Devon councillor sanctioned in ‘sexualisation of children’ row

Complaints about the LGBT Young Person’s Day event, which was organised by Out There and Exeter Library, sparked an investigation by Libraries Unlimited, the charity that runs Devon’s libraries for the council.

Sex education objects including anatomical models of genitalia appeared at the “family-friendly” event held in October 2025.

The matter was discussed at a full council meeting in which the leader of the council, Liberal Democrat Julian Brazil, said “lessons have been learned”.

Two council officers submitted code of conduct complaints relating to an email sent by Fife Cook to other Reform councillors which raised concerns about the council’s handling of the issue.

In the email Fife Cook said: “Our council officers can’t be trusted in safeguarding children, what consenting adults do with each other in the privacy of their own homes is their concern, but any normal person would look at what was on show at this event and would believe it was not appropriate for young children.

“To me this makes us all complicit in promoting and encouraging sexualisation of children.

“To allow future events like this in property owned by the public will be rightly deemed as reprehensible and we will all be at fault.”