A paedophile martial arts teacher from Sidcup has been jailed for sexually abusing a pupil, including raping the child in front of her own mum.
Tony Swanson, founder of the Taoist Arts Organisation (TAO) based in Wren Road, met the child at classes he ran at a church hall in Beckenham in the mid-2000s.
Described as "charismatic" and "very powerful", Swanson groomed the girl before he went on to sexually abuse and rape her repeatedly over the course of around three years.
Swanson was sleeping with the girl's mum at the time of the abuse.
On various occasions he had sex with the mum while the daughter was made to watch, raped the child in front of her mum, and tried to force the girl to perform oral sex on her own mum.
Swanson, 75, was sentenced to 25 years in prison at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday (August 28) after a jury found him guilty of 15 child sex offences, including four counts of rape.
Police said they believe Swanson may have other victims who have yet to come forward, as he taught children in Beckenham and Sidcup area in the early 2000s.
The girl's mum, who cannot be identified for legal reasons will be sentenced on Friday afternoon, after she admitted three counts of sexual activity in the presence of a child.
'Swanson knows what he did to me'
The court heard that Swanson founded the TAO in 1995, which was primarily concerned with the delivery of Chinese martial arts lessons.
"You were, up until very recently, involved in that organisation," Judge Christopher Grout said.
Judge Grout said the TAO was clearly extremely successful and Swanson was influential to its success, but there was also a darker side to his character.
Prosecutor James Brown KC told the jury at trial: “As you will hear, a very unusual aspect of this case is that the mother of [the victim] was involved in the sexual abuse.
“It came to be that the mother began having sex with the defendant.
"He also began to groom her daughter, telling her he was well placed to teach her about sex. He then went on to sexually abuse and repeatedly rape her.”
Swanson convinced the mum that it was ok because he was a safe person to teach her young daughter about sex.
In an impact statement read to the court, the victim said that for many years it was too painful to think about the fact that an old man had taken away her teenage years, innocence and virginity.
She said: "When the abuse initially stopped, I locked it away in my mind and tried to forget and ignore what had happened. It was just too traumatic."
The abuse changed her relationship with her own body to the point where she said:"I utterly hate myself".
She said she no longer exercises as it causes flashbacks to training with Swanson.
"I came to realise through therapy that what he did happened, and that will never change. I will always have to live with the horrific acts of abuse he put me through," she said.
"I am scared to bring children into the world knowing they could be hurt, abused or damaged at the hands of a paedophile like Tony Swanson, like I was."
She said Swanson continued to abuse her by refusing to admit what he had done, dragging out the justice process for years.
"Swanson knows what he did to me and always has. He decided to abuse me again by pleading not guilty."
"I'm here to tell you that while he says I tried to ruin him. He has ruined me and shown no remorse. He could have been years into his sentence by now, I could have been years into my recovery."
Swanson denied that anything sexual happened with either the mother or the daughter.
He was found guilty of four counts of rape, four counts of indecent assault, three counts of sexual activity with a child, three counts of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, and one count of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
At his trial, the jury heard that the abuse stopped when the victim told her mum she couldn't do it anymore.
Her mum spoke to Swanson, who responded by confronting the victim and telling her she had made the wrong decision, that she was stupid and that she would never be happy.
The victim confided in friends and family over the years, but it wasn’t until 2022 that she gave her account to the police, the court heard.
Asked why she decided to report the abuse, she said: “I just need to be able to move on with my life, and I think about this every day.
"I just have playback, like replaying horrific memories. And I just can’t stand the thought that he isn’t being held accountable for what he’s done.
“I can’t stand the thought that this could potentially be happening elsewhere.
“It’s taken me years to build myself up to the point where I can do this, because putting words around what happened is just such a struggle for me, and I feel like I’m strong enough now to do it.”
'We believe he may have other victims'
Ed Butler KC, mitigating on Swanson's behalf, said: "In light of the verdicts, the court will have very little sympathy for him.
"But having observed Mr Swanson and his family over a period of time, those verdicts came as a devastating blow not just to him and his family but to the very many people he has influenced over the years."
He said the sentence is likely to take up most, if not all, of the remainder of Swanson's life.
Mr Butler asked the judge not to lose sight of the "very substantial evidence" that he had positively affected the lives of many young people over the years.
Judge Grout concluded that Swanson had abused his position of power in the martial arts organisation to carry out the abuse.
He sentenced Swanson to 25 years in prison - a parole board will not be able to consider his release for at least 16 years.
Ed Butler KC, mitigating on Swanson's behalf, said: "In light of the verdicts, the court will have very little sympathy for him.
"But having observed Mr Swanson and his family over a period of time, those verdicts came as a devastating blow not just to him and his family but to the very many people he has influenced over the years."
He said the sentence is likely to take up most, if not all, of the remainder of Swanson's life.
Mr Butler asked the judge not to lose sight of the "very substantial evidence" that he had positively affected the lives of many young people over the years.
A spokesperson for the Met Police said detectives conducted video recorded interviews with the victim-survivor and took dozens of statements as they built a compelling case against Swanson.
He was interviewed twice by officers, each time denying that anything happened with either the mum or daughter.
DC Leonora Simpson said: “What happened to this young girl was awful.
"Anthony Swanson is an evil predator who thought nothing of taking advantage of the position of trust he held to carry out this vile campaign of sexual abuse.
“Based on the gravity of Swanson’s offending, we believe he may have other victims who have yet to come forward.
“We know that Swanson began teaching children’s martial arts classes in the Beckenham and Sidcup area in the early 2000s. He led residential trips to the West Country and Inverness in Scotland.
“I am appealing to potential victims to come forward and speak to us about what happened. Any information will be treated extremely sensitively, and you will be supported by specialist officers.”
The TAO organised martial arts classes in Sidcup, Beckenham and elsewhere in south east London.
Later the TAO also ran sailing, scuba diving and horse riding activities.
Any victim-survivors or anyone with information regarding Swanson that could assist the police is urged to contact officers on 101, quoting CAD 1652/26AUG26 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
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