Philip Levi was fined by a UK court in 1985 for indecently assaulting a 12-year-old boy. He then moved to Guernsey, and later lived in Sark, and umpired youth cricket matches during a 15-year period living in the Bailiwick.
Sources who attended or were involved with Elizabeth College in the 1990s have alleged that Levi was able to build a relationship with the school’s cricket teams which included umpiring matches, attending events and transporting boys between venues.
One man said he took his concerns to a representative of the college at the time and was told that Levi’s previous conviction was known and for that reason he was not allowed to enter the boys’ changing rooms.
The claims about Levi’s involvement are among disclosures made to Joanna Nicolas, who was appointed by the college earlier this year to lead an inquiry into multiple reports of ‘non-current’ physical and sexual abuse.
The college issued a brief statement in answer to a series of detailed questions about Levi’s alleged involvement.
‘We have no record that Philip Levi was either employed by or acted as a volunteer for the college, including for college-led cricket tours,’ said a spokesman.
‘We have, nonetheless, shared these details with the police, alongside Joanna Nicolas as part of her ongoing independent review.’
The college did not contest claims that Levi umpired matches involving its students but is understood to believe that he was supplied by a third party rather than having a direct relationship with the school.
The college also did not contest that during the 1990s it became aware of Levi’s conviction from the 1980s but is understood to believe that this was the point at which the third party ceased to supply him as an umpire.
After leaving the Bailiwick and moving back to the UK, Levi was convicted of a string of sexual offences against children.
In 2018, he was jailed for 11 years and three months after pleading guilty to 15 counts of indecent assault on a child aged under 16 and two counts of indecency towards a child aged under 16.
The abuse took place in Harrow between 1972 and 1984 when Levi was a scout master. It came to light when a man went to the police in 2016 to report being sexually abused by Levi as a child. During the course of the investigation, further victims were identified who also reported being abused by him.
The judge described Levi as ‘a predatory and persistent offender’.
Local media reported the 2018 court case but there was no mention of his involvement in youth sport in the island or his alleged association with Elizabeth College.
Ms Nicolas’ inquiry invited submissions from former students until the end of June. She said recently that she had been encouraged by the number of people who had come forward to assist. The college has declined requests to publicise her terms of reference and say when her report will be completed and whether it will be made public.
Details of sexual and physical abuse disclosures from former pupils were published recently in The Observer newspaper. It reported allegations from three former boarders at the college who said they were among a group of at least 18 boys abused or groomed for abuse by Dr Morley Stuart, who taught classics at the school in the late 1970s and early 1980s.