COMMUNITY ALERT IN WALTON NEAR STONE: PETER ROBB, CONVICTED CHILD SEX OFFENDER, TO BE RELEASED PROMPTLY

In September 2000, a determined grandmother embarked on a bold campaign to warn her community about her former son-in-law, Peter Robb, a convicted child sex offender, who was nearing his release from prison. Gloria, age 59, traveled from Canada to Walton, near Stone in Staffordshire, where she spent days posting large warnings about Robb, a music teacher sentenced to five years for sexually abusing a boy and a girl. Her posters, marked 'Warning!' and featuring Robb’s picture along with details of his crimes, appeared prominently but were quickly removed by police, who are preparing to gain new powers to monitor paedophiles. Despite this, Gloria expressed her resolve: "As far as we were concerned, five years wasn’t enough in the first place. When I heard he was being released two and a half years early — on good behaviour, of all things — I decided I simply had to warn people."

She added, "He’s very charismatic, charming and plausible. I didn’t want to give him the chance to abuse again."

Robb was arrested in 1997 after threatening Debbie Gerrity, his former partner. Debbie had previously left him due to his increasingly abusive behavior; she is now 40 and has moved to a secret location with her four children, none of whom are Robb’s. According to Mrs. Gerrity, police were called after Robb threatened Debbie with a gun. Police raided Robb’s home on Tilling Drive, seizing a firearm and videotapes, one of which allegedly shows him abusing a young boy familiar to the family.

Debbie Gerrity, who plans to tell her story to a women’s magazine and has since divorced Robb, stated, "I have heard all the arguments about naming and shaming these perverts and them going underground, but I have no regrets. I grew up in this area, and I believe the community has a right to know what a monster is in their midst."

In Walton, Robb’s former residence, a row of well-kept houses opposite local schools, was locked and unoccupied, with neighbors commenting publicly. Peter, 34, recalled, "When I moved in two years ago, Robb was already in prison, but no one had told us. We were furious that the estate agent didn’t inform us. Beyond concerns for our children, we worry about property values — if he returns here, we couldn’t sell the house, especially to families."

He further stated, "Everyone has the right to a home, but when you do something as evil as he has, you forfeit that right. Mrs. Gerrity’s poster campaign was a good thing, and I believe someone else will continue it after she’s gone."

However, not everyone agreed. Jan Brumby expressed mixed feelings, saying, "I think people have a right to know about him because he used to be a music teacher, and children would go in there. But it can also lead to vigilantes, mistakes, and danger. Just a few days after Robb was imprisoned, someone threw black paint over our car. We believe it was aimed at him, but it could have been much worse."

Robb’s solicitor has stated that Robb has no plans to return to Walton after his release later that week. Should he do so, he likely won’t see his face plastered around town. Inspector Mark Riley of Staffordshire Police commented, "We don’t have a specific right to remove posters if people keep putting them up, but we would do so for public safety and crime prevention reasons. The last batch was taken down because we received calls from men concerned that the pictures resembled them, which could lead to serious repercussions in this climate."