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	Ex-priest Met with Alleged Abuse Victim, Court Hears Coventry Telegraph October 8, 2010 http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/2010/10/08/ex-priest-met-with-alleged-abuse-victim-court-hears-92746-27429986/ THE TRIAL of a former Coventry priest accused of sexually abusing young boys has heard how he turned up unannounced to visit one of his alleged victims 30 years later. Relatives of the man told Birmingham Crown Court yesterday, “his face dropped” when the former clergyman walked into a Midlands pub in 1999. Richard James Robinson, known to many as Jim or Jimmy, denies 22 counts of sexual abuse. Last year he was extradited from California to face the charges. The charges relate to four alleged victims between the late 1950s and the mid-80s – before and during Robinson’s time as a Catholic priest. Robinson served at a number of churches in the Midlands area, including St Elizabeth’s Church in Foleshill during the early 80s. Yesterday the jury heard from the sister and brother-in-law of one of Robinson’s alleged victims. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court earlier how Robinson befriended his family before repeatedly raping him from the ages of 11 to 17. Yesterday the man’s sister said: “My mother and father trusted him (Robinson). He was a family friend. “He did seem to favour him (Robinson’s alleged victim) over my other brothers. He would take him for rides in his car.” After emigrating to America, the court heard Robinson returned to the UK to see his ill mother in 1999. During the trip Robinson visited the sister of his first alleged victim and asked after him. The man’s brother-in-law said: “He was made welcome and asked about my wife’s brothers and how they were. But then he asked after (the alleged victim). I said I thought he was okay and he said he would like to meet him.” He went on to explain the man was tracked down to his local pub. The man’s brother-in-law added: “I walked over and told him someone had travelled a long way to see him. “He asked who and I said Jim Robinson. He said ‘oh’, he was taken aback. “Jim said hello to him but he didn’t look friendly, his face dropped a bit. I could see a change.” The jury were told the man made a statement to police about the alleged abuse weeks after the meeting. The trial continues.
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