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	Priest Accused of Assault Facing More Charges By Sheena Adams IOL [South Africa] June 3, 2006 http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id= 15&art_id=vn20060603092640917C960208 Police are investigating more charges of sexual assault against a British priest already charged with indecently assaulting a 10-year-old homeless boy, according to a senior investigating officer linked to the case. It has also come to light that two of the priests' acquaintances have also been arrested in connection with the case for impersonating police officers. Pieter Bekker (56), of Johannesburg, and Jonathan Starkey, of Sea Point, Cape Town, both appeared in the Cape Town magistrate's court recently, and their case was postponed to October 6 for further investigation, according to police spokesperson Superintendent Billy Jones. The vicar of three English parishes, who may not be named until he pleads, appeared in the Cape Town magistrate's court last month and was handed back his passport and allowed to return to his village church in Oxfordshire. The 52-year-old man is out on R1 000 bail and is scheduled to next appear in court on August 11. Believed to be closely involved with a Christian children's group in Cape Town, the priest has reportedly helped to raise several thousand pounds for projects assisting street- children during the past few years. According to an article posted on an Oxfordshire-based website, the accused travels to South Africa twice a year and has been "supporting a hostel in Cape Town for several years". It emerged in court that he treated his victim well, taking the young boy as well as his elder brother to the Ratanga Junction theme park and up Table Mountain. The state has also said he appeared to have had a sexual relationship with the minor's elder brother for at least the past 18 months. The priest's legal counsel, advocate William King, charged in court that the boy was a male prostitute. Police were not able to ascertain the age of the elder boy, as both he and his brother had claimed to be orphans. However, police sources said this week that the priest was likely to have to answer to yet more charges, possibly of sexual assault, at his next appearance as they had confirmed that the elder boy was 17 years old and a Zimbabwean national. Police were busy trying to get copies of the boy's birth documents from the Zimbabwean government. The charges against Bekker and Starkey are believed to relate to conflicting accounts of photographs which the State has claimed allegedly disappeared from a digital camera belonging to the accused. Counterclaims of a bribe have been made in court, with King claiming that the 17-year-old youth had tried to solicit a R10 000 bribe from his client in return for the camera, which the youth appeared to have tried to steal in order to show the pictures to the police. No pictures were found of either the 10-year-old or his alleged brother on the camera, according to the testimony of police investigator Raymond Mitchell, who said the elder boy had told police that "the accused's friends" had deleted pictures from the camera. King said his client's defence in the trial would be that he was a victim of extortion.
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