Amonst all the heat, perhaps I may add some light.
For:
Sooty's stuff is very cheap, and competently-executed, although
IMO it was better in the past than it is now- it's too industrial
nowadays and the h/c, while historically interesting, is hardly erotic;
the customer-service is excellent;
love him or loathe him, he is filling a niche and he has been wildly
successful- he's a hard worker.
Against:
Sooty is a thoroughly horrible individual;
He is a
convicted paedophile;
He is a multimillionaire- while the girls are paid peanuts [on which
charge he is hardly alone- even outside the industry, look at the
wages paid to female hospital kitchen-staff];
He will take as many liberties with the girls as he can possibly get
away with [to an extent, good luck to him- and more fool, them];
I'm damn' sure that he has releases for the masturbation-scenes,
but equally sure he didn't obtain them for any h/c stuff. Should
just one brave girl challenge the latter in court he would be in
serious doo-doo.
Facts:
Sooty is not remotely related to the Ripper.
He has done at least two stretches.
He avoids C&E largely by dealing mainly by standard post- this is
very hard for them to track effectively. C&E have to prioritize,
too- and as others have said above, if the will isn't there.... and
I don't discount the possibility of bribery;
He has acted as a 'talent-scout' for many of the 'reputable'
producers who post here, although they seem strangely unwilling
to admit it;
AFAIK he has two permanent office-girls, and a couple of stand-by
'heavies'.
His home-address and the reg-plates of his cars are obvious to
those 'in the know'- this is his weakest point, as he's basically
a sitting target- hence, I imagine, the 'heavies'. And of course,
he has in the past needed protection against the odd irate father
turning up unexpectedly on his doorstep : -)
Speculation:
the fire at his previous domicile was arson- I can't think why the
police weren't all that keen to investigate it more thoroughly : -)