The owners of a non-league football club in England, Barrie Drewitt-Barlow and Scott Drewitt-Barlow, have been charged with multiple sexual offences.
An Essex Police statement on Friday said Barrie, 57, and Scott, 32 โ who own eighth-tier Maldon and Tiptree FC โ had both been charged with โmultiple offences including rape, sexual assault, and modern slavery trafficking for sexual exploitationโ.
The police statement said co-ordinated searches were carried out in Danbury, Maldon, and Braintree and the two men were arrested on Wednesday, while the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that the pair would appear at Chelmsford Magistrates Court on Friday.
A CPS statement read: โBarrie Drewitt-Barlow and Scott Drewitt-Barlow have each been charged with arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation, as well as other sexual offences including rape. We have worked closely with Essex Police as it carried out its investigation.โ
Barrie and Scott Drewitt-Barlow completed their takeover of Maldon and Tiptree, an Essex-based club in Englandโs eighth tier, in February 2025, and invested heavily into the club, revamping facilities and signing former Premier League and English Football League players including former West Ham United forward Freddie Sears.
The club were promoted to the seventh tier this season after winning the North Division of the Isthmian League on goal difference.
Property developer Barrie Drewitt-Barlow and his former husband became one of the first gay dads in the UK to children via surrogacy in 1999, and he featured on reality TV shows such as Rich House, Poor House and Below Deck Sailing Yacht.
A six-part documentary chronicling Maldon and Tiptree was scheduled to air on British broadcaster ITV and its digital platform ITVX. A widely-reported statement by an ITV spokesperson said ITV โhas decided to remove Up The Jammers from the upcoming scheduleโ.ย The Athleticย has contacted ITV for comment.
