[6] Righton justified relationships between adults and children in his academic work[6] - he wrote in Social Work Today in 1977 that "Provided there is no question of exploitation, sexual relationships freely entered into by residents – including adolescents – should not be a matter for automatic inquiry", and wrote in the book Perspectives on Paedophilia that "Most child molesters, if paedophile at all, are so only incidentally.
Righton, then living in Evesham, was convicted by a magistrates court in September 1992 of importing child sexual abuse magazines and photographs after Customs and Excise intercepted material being sent to him from the Netherlands that April.
[3][1][6][9] The BBC's Inside Story documentary reported in 1994 that he was allowed to leave a boarding school under a "gentleman's agreement" after being found to have abused boys.
[10][11] A former student of his wrote that his position of power, authority and charisma allowed him and other paedophiles to avoid detection and to lead some to turn a blind eye to suspicions.
[12] Liz Davies, a reader in child protection at London Metropolitan University who was involved in the investigation into his abuses in Islington, wrote that Righton was allowed to live on the Thornham Magna estate of Lord Henniker in Suffolk, where children from Islington continued to be taken, apparently until his death;[13] Member of Parliament Tom Watson wrote that the Chief Constable of Suffolk warned against Righton being allowed to live on the estate but was ignored.