A JESUIT priest who sexually abused young boy pupils at Stonyhurst College has been jailed for five years.

Father James Chaning-Pearce molested four boys, aged between 12 and 16, while he was a teacher at the Roman Catholic public school.

Preston Crown Court heard that Father Chaning-Pearce, who had himself been indecently assaulted when he was a boy, assaulted the boys in his study and in a treehouse situated in the grounds of the school.

Father Chaning-Pearce, 57, of St Beuno's Retreat, St Asaph, North Wales, was found guilty by a jury of four charges of indecent assault against a 16-year-old boy.

He pleaded guilty before the trial started to three indecent assault charges against the other boys.

Judge Reginald Lockett told him: "You committed these offences over a period of time when you were in a position of special trust with the boys."

The judge ordered that the priest's name and address be entered for life on the national register of sex offenders.

Peter Wright, prosecuting, said Father Chaning-Pearce came to Stonyhurst College, which is run by the Society of Jesus, in 1987. He taught maths and physics and was also responsible for the pupils' pastoral care.

Two of the boys were sexually assaulted in the shower at the treehouse which the priest had constructed in the school grounds.

The third boy, whose allegations the priest denied, was assaulted while he slept in the treehouse one night, and on further occasions in his study.

A fourth boy was assaulted in the study after he had been on a bike ride with Father Chaning-Pearce in the Ribble Valley.

The priest was removed from the school in 1995 when the authorities there received a letter complaining about similar behaviour by the priest while he was working overseas a decade earlier.

Last year, the parents of one of the boys contacted the school complaining about the priest's assault on their son.

The school contacted the police and Father Chaning-Pearce was arrested and interviewed in September last year.

The jury trying the case of the indecent assaults on the 16-year-old, were not told of the priest's guilty pleas to the other charges until after they returned their verdicts.

Philip Noble, defending, said Father Chaning-Pearce had suffered an unhappy childhood.

At the age of eight his mother went to live in India and he was sent to boarding school. While at school, he was subjected to "inappropriate behaviour" and indecent assaults by both adults and other boys.

Mr Noble told the court that Father Chaning-Pearce was a talented priest with many gifts.

He had been popular at the school with pupils and staff.

Mr Noble added: "There is a dark side to him but also a very good side.

Anonymous letter warned college

RELIGIOUS bosses today admitted that a shamed priest jailed for five years for sex attacks on pupils at Stonyhurst College could have been prevented from teaching at the school.

The revelation was made as it was confirmed that the plush tree house where James Chaning-Pearce committed some of the offences has been torn down.

Authorities said he would never be allowed to work with children or young people again and a question mark now hangs over his future in the priesthood.

A spokesman for the Society of Jesus, which runs the Ribble Valley public school, said it was not the first time that Chaning-Pearce had offended and "a more vigorous pursuit of the matter" might have prevented his placement in a school.

The Jesuit boarding school has revealed that in 1995 it received an anonymous complaint from a man in Zimbabwe claiming he had been assaulted by Chaning-Pearce ten years previously. Although there was "no reason to believe" that Stonyhurst College pupils had been affected, the priest was immediately suspended from work.

He was required to attend a residential centre for assessment and treatment, where it emerged that he had "inappropriately touched" two pupils at the school.

In 1996, four new complaints of a "far more serious nature" were reported and it was these allegations that led to his conviction.

Fr James Crampsey, provincial superior of the Society of Jesus, said when the allegations first surfaced, inquiries in Zimbabwe revealed that there had been an anonymous letter a number of years previously with unsubstantiated claims of abuse.

He said: "Although anonymous letters are notoriously difficult to deal with, a more vigorous pursuit of the matter might have prevented Chaning-Pearce being placed in a school.

"The Society of Jesus is profoundly sorry for the pain caused by Chaning-Pearce.

"He deeply regrets what he has done and his future, after serving his sentence, will be a matter of continuing discussion."

Fr Crampsey said the shamed man "would not be permitted by the Society of Jesus to practise his ministry in work with children or young people again." Staff at Stonyhurst College were said to be shocked when details of the catalague of abuse inflicted by Chaning-Pearce on his vulnerable young victims emerged.

He was said to be a reserved and gentle man, with a passion for his treehouse, which spanned six trees and featured running water and a sleeping gallery.

It was torn down as soon as the sordid details of Chaning-Pearce's past emerged.

Stunned staff at the college are now concentrating on "healing and reconciliation" for the affected families.

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