HAWORTH (ENGLAND)
Keighley News
December 13, 2017
By Miran Rahman
A HAWORTH resident whose evidence formed part of the sex abuse prosecution case against a former Roman Catholic priest has reacted to news of the accused’s conviction.
Author and photographer Peter Paul Hartnett commented after 74-year-old Laurence Soper was found guilty of abusing boys at a London school during the 1970s and 80s.
Mr Hartnett said he had himself been let down by those in charge at this school, and said the school had failed in its duty of care.
Soper had faced 19 charges of indecent and serious sexual assault against 10 former pupils at the independent St Benedict’s School in Ealing, where he taught.
The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that Soper was not charged with any offence against Mr Hartnett.
Earlier this month an Old Bailey jury took 14 hours to find Soper guilty of all the charges he faced. Soper, who had previously fled to Kosovo to try and avoid prosecution, is due to be sentenced on December 19.
He is the latest in a number of men to face allegations of abuse relating to their time at St Benedict’s.
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