http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007430080,00.html
Wife: I stand by Jehovah paedo
By ANTHONY FRANCE
Crime Reporter
September 17, 2007
THE wife of vile Jehovah’s Witness paedo Michael Porter vowed to stand by her man yesterday.
Porter, 38, who abused a baby and 12 other young boys, was released by a soft judge last month.
The Sun tracked him down to his new home, near where he strolled hand in hand with loyal wife Joanne.
The couple mingled with shoppers — including children — in Edgware, North London.
A family friend said: “Joanne says she married Michael for better or worse.
“He is a changed man and she is proud to be seen out and about with him. Her love will save him.”
But a shocked mum who saw Porter out shopping said: “He should be swinging on the end of a rope, not walking the streets as a free man. He’s a disgrace.” Porter is still a Jehovah’s Witness and calls at the homes of local people unaware of his sick past to promote the faith.
Joanne’s loyalty mirrors that of the wife of disgraced actor Chris Langham who was jailed for ten months on Friday for possessing child porn.
A judge showed mercy after reading a moving letter from the star’s wife Chrissie, 54.
On the streets ... Porter strolls past mum and baby (PHOTO at the link above)
Porter — a ministerial servant to Jehovah’s Witness church elders in Clevedon, Somerset — molested boys by putting his hands down their trousers in “playfights”. One victim was interfered with as he slept in bed while another woke to find Porter on top of him.
He abused the boys — aged from 18 months to seven — when he was trusted to act as a babysitter, take kids camping and host sleepovers. Porter — supported in court by Joanne — carried out the attacks over a 14-year period in the 1980s and ’90s.
Judge Tom Crowther caused outrage when he spared him jail for 24 counts of indecent assault and gross indecency after hearing he had undergone therapy.
He gave him a three-year community rehabilitation order at Bristol Crown Court, banned him from working with under-18s and put him on the sex offenders register.
The judge said “personal” issues in Porter’s childhood made his actions “understandable”. However, Porter’s own sister Tina Hughes, 40, branded the judge “rubbish” and disowned her brother.
She said: “He’s an evil monster with no soul. He’s not human. The fact he is flesh and blood is irrelevant to me. To me he is 6ft under. Dead.”
The Attorney General is considering whether to appeal against the sentence.