A MIRFIELD man who held a top Calderdale Council post for many years has been charged with sex offences against teenage boys.
Rod Ryall, 67, is also a former children’s home house master and Scout leader.
He was director of social services with Calderdale Council in the 1980s, when he lived in Greetland.
Now he has been charged with a series of sex offences against teenage boys.
Ryall is accused of 13 offences, some dating back more than 40 years.
He faces charges alleging indecent assault and gross indecency against two boys at a school in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, and a boy in West Yorkshire.
Ryall worked at the school for years.
He is due to appear at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court on October 15.
He is accused of six offences of indecent assault and four of gross indecency against two 15-year-old boys at the former Aycliffe Approved School in County Durham between 1967 and 1970.
Ryall worked as a house master at the children’s home in Newton Aycliffe.
He is also accused of two counts of indecent assault and one of gross indecency against a 13-year-old boy in West Yorkshire between 1975 and 1977.
Police said he was a scout leader at the time of those alleged offences.
A Durham Police spokesman said: “A 67-year-old man from Mirfield, West Yorkshire, was charged with 13 sex offences, some dating back more than 40 years.
“Between 1967 and 1970, he is accused of a total of six offences of indecent assault and four of gross indecency.
“His alleged victims were two 15-year-old boys at the former Aycliffe Approved School, in County Durham.
“He has been charged with a further two counts of indecent assault and one of gross indecency alleged on a 13-year-old boy in West Yorkshire between 1975 and 1977.
“At that time, the man was said to have been a scout leader.”
Ryall, an Oxford University graduate, lived at Scar Bottom Lane, Greetland, before moving to Mirfield.
He was arrested in Dewsbury earlier this year.
Ryall, who also has a PhD from Cambridge, joined Calderdale Council in 1974, the year it was formed.
He was appointed assistant director of social services, responsible for professional, technical research and development.
He was also a member of Calderdale Child Protection Committee for three years.
He was appointed acting director of social services in 1984 and director a year later.
Before he came to Calderdale, he worked in Southampton as an adviser to Wessex Regional Children’s Committee.
He took part in the London Marathon and was a keen orienteer and a member of the East Pennine Orienteering Club.
