Father Geoffrey Hilton, who is the priest at St Osmund’s in Long Lane, Breightmet, Bolton was arrested on Saturday 6 November 2010 in connection with an alleged incident at a church in Burnage, Manchester, in the 1980s.
See http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/8625054.Priest_is_arrested_on_child_sex_claim/ for details.
UPDATE - 8:56am Monday 14th March 2011 Bolton News reported (http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/districtnews/districtatog/8907171.Parish_priest_will_not_face_child_abuse_trial/)
"The 54-year-old former policeman had been on bail since his arrest and was never charged with any offence. Following an investigation the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided on Friday to take no further action."
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5 comments:
I think it is only just that you point out that Fr Hilton has no case to answer, and that no further action is being taken by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Is this information that has been made available to the public? If so, could you please cite your source? Thank you.
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/districtnews/districtatog/8907171.Parish_priest_will_not_face_child_abuse_trial/
Fr Hilton has been cleared of all charges, it's just such a shame that a decent good man has had his life ruined and his name destroyed because it is clear that in the eyes of the press and sites like this, Catholic Priests are not entitled to the right of being innocent until proven guilty
CAADS would be very interested to know how Anonymous has reached the view that “it is clear that in the eyes of … sites like this, Catholic Priests are not entitled to the right of being innocent until proven guilty”. What is the evidence for this assertion?
In Father Hilton’s case, CAADS has reported only the facts of his arrest in November 2010 and the decision of the CPS, in March 2011, to take no further action.
CAADS is, meanwhile, aware that the majority of Catholic priests are not perpetrators of abuse against children. Indeed, one of the most important reasons for pressing Bishop Brain to act on the promises he and the other bishops made in November 2001 is so that the reputation of this majority is not affected by those who have been found guilty in criminal courts, but have remained or remain ‘alter Christus’ in the eyes of the Church and who have continued or continue to be beneficiaries of the bishop’s obligations under canon 384. CAADS is very concerned that, despite Bishop Brain’s public commitment to implement the recommendations of the Nolan Report and rhetoric about ‘fast track’ laicisation, Thomas Doherty, for example, remained a priest until his death more than 12 years after his conviction, while William Green remains a priest 30 months after he was sentenced to six years imprisonment for abusing children.
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