Conductor who won a Grammy is jailed over sex abuse of choirboys
A WORLD- renowned conductor who sexually abused two young boys has been jailed for 12 months. Joseph Cullen groomed his victims in the late 1970s and 80s while involved in choirs in Glasgow.
The married 55-year-old was brought to justice after one boy went to the police in 2013.
Cullen returned to the High Court in Glasgow yesterday after pleading guilty to two charges of using lewd and libidinous conduct.
Judge Lord Turnbull said the conductor had carved out a prestigious career following the abuse. This i ncluded winning two Grammy Awards for his work with the London Symphony Chorus.
The judge also told the court Cullen’s first victim had sent an articulate letter written in a ‘charitable manner’ and it appeared the man, now in his 40s, was not interested in ‘retribution’.
But, the judge added that Cullen’s crimes meant a jail term had to be imposed.
The a buse took place between 1976 and 1982. The first boy was groomed after joining a choir at St Aloysius Church in Glasgow, of which Cullen was a member.
The musician secretly gave ‘pocket money’ to the eight- year- old when the attacks began. The conductor – then in his teens – gained the trust of the boy’s parents and would often visit the family home.
It was there that Cullen molested the child on several occasions, the final serious attack occurring in 1978.
Cullen met his second victim in the early 1980s while choirmaster at Glasgow’s St Andrew’s Cathedral.
Prosecutor Steven Borth- wick said Cullen attacked the boy, who was then aged 11, at the musician’s home in the city’s Riddrie area and in the cathedral’s changing area.
He also attacked the boy in his car while driving him from school where Cullen was a music teacher.
In 2007, the victim – who by then was in his late 30s – confronted Cullen about what happened but did not contact police until 2013.
The incidents were investigated in early 2014 and Cullen was arrested at his home in Otley, West Yorkshire.
The court heard the first victim has been severely mentally scarred by his ordeal.
The second victim also had personal issues growing up and ended up homeless. His mother told the court: ‘He was a really talented boy. He changed from such a lovely boy into someone we didn’t know and we didn’t know why.’
Defence lawyer Jim Wallace said Cullen had shown ‘genuine regret’ for what he had done.