Christopher Howarth : Sex Abuse Priest Jailed for 10 Years

BBC News
October 2, 2015

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-34426782

Christopher Howarth was found guilty of a series of offences and admitted one charge

A Church of England priest and former teacher who gave money to two boys he sexually abused has been jailed.

The Reverend Christopher Howarth, of Rocks Park Road, Uckfield, was found guilty of 26 offences against the boys, now aged 19 and 20.

The court heard he paid money to the boys in return for sexual gratification and told one of them he was "preparing" him for a girlfriend.

Howarth was jailed for 10 years at Lewes Crown Court on Friday.

The 68-year-old, who had admitted one count of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, was also ordered to be placed on the sex offenders' register indefinitely.

He was convicted of a further seven counts of sexual activity with a child which took place between 2004 and 2012 in the Uckfield area of East Sussex.

'Longstanding abuse'

Det Con Amy Green, of Sussex Police said Howarth had come to know the pair when they "were very young" through his work at Holy Trinity Church in Uckfield.

She said he befriended them over several years before assaulting both of boys in his study at home and one of them at his office at Uckfield Community Technology College.

"The children in this case suffered longstanding and entrenched sexual abuse at the hands of the defendant," said Jaswant Narwal, chief crown prosecutor for Crown Prosecution Service South East.

"He was a man they trusted as a lay priest and a former deputy headmaster and he abused that trust in the most appalling way.

"It is clear that the appalling abuse that these two young boys suffered has had a devastating effect on them both yet, despite that, they were determined to see Howarth brought to justice and both of them showed real courage in giving evidence at the trial."

Howarth was an unpaid non-stipendiary priest until he was suspended by the Diocese of Chichester in December 2012.

He also taught at Uckfield Community Technology College until he retired in 2007.