Priest Paul Clarke Charged over Indecent Child Images

BBC News
October 8, 2015

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-34476982

A Roman Catholic priest has been charged in connection with more than 3,000 indecent images of children.

Paul Clarke, 71, from East Sussex, but now living in Manchester, is due to appear before Brighton magistrates on 15 October.

He is charged with possessing an indecent image of a child, possession of prohibited images and making a total of 3,100 indecent images of children.

All charges relate to images taken off the internet, Sussex Police said.

Mr Clarke, of Redclyffe Road, Urmston, Greater Manchester, but formerly of Watchbell Road, Rye in East Sussex, was charged after an investigation by the paedophile on-line investigation team of Sussex Police.

He was arrested after a search of his Rye address - the residential presbytery attached to St Anthony's Church - on 13 November 2014.

"All the charges involve images allegedly taken from the internet," a police spokesman said.

"There is no evidence of contact offending and none of the images are of local children."