By Helen Smithson
The Northern Echo
December 4, 2010
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/local/durham/8720285.Former_priest_facing_prison_for_possessing_child_porn/
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| John Shannon |
A FORMER Roman Catholic priest is facing jail after he admitted making and possessing child pornography.
John Terence Paul Shannon, 58, a former lecturer at St Cuthbert’s Seminary, at Ushaw College, near Esh, County Durham, appeared at Durham Crown Court yesterday.
Shannon, of The Elms, Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, who was also a priest at the Diocese of East Anglia, admitted 16 counts of making indecent photographs of a child and one charge of possessing an unconfirmed number of indecent images of children.
The offences were committed in Esh and date from November, last year, to June 16, this year.
Shannon was suspended from his duties at the 200-year-old college in June.
He has since resigned from the establishment, which is the Roman Catholic training centre for priests in the North of England and has trained thousands of priests and lay people. He was arrested and charged after information was passed to police by the seminary.
He has also been withdrawn from the ministry.
The severity of the indecent images range from level one to level four. The most severe level for such an image is five.
Judge Christopher Prince requested pre-sentence reports by the Probation Service before passing sentence.
Adjourning yesterday’s case, Judge Prince told Shannon he would be given credit for his early guilty plea.
But he said: “You know that you must expect a custodial sentence, so I suggest you put your affairs in order before your next court appearance.
“Your name will now be entered onto the sex offenders’ register. How long your name will remain there depends on the outcome of the report.”
Shannon was bailed to return for sentencing on January 14.
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