found him guilty of 54 more offences, bringing the total conviction count to 97. The charges included indecent assault, indecency with a child, and an offence now classified as rape.
Prosecutor Mark Connor KC said Burrows used his positions of trust to exploit young boys for his own gratification. Detective Inspector Eleanor Atkinson described him as a "prolific sex offender" who showed no remorse.
In one uncovered email, Burrows wrote that he had spent the last 30 years "living in paradise" in Thailand while his victims suffered in silence.
Many of Burrows' victims never saw justice, as four have since passed away. Some survivors reported the abuse at the time, but their claims were dismissed, allowing Burrows to continue his crimes.
Burrows will be sentenced on 7 April. Prosecutors hope his conviction brings some measure of closure to his victims.