UNITED KINGDOM
Manchester Evening News
6 March 2015 By Paul Britton
Canon Mortimer Stanley, who retired from a church in Norden, Rochdale, in 2002, faces a three-week trial in November
A retired Roman Catholic priest has denied a series of sex offence charges involving young girls dating back more than 30 years.
Canon Mortimer Stanley, 83, a former parish priest in Norden, Rochdale, appeared at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court on Friday via a video link from Limerick in Ireland.
He pleaded not guilty to 19 separate counts of indecent assault involving 10 young girls and will now face a trial in Manchester in November.
Wearing a black jumper, a blue and white checked shirt and glasses, Canon Stanley spoke only to confirm his name and to enter a plea of not guilty after each charge was read out to him by the court clerk during the brief hearing.
He also nodded to say he understood the proceedings and instruction given to him after he was addressed at the end of the hearing by Judge John Potter.
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