Priest Charged over More Than 3,000 Indecent Images of Children

By Ben Mitchell
Manchester Evening News
October 8, 2015

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/priest-charged-over-more-3000-10222630

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

Paul Clarke, now of Redclyffe Road, Urmston, but formerly of Watchbell Road, Rye, East Sussex, is due to appear on bail at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday October 15, charged with offences relating to indecent images of children.

The 71-year-old faces charges of possessing an indecent image of a child, possession of prohibited images, and three of making a total of 3,100 indecent images of children.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: “The charges, authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service, follow an intelligence-led investigation by the Paedophile On-Line Investigation Team (POLIT) of Sussex Police.

“All the charges involve images allegedly taken from the internet. There is no evidence of contact offending and none of the images are of local children.

“Officers had executed a search warrant at Clarke’s Rye address, the residential presbytery attached to St Anthony’s Church, on November 13 last year, and seized computers and related material.”