Arabic version: إدانة قس سابق بالاغتصاب والاعتداءات

According to BBC News, former Church of England priest Chris Brain has been found guilty of raping a woman in his congregation and of four counts of indecent assault against three other women. The 69-year-old was convicted following a retrial at Inner London Crown Court.

Brain, formerly of Wilmslow in Greater Manchester, had already been found guilty of 17 indecent assaults against nine women at a trial last year. The latest verdicts bring his total convictions to 22 sexual offences against 13 women. He is in custody and will be sentenced at a later date.

The offences involved women connected to the Nine O’Clock Service, or NOS, in Sheffield during the 1980s and 1990s. The service attracted hundreds of young people to St Thomas’s church through nightclub-style worship. Prosecutor Tim Clark KC said it became a cult in which members were encouraged to cut themselves off from family and friends and became dependent on Brain.

Across the two trials, the court heard that several victims were part of a “homebase team” caring for Brain at his family home. One woman said Brain pushed her onto his bed and raped her after inviting her to his house while his wife was away between 1981 and 1984. Brain accepted sexual contact with some women but said it had been consensual.

South Yorkshire Police described Brain as a “devious and arrogant sexual predator” who caused lasting harm. A victim said the women had waited more than 30 years for justice. Judge Freya Newbury said victims would be able to give impact statements during a sentencing hearing likely to last two days.