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	Vicar Jailed for Decades of Sex Abuse after Church Failed to Take Action • Victim Who Complained Was Reassured, Court Told • Young Boys Put under Emotional Pressure By Alexandra Topping The Guardian [United Kingdom] May 4, 2007 http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,2072195,00.html A vicar who sexually abused a series of boys over a 30-year period was yesterday jailed for five and half years. David Smith, 52, managed to groom and abuse six young boys despite warnings being given to the Church of England about his behaviour. During the two-week trial, Bristol crown court heard that concerns about the vicar were raised with the church on two occasions, first in 1983 and again in 2001. On both occasions, the complainants were assured the matter had been "dealt with", but Smith continued to abuse boys in his parish. Smith denied a total of 14 charges of indecency, but was convicted by the jury. The court heard how the vicar told his victims he loved them and bombarded some with letters and phone calls when they tried to sever contact with him. Smith, vicar of St John the Evangelist in Clevedon, Somerset, began the abuse in 1975, during his time as assistant headmaster at the Douai Abbey monastic boarding school in Berkshire. Over the course of a year he molested three boys after inviting them into his living quarters. In 1981, Smith was appointed as curate at Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, where he formed a relationship with a 12-year-old boy, whom he would regularly invite to the vicarage. Smith was entrusted to look after the boy while his parents were on holiday, during which time he was alleged to have assaulted the youngster, although the matter was later dropped on a legal technicality. The boy's parents became so concerned about Smith's relationship with the boy that they contacted police. His mother said she was left with the impression that the church was going "to deal with the problem". Smith went on to abuse three more boys after becoming vicar at St John's in 1993. The court heard how he built the youngsters' trust by helping with homework and taking them on seaside trips. Later he applied "emotional pressure" to one teenager after he tried to stop seeing him. In a letter to the boy, he wrote: "I have been left feeling like a much-loved pet, who no longer gets fed or walked because you have found other interests." The letter went on: "Wouldn't it be better to set the pet free rather than keep him locked in a cage just in case he is wanted again?" The court heard that the most recent warning about Smith came in 2001 when one of his victims, who had been abused at Douai Abbey school, saw him on TV speaking about the death of his cousin in the 9/11 attacks. Seeing that his former teacher was now a vicar, he wrote to the church to express concern, but was reassured by the then bishop of Bath and Wells, Jim Thompson, that the problem had "effectively been dealt with". The abuse only came to light when Smith's final victim, a 13-year-old boy, told a church member what had happened. Police contacted other victims through church records and later found DNA evidence on Smith's sofa, where two of the boys claimed the vicar had fondled them. Smith claimed that charges against him were a "figment of someone's imagination". After the hearing, the present bishop of Bath and Wells, Peter Price, said the church was horrified by what Smith had done, adding that he had "fallen ... far short of the very high standards expected in the Church of England". He also apologised to the victims: "We're very sorry that these offences were committed by a man in a position of trust," he said. "We have ensured that proper pastoral care is being offered to all of those that need it. We have taken all necessary steps to do all in our power to ensure there is no repetition of this situation."
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