Doug Richard, a former Dragons’ Den star and adviser to David Cameron, is to appear in court charged with sexually assaulting a 13-year-old child.
Richard, 57, who founded School for Startups, a company that provides training for budding entrepreneurs, was one of the original “dragons” in the popular BBC show, appearing in the first two series alongside Peter Jones and Duncan Bannatyne.
His advisory work for the Conservative party started in 2008 when Cameron, then leader of the opposition, asked him to compile policy guidelines on support for small businesses. He published a government-requested review of the apprenticeship system in 2012.
The US-born Richard is charged with three counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said. The alleged offences occurred on 2 January and relate to one victim aged 13 at the time.
In a statement, the married father-of-three, from Islington, north London, denied the allegations. “I absolutely deny the charges against me and will contest this matter in court,” he said.
He will appear before City of London magistrates court on 5 October.
Caroline Hughes, a CPS London lawyer, said: “We have carefully considered the evidence gathered by City of London police in relation to Douglas Richard, 57, who was arrested on 5 January this year. Having completed our review, we have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest for Douglas Richard to be charged”
In an interview with the Guardian last year, the Californian said British people were “polite to a fault” and criticised programmes such as The Apprentice for creating a false image of the business world.
He received an honorary Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion in 2006 for his work in promoting, developing and helping fellow entrepreneurs. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate in business from Plymouth University in 2013. In November 2014 it was announced he was to be the next chancellor of Teesside University, but he did not take up the role.
