Clergyman's child porn shame

9:09am Saturday 9th September 2006

An Oxfordshire clergyman may be jailed after downloading child porn image.

Former Abingdon curate Richard Thomas, 56, yesterday admitted at Oxford Crown Court a string of charges after more than 100 indecent images were found on his computer.

'I give you bail, but no promises at all what the sentence will be'

Judge Julian Hall

Detectives raided his home last June after being tipped off by the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation, which discovered his IP address among a list of those using a chat page to download porn.

Thomas - who was the press officer for the Oxford diocese when he was arrested - initially denied all the charges, but yesterday admitted 10 charges of making indecent images on June 21, 2005, and two of possession.

Peter Combe, defending, said: "I can't get away from the levels that have been found. The prosecution are unable to say how these images came to be on the hard drive.

"He's been working with a psychotherapist since this all came to light."

Rachel Drake, prosecuting, said other material was also found on the computer "which are indicative of this defendant's interest."

Judge Julian Hall said: "I give you bail, but no promises at all what the sentence will be. You will now have to be on the sex offenders' register."

Afterwards, Thomas said he had been addicted to adult pornography and the child images were downloaded "inadvertently".

He said since experts were unable to prove whether the images were deliberately downloaded, it was the "responsible" thing to do to plead guilty.

Thomas was bailed until sentencing on Friday, October 20. Seven remaining charges will lie on file.

Thomas, of Eason Drive, Abingdon, was a curate for Abingdon with Shippon from 1976 to 1980, before serving as a rector in Hampshire for eight years.

He became Oxford's diocesan communications officer in 1989 and was a key adviser to former Oxford Bishop Richard Harries. He was suspended last year after he was charged.

On the day he made the images, Thomas joined revellers at Stonehenge to celebrate the summer solstice.

The acting Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd Colin Fletcher, said he was "saddened", adding a decision about Thomas's future in the diocese would be made after his sentencing.

He said: "The Church of England and the Diocese of Oxford expects high standards of personal conduct in its staff, and takes issues such as these extremely seriously."

Oxford Diocese spokesman Natalie Abbott said the Church was taking legal advice.