Anglican Vicar guilty of child sex abuse
Pastor Dale Morgan
Anglican Vicar guilty of child sex abuse*
By staff and agencies
Last Updated: 4:25pm BST 03/05/2007
UK - A parish priest has been found guilty of sexually abusing a string
of boys over nearly 30 years.
The Rev David Smith, 52, took advantage of his trusted position to groom
and molest six young boys.
He indecently assaulted some of his young victims during sleep-overs at
the vicarage in Clevedon, Somerset, and during holidays abroad.
The two-week trial at Bristol Crown Court heard that concerns about the
vicar were raised with the Church of England on two occasions, first in
1983 and again in 2001.
The two complainants were assured that the matter had been "dealt with",
but Smith continued to abuse boys in his parish.
Smith, vicar of St John the Evangelist in Clevedon, had denied all 12
charges against him, claiming they were a "figment of someone's
imagination".
But a jury of eight women and four men took just two hours to find him
unanimously guilty of 10 charges of indecent assault, one sexual assault
of a child under 13 and one of sexual activities with a child under 16.
The attacks happened between 1976 and 2005 and involved six boys under
the age of 16.
It emerged during the trial that the Church was twice warned about
Smith, but continued to allow him to work with youngsters.
Parents were never told that Smith had once been investigated by the
police in the early 1980s amid claims he was a paedophile.
And when a former schoolboy, who claimed he had been abused by Smith in
the 1970s, wrote to the Church in 2001 expressing his concerns, he was
reassured the matter had been "dealt with."
Smith's abuse began when he was appointed assistant housemaster at the
Douai Abbey monastic boarding school in Berkshire in 1975.
During his one academic year at the school he abused three boys after
inviting them into his quarters.
The Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Rt Rev Peter Price, later apologised
to Smith's victims and said the Church was horrified by what he had done.
"The Reverend David Smith has been found guilty of a number of very
serious charges.
We are shocked and horrified that he has fallen so far short of the very
high standards expected of priests in the Church of England," he said.
"We apologise sincerely to David Smith's victims, their families, the
parish and all involved in this case. We're very sorry that these
offences were committed by a man in a position of trust. We have ensured
that proper pastoral care is being offered to all of those that need it
and we will do all within our power to mitigate the harmful effects of
these offences.
"We've taken all necessary steps to do all in our power to ensure there
is no repetition of this situation."