Zimpapers Logo

Tomos Evans

A former bishop has been jailed for historical child abuse.

Anthony Pierce, the former bishop of Swansea and Brecon, was jailed for four years and one month on Wednesday.

He will serve half the sentence behind bars, before he is released on licence.

The 84-year-old had previously pleaded guilty to five counts of indecent assault on a male child under the age of 16.

Swansea Crown Court heard the abuse took place when Pierce was working as a vicar in the city, several years before he became the bishop of the Swansea and Brecon diocese in 1999.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was 14 years old at the time.

Prosecuting, Dean Pulling said the defendant was “trusted to look after and care” for the victim.

He said the victim felt “acute embarrassment and sense of shame”.

“He was also worried about what his parents would think if it would ever get out, and how they would react,” Mr Pulling added.

The court heard the defendant “denied any responsibility” during his police interview and “claimed that he had no sexual attraction towards children”.

In mitigation, Heath Edwards said the defendant “deeply regrets the behaviour in which he became involved”.

In a statement he read in court, the victim said he had felt an “overwhelming sense of embarrassment and shame that [he] allowed it to happen”.

“I have very low self-esteem and self-worth. I do not have friends, and I know people only on a superficial level. All my adult relationships have been dysfunctional,” he added.

The victim said he became “alcohol dependent” after the abuse, which “destroyed” his post-school education, career and some personal relationships.

He also outlined the impact the abuse had had on his family, saying he felt “trapped in the age of 13 or 14”.

“I struggle to relate to my parents as I still feel the emotional age of when the abuse happened,” he added.

“I have lived my life not once believing that I would ever disclose the abuse to anybody.”

But after he disclosed it, the victim said he felt “an overwhelming sense of relief” and “felt empowered”.

‘Let down and betrayed’

Sentencing, Judge Catherine Richards told the court the defendant “began to groom [the victim] in a manner that is sadly familiar to this court”.

“You progressed to sexual abuse in the ways described by the prosecution,” she said.

The judge went on to say that there would be people in the wider community who felt “let down and betrayed that a man in your position could behave in such a hypocritical way”.

She said the defendant had outlined the impact of the abuse upon him “eloquently and realistically” in his victim personal statement and that he had gone on “to have to deal with the devastating impact of your abuse”.

“There is only one person who should have shame for what took place, and that is you,” she added.

Source: news skys.com