Priest Accused of Sexually Abusing Boys over 20 Years

The Sentinel
January 24, 2012

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Priest-accused-sexually-abusing-boys-20-years/story-15020022-detail/story.html


CATHOLIC priest Alexander Bede Walsh befriended boys 'in awe' of his position before sexually abusing them in swimming pools and at their family homes, a court heard.

The 58-year-old, pictured right, is on trial accused of 27 counts of sexual abuse on eight boys over a 20-year period.

Some of the boys were as young as seven when the incidents allegedly took place between July 1974 and December 1994.

Walsh served as a priest in Cheadle for 14 years.

But the jury will also hear about alleged incidents with connections to other places of worship, including Holy Trinity Church, Newcastle; St Wilfred's, Cotton; Cotton College; and St Joseph's Church, Burslem.

The charges include indecency and indecent assault.

Walsh was first arrested in 2006 after two men made complaints. More complaints were made between 2008 and 2011.

Robert Price, prosecuting, told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court yesterday: "Slowly but surely the picture became clear as the investigation moved forward.

"That picture was of repeated, serial, predatory sexual abuse of eight boys committed over a period of several years.

"The defendant was a Roman Catholic priest who worked in various schools and parishes throughout the Midlands and Staffordshire.

"He was able to perpetrate the abuse because his respected, and indeed, revered position in the Roman Catholic church allowed him to have access to young boys and groom and manipulate them before sexually abusing them."

It is alleged Walsh plied one of his victims with alcohol before telling the boy to drink it, saying: "If you do, you'll go to heaven". The same boy also claims Walsh carried out a sex act on him.

The jury also heard claims that Walsh made some children wear nappies and on other occasions took their photographs while they were getting changed.

Some of the alleged victims were altar boys in parts of the Midlands where Walsh worked.

Others were children of family friends or pupils of Catholic schools, the court heard.

It emerged yesterday that Walsh has a previous conviction for making and possessing indecent images of children in 2004 after websites were found on his computer.

Walsh, of Church Lane, Abbots Bromley, near Rugeley, denies the sex abuse charges and says the allegations against him have been made up.

Mr Price added: "We say it is inconceivable in the real world that eight individual victims would tell lies about this.

"None of them, we submit, have any reason to make any of it up.

"None of them, we submit, have anything to gain through the allegations.

"The abuse that each of them suffered had a profound effect on their lives and their ability to cope with life generally."

The trial is expected to last three weeks.