BishopAccountability.org
	Priest Admits Porn Charges By Marc Meneaud ic Coventry [United Kingdom] February 25, 2007 http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_headline=priest-admits-porn-charges&method=full&objectid=18674744&siteid=50003-name_page.html A leading Catholic priest in Leamington has admitted down-loading child pornography. Father Anthony Jones, who was parish priest at St Peter the Apostle Church, in Dormer Place, faced 17 charges of making indecent images of children. He pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court. He was alleged to have downloaded the images between January 2000 and November 2005 while he was based in Caversham, near Reading then Leamington. Some of the worst images showed sex between children and adults, the court was told. The case has been repeat-edly adjourned because his lawyers were getting reports from computer and paediatric experts. When the priest entered pleas, he admitted three of the charges, two involving images downloaded in Caversham and one after his move to Leamington in 2005. Prosecutor Adrian Keeling said Jones had been looking for other types of material on the internet. But Jones had then down-loaded other pictures, including images of child pornography which he then looked at. In mitigation, solicitor Gerard Quirke, said the worst image Jones down-loaded showed an 16 or 17 year old, rather than an adult, having sex with a child aged between 12 and 14. Judge Richard Cole ordered a report on Jones, who is now living at St Mary's Abbey in Little Hayward, Stafford, before he is sentenced. Jones was granted bail with conditions of residence at home and that he does not have contact with any child under the age of 18. He was also ordered to register with the police as a sex offender. The judge warned him: "The reason for adjourning is so the probation officer can see you and prepare a report. "It is not to be taken as indicating you will be dealt with in a non-custodial way, it is so the sentencing Judge can have all the information about you."
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.