Priest, 39, Convicted for Child Porn

The Tablet
September 5, 2013

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/latest-news/5632

A priest in the Archdiocese of Southwark has been convicted of possessing indecent images of children.

Fr Edmund Higgins, 39, was given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, at Isleworth Crown Court, south London, last month, after admitting to having 174 pornographic images of children on his laptop.

Higgins, parish priest at the Church of St Elizabeth in Richmond, south-west London, at the time of his arrest, also received a supervision requirement and a sexual offences prevention order.

It was revealed during sentencing that Fr Higgins - who was a governor at St Elizabeth's RC Primary School in Richmond and a chaplain at Christ the King Sixth Form College in Lewisham - had visited gay chat rooms, from where he was sent mostly adult pornographic images and some indecent images of children.

Fr Higgins was also accused by the prosecution of having discussions about child abuse online.

The priest was said by his defence counsel to be "deeply ashamed" of his actions.

Southwark Archdiocese said Fr Higgins had been suspended from ministry when the allegations came to light and the archdiocese had co-operated fully with the police inquiry.