Ovenden: Review Of Child Sex Sentence

An internationally renowed artist who escaped a prison term despite being convicted of a string of child sex charges has had his sentence referred to the Court of Appeal for being unduly lenient.

Graham Ovenden, who abused children who posed for his paintings in the 70s and 80s, told a jury at his trial that he felt it was his "moral obligation" to capture a child's "state of grace".

When he was arrested the artist, whose youngest victim was just six, told police he had a "major reputation" for having "some of the best portraits of children in the last 200 years".

However, Ovenden, from Cornwall, was convicted of six charges of indecency with a child and one of indecent assault relating to three girls. He received a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

The Attorney General, Dominic Grieve QC MP, has decided to refer the 70-year-old's case to the Court of Appeal where judges will decide whether or not to increase the sentence handed down by Judge Graham Cottle at Plymouth Crown Court in June.

Making the announcement the Attorney General also disclosed he had received around 150 complaints about the 15-month sentence handed to the BBC presenter Stuart Hall for a series of sex attacks against children.

His prison sentence will be considered for a referral to the Court of Appeal for its leniency and a decision is due on July 15.

The work of Ovenden, who studied under the so-called "Godfather of Pop-Art" Sir Peter Blake, was celebrated in galleries across the world at the height of his commercial popularity.

But the jurors at his trial heard his profession formed part of a ruse for abusing girls at his studio in Cornwall and former home in Hounslow, west London, where he would make them dress in Victorian clothing before removing it and committing indecent acts.

He told the trial: "I have to say the absolute witch-hunt which is going on at the moment - and the idea a child naked is something to be frowned upon - is absolutely abhorrent."

He described one of his subjects as a beautiful child both in front of the camera and as a person and said: "It is important that someone pays homage to that and places her in a state of grace."

He said: "I think holding those things, by photography or painting, is a moral obligation."

Following Ovenden's conviction, the Tate removed more than 30 prints from its online collection.

Last week, the Attorney General revealed that the number of sentences flagged to his office for being too lenient had surged to a record high in 2012.

The number of possibly unduly lenient sentences (ULS) drawn to the Attorney General's attention in 2012 rose to 435, from 377 in 2011 and 342 in 2010.

As a result 62 offenders saw an increase in their sentence.