சிறுவனை கற்பழித்த கத்தோலிக்க பாதிரியாருக்கு 5 வருடம் சிறை

சிறுவனை கற்பழித்த கத்தோலிக்க பாதிரியாருக்கு 5 வருடம் சிறை

நடந்திருப்பது இங்கிலாந்திலேயே.

இங்கிலாந்தில் இவ்வளவு வருடங்கள் மூடி மறைக்கபப்ட்ட விஷயங்க்கள் இப்போதுதான் வெளியே வருகின்றன.

இந்தியாவில் சிறுபான்மையினர் உரிமை என்று என்னவெல்லாம் செய்கிறார்களோ தெரியாது. அவை எப்போதும் வெளியிலும் வராது.

ஆகவே கிறிஸ்துவர்களை கண்டால் தூர விலகுங்கள். முக்கியமாக உங்கள் குழந்தைகளை எக்காரணம் கொண்டும் அவர்கள் அருகில் தனிமையில் விடாதீர்கள்.

ஜாக்கிரதை

Parish priest jailed for sex abuse
A parish priest who sexually abused a boy who came to his church has been jailed for five years.

Last Updated: 10:26PM BST 28 Jul 2008

Colin Pritchard, 64, committed the offences more than 25 years ago when the boy was in his early teens.

His victim, now 39, came forward when his own son began attending a Church of England school, Northampton Crown Court heard.

Pritchard, a single man who had been the parish priest of St Andrew's Church in Berrymoor Road, Wellingborough sat head bowed in the dock as his crimes were outlined.

The court heard another Church of England vicar named in court as Roy Cotton had also been involved.

He died in 2006 two weeks before Pritchard's arrest.

Pritchard, of Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex pleaded guilty to four offences of indecent assault on a male person and three offences of indecency with a child.

Passing sentence Judge Christopher Metcalf told him: "It was the most appalling breach of trust."

He added: "I'm afraid it's clear to me from the evidence I have read that you have betrayed your calling.

Anne Cotcher QC, prosecuting, told the court that the matters went back to the 1970s and 1980s when Pritchard was the parish priest at St Andrew's.

His victim had been aged around 12 or 13 and was a regular church goer.

He was keen to earn some pocket money and asked Pritchard if there were any odd jobs he could do around the church.

Miss Cotcher said it provided Pritchard with the opportunity to befriend the boy, invite him back to the vicarage and take him on trips.

The court heard it was all part of a grooming process that started with kissing and fondling and developed to them sharing a bed together.

The prosecutor said Pritchard would tell the boy that they had a special relationship which others wouldn't understand.

The court heard years later after finally finding the courage to tell others what had happened to him, police launched an investigation and traced a second victim.

Judge Metcalf was told this victim, who is now 42 had been regularly sexually abused by Cotton another Church of England priest based on the south coast.

On one occasion the youngster had been brought by Cotton to the home of Pritchad who had then indecently touched him one morning by grabbing him between his legs.

Miss Cotcher said both victims had suffered feeling of guilt and shame because of what had happened to them during their childhoods.