Ex-royal butler faces sentence on child sex crimes

MANCHESTER, England - A former butler who once served Queen Elizabeth II faces sentencing next month for multiple child sex offenses.
Paul Kidd pleaded guilty on Wednesday to nine counts of indecent assault, six counts of sexual activity with a child, a single count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, 11 counts of making indecent images of a child and two counts of possessing indecent images of children.

A number of offenses dated from his time in royal service.

Prosecutors said Kidd introduced one of his victims to a friend, David Hobday, 56, who also pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a series of sexual offenses.

Both men face sentencing on Nov. 20.

"Given you have both pleaded guilty to some serious offenses, you should be under no illusion that the sentence is going to be custody," Judge Mushtaq Khokhar told them.

Kidd, 55, was a butler to the queen from 1977 to 1979, then was senior footman to the late Queen Mother Elizabeth until 1984.

One of Kidd's victims contacted police after reading a newspaper interview with the ex-butler on the 10th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana.

The victim, now in his 40s, said he had been indecently assaulted by Kidd at the butler's home in the early 1980s.

After leaving royal employment, Kidd charged up to 4,000 pounds (US$7,200) as an after-dinner speaker, and also worked on cruise ships talking of his experiences.