Hereford Times
July 19, 2007
http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/herefordnewslatest/display.var.1556067.0.child_porn_vicar_avoids_prison.php
United Kingdom — A HEREFORDSHIRE vicar has been given a three-year community order and told to complete a sex offenders group work programme after sourcing more than 600 child pornography images.
The Rev James Morrish, formerly of Kingstone, pleaded guilty to 13 charges of sourcing 612 images on October 23, 2005.
He had originally denied the charges but pleaded guilty at the last minute during his trial at Worcester Crown Court last month.
Defence counsel Samantha Powis said that the offence had been a one-off event lasting 45 minutes.
She added that the defendant had been publicly humiliated, was heavily in debt and had lost his job and his home as a result of the offence.
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| the Rev James Morrish pictured at an earlier court hearing |
She said: "The defendant and his family have been bombarded by the press and chat shows, which has been making their lives hell and adding to an already stressful situation."
advertisementJudge Alistair McCreath, sentencing Morrish at Worcester Crown Court, said: "Material of this kind is utterly vile. It is vile in its very nature but it's more so on the reality that it involves the sexual exploitation of real children."
He added: "This is not a case where you have been surfing the net searching for this sort of material over a lengthy period or on many days, weeks or months.
"This is material that was not paid for, it was free. It was not distributed or intended to be distributed further. I view that it was a one-off event locating images during a 45-minute period."
Morrish, a married father of two and vicar since 2000 was the priest in charge of Kingstone, Thruxton and Clehonger parishes but was suspended from his post following the charges in February last year.
Judge McCreath told Morrish that as a result of the offence he had lost his job, home, and much more, and said that the level of sentencing had been a dilemma for him.
He imposed a three-year community order with supervision and the completion of a sex offenders group work programme within three years, which he said was in the public interest in order to reduce the risk of re-offending.
He also ordered Morrish to register as a sex offender for three years.
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