The Prosecution accused Hodge of lechery, assault and rape of three minor boys and the possession and distribution of pornographic images in 2004-2005 and 2015. The Prosecutor originally had called for a six-year prison sentence.

 

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the former principal of one of Methodist Agogic Centre’s (MAC’s) campuses actively groomed his victims through social-media chats, took them out with permission of their parents, bought them gifts and took two of them to a deserted property that belonged to his wife. In one case he purchased a bottle of Desperado for one of his minor victims.

 

The Judge dismissed the first charge of sexual misconduct against a minor Hodge had groomed and with whom he had oral sex in 2004-2005. However, the judge found the other allegations against Hodge justified.

 

The case started when the mother of one of the victims intercepted chats of a highly sexual nature between Hodge and her son and filed a report against Hodge on July 23, 2015. Other victims reported themselves on a special tip line opened by the Court of Guardianship. The judge also stated in his verdict that the five-year sentence was minus the time Hodge already had spent in jail.

 

The Daily Herald