Court

Doctor Acquitted On Grooming Charge
Thur 15th Nov 2012, Yellow Advertiser

A DOCTOR has been acquitted of meeting a child following sexual grooming.

Anton Van Dellen, 41, of Stamford Brook Avenue, Chiswick, was found not guilty of meeting a 15-year-old boy from the Castle Point area with the intention of committing a sexual offence.

Jurors heard Dr Van Dellen had added the boy on Facebook in May 2011 because they had almost 20 mutual online friends.

Dr Van Dellen had more than 700 friends on the social networking site and said he would sometimes send up to 15 friend requests per day.

The boy’s age was not on his profile when the doctor added him. The boy began a conversation with Dr Van Dellen last summer using the site’s chat facility.

The tone became flirtatious and they began to arrange a meeting until the boy revealed his age.

Dr Van Dellen immediately called off the meeting.

Jurors were given a transcript of the Facebook chat, which showed the boy had voiced his disappointment, commenting, “Age is just a number and nothing more.”

The court heard that as the chat developed, Dr Van Dellen agreed to meet the boy but repeatedly stated that nothing sexual could happen.

He told jurors he had felt ‘flattered’ by the boy’s compliments and that he had hoped to continue their ‘flirtatious conversation’ in person.

Dr Van Dellen drove to Castle Point and picked the boy up that night.
They drove to a secluded area , where the boy later alleged Dr Van Dellen sexually assaulted him.

Dr Van Dellen denied any sexual activity with the boy.

He claimed the boy had directed him to the location, made strong sexual advances and then declared that he would perform a sex act on himself.

He said he temporarily fled the vehicle so as not to become caught up in an offence.

Forensic findings inside the car supported Dr Van Dellen’s story and contradicted the boy’s.

The boy told police that Dr Van Dellen had claimed to be 21, but transcripts of their Facebook chat did not support his story.

He told police that Dr Van Dellen did not have a profile picture on the site, but defence barrister Patrick Gibbs said his client had numerous ‘tagged’ pictures and his age should have been apparent to the boy.

Jurors took just one hour to acquit Dr Van Dellen after hearing four days of evidence.

Judge John Lodge, who presided over the case, said that ‘however unwise the defendant may have been’, his story had been consistent.

Speaking after the verdict he said: “The Crown, knowing what his case was, chose to prosecute him and that prosecution has failed.”

Dr Van Dellen applied to recover his legal costs from the Crown.

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