University professor who led secret double life as paedophile continued working despite guilt – and his bosses only found out when the Mail told them

A renowned university lecturer who plotted to sexually assault an under-age girl continued to teach despite his guilt – and some shell-shocked colleagues only learned about his depravity through the Daily Mail.

Staff at the Royal Holloway University of London had no idea well-spoken film studies professor Barry Langford was a paedophile and secret sex addict and had been arrested three years ago.

Langford continued to work despite being charged with a series of sex offences in November 2024, unbeknownst to his pupils and fellow lecturers.

Colleagues believed he was still teaching and his profile remained on the university website as the autumn term began last month – despite Langford claiming in court he resigned this summer.

Indeed it was only when the Mail contacted the university at the start of the new academic year following his conviction that some staff first became aware of the 61-year-old’s grim predilections. The university’s legal department was notified by the police less than an hour before the Mail made contact.

Langford and a woman began planning to assault an eight-year-old girl in May and June 2023.  

With the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, Langford messaged a person on a fetish website who he believed was offering him a child for sexual activity. 

But there was no child and in reality he was speaking to an undercover police officer.

Detectives arrested Langford in October 2023 but he said nothing to his university where he remained in post.

All the while, colleagues had no inkling Langford secretly called himself the ‘London Pervert’ on a fetish website, where he discussed his ‘abhorrent’ sexual fantasies including attacking a child.

A spokesman for Royal Holloway University told the Mail: ‘The university was not informed of the criminal proceedings by either the relevant authorities or the individual concerned. 

‘The conduct in question is utterly abhorrent and has no place whatsoever within this university.’

The spokesman said Langford was ‘no longer employed by the university’ but declined to comment further at this stage.

He added: ‘We recognise that this news may be distressing to many of our students and colleagues and have support in place. Our focus remains on supporting our community and we will not be commenting further at this time.’

Langford’s lawyer told the Old Bailey sentencing hearing on Wednesday that his client had tendered his resignation on June 29 this year the same day he pleaded guilty in court.

Langford admitted one count each of arranging the commission of a child sex offence; making an indecent image of a child; and possessing extreme pornography after he was charged in November 2024.

Judge Angela Rafferty KC spared him jail, suspending his two-year prison sentence for three years. 

She said: ‘The substantial adverse consequences to your life, finances, your personal relationships and health are your own responsibility.’

Peter Clark, defending Langford, said his client had serious heart problems, and his relationship with his son was damaged by the court case. 

He said: ‘The defendant has engaged with an organisation called Sex Addicts Anonymous to tackle the depths to which his fantasies had taken him in 2023.’

After the conviction, Detective Constable Nikki Jones, part of the Metropolitan Police’s Child Abuse and Sex Exploitation Unit who led the police investigation, told the Mail: ‘I think it highlights that it can be anyone and that these individuals walk among us – this is a lecturer at a university.

‘It’s like a double life, that dark secret obsession of the extremes that they can’t disclose to anyone because it doesn’t fit in with the life they present to others.

‘It is also a very serious offence of sexually abusing children.

‘From examining his devices the life he presented is the total opposite of this desire for extreme taboos he expressed and acted out on these particular platforms.’

The court heard how Langford and his co-defendant, who was handed a community order for her lesser role, began chatting to the officer on Telegram and WhatsApp.

There they explained in graphic detail that one of their sexual fantasies involved a child.

The trio began a group chat including phone calls, although police said the woman appeared ‘nervous’ and tended to stay in the background.

However, officers said there was ‘clear intent’ for them to meet up and sexually abuse the girl.

Langford ultimately dropped his scheme after he expressed concern about ‘ending up in prison’, but only after suggesting that the girl came to a swinger party in France.

It is understood the police were not obliged to tell the university about Langford because he did not work directly with children.

Langford’s profile and contact details remained on the university’s website as the new autumn term began, in which he described himself as a ‘practicing professional screenwriter’.

In the past, he has appeared on the university’s social media channels congratulating students and welcoming new arrivals.

His academic work was also referenced in the university’s LinkedIn posts after his arrest at his home in upmarket Richmond, west London.

The Met said the need to gather as much evidence as possible – and the ongoing court backlog – meant Langford had to wait three years to be brought to court.

DC Jones said: ‘I think for me it was the determination from Langford to arrange this and meet the child that was concerning.

‘It was the fact that he went to such lengths to have a phone call to discuss it, that himself and his female partner chatted on various platforms discussing the details of what sexual abuse they would act out on the girl.

‘From working in this unit we see a lot of these offences and obviously it’s concerning.

‘It’s the deepest, darkest secret that lies with that individual that not even their nearest and dearest would know about.

‘The fact that we have the tools, resources and intelligence to be able to do our job means that we can gather the evidence, charge and bring these individuals to justice.’

Langford was also given a ten-year sexual harm prevention order. 

Mentions of the depraved professor have now been quietly scrubbed from the university website.