Former Norfolk Catholic Priest Father Anthony Mcsweeney ‘abused Boy and Took Photos’, Court Hears
EDP 24
The alleged victim, now in his 40s, was under 16 when he was at Grafton Close Children’s Home in Hounslow, west London, during the 1980s. On the second day of Father Anthony McSweeney’s trial at Southwark Crown Court, the man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, told the jury how the priest performed a sex act on him and then took out a camera, before warning him not to tell anyone what had happened. The alleged victim said: “When I called an end to it he did mention that it’s not to be broadcast, I weren’t to tell anyone.” He said the incident took place in a flat at Grafton Close belonging to John Stingemore. The jury of seven men and five women has been told that he abused boys during his time as the home’s manager. He was due to appear in the dock alongside McSweeney until he was found dead in his home last month. When the man who claimed he was abused by McSweeney in Stingemore’s flat was asked why he did not tell anyone at the time what had happened, he replied: “Who would I tell? There was no one else other than the staff. It would only get reported to Stingemore. “I felt a bit ashamed as well.” In cross-examination, Stephen Spence, defending, put it to the man that he was not telling the truth. He said: “You’ve made this up, haven’t you?” The man replied: “No, absolutely not.” McSweeney, 68, of Old Brighton Road North, Pease Pottage, West Sussex, denies four counts of indecent assault, three of making indecent images of a child and one of taking indecent images of a child. The once part-time chaplain at Norwich City FC was leading the congregation at St George’s Church in north Norwich when the claims against him emerged. The trial, which is expected to last two weeks, was adjourned until 10am tomorrow.
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