British Pedophile Vicar found guilty

Rev David Smith of St. Vicar of St. John the Evangelist in Clevedon, North Somerset, was found guilty of 12 counts of sexual abuse. The charges were:

• 10 charges of indecent assault
• one sexual assault of a child under the age of 13
• one sexual activities with a child under 16

Smith liked young boys. He picked them for duty in the church choir, and then molested them during sleep overs at the vicarage and on holidays abroad. Smith deigned all charges despite overwhelming direct evidence.

The Church of England missed two opportunities to stop this serial Pedophile. In both cases, the Church did not act to protect children. They instead choose to protect Smith, which I would imagine now seems unwise.

In what amounts to a smaller version of the American Catholic pedophile priest scandal, another member of the Church of England, Peter Halliday, was jailed in April after admitting sex offences from the 1980s.  

The BBC has a short news video on David Smith. It does not paint a complementary picture.

Hat tip to Sans God for the U.K. news bit.

Technorati tags: U.K., David Smith, Church of England, Peter Halliday, Child Molestation, Pedophilia