The 53-year-old Ian Taylor has largely composed the music for the MMORPG Runescape . He has now pleaded guilty to a sexual assault on a girl under the age of 13 and has been sentenced to prison. Developer Jagex stated in a statement: Taylor was released in March 2021 after the allegations were investigated.
What did he do in Runescape? Much of the music in Runescape, and by extension in Oldschool Runescape, comes from Ian Taylor, making them very successful Free2Play MMORPGs on Steam and Mobile. His music can be heard on platforms like Amazon or YouTube (via YouTube) – and in the games.
Taylor had been with Jagex since 1999. He was the first employee of the Gower brothers at the company and composed 635 songs. Taylor, also known as “Mod Ian,” was therefore a central figure in the development of the MMORPG (via runescape.wiki).
“Drunk and depressed” groped a girl
This is what he confessed: Taylor confessed to a sexual assault on a girl under the age of 13. This occurred in the early hours of December 21, 2020.
Taylor admitted in his statement that he was depressed and drunk at the time. It was inappropriate to touch the girl.
The incident came to light after the girl confided in a family member.
The investigating officer said, “I admire the courage of the young child to come forward and speak about the incident. Without this courage, Taylor may have been able to continue with his actions.”
This is the verdict: The 53-year-old Ian Taylor was sentenced to 22 months in prison in Peterborough, England. He is now classified as a sex offender for 10 years and is subject to the corresponding regulations.
Jagex fired the composer after the incident
This is what Jagex says: The developers of Runescape stated in a statement to the US site Kotaku:
Jagex expects the highest standards of conduct from its employees and we take decisive action when the values we hold so dear are not upheld by employees.
The person in question no longer works for Jagex: they were fired when the circumstances of the allegations came to light in March 2021.
We have initiated an internal investigation into the employee’s conduct with other employees and players: We found no evidence that would warrant further investigations.
Recently, allegations against the developer of the MMORPG World of Warcraft have emerged:
Government agency sues Activision Blizzard – Serious allegations against WoW developer
