Church Leader Sparks Outrage After Telling Kids Santa Isn't Real: 'I Don't Want Him Anywhere Near My Daughter'

An English church leader sparked outrage after telling a group of 10- and 11-year-old children that Santa is not real.

"I don't know how it can be undone, but I think it's absolutely disgusting," one parent told the Times of London. "I don't want him anywhere near my daughter. I hope he never comes into the school again."

Rev. Dr. Paul Chamberlain was invited to the Lee-on-the-Solent Junior School in Hampshire to give a talk about the birth of Jesus when he made the comment, prompting some students to sob.

A 10-year-old pupil told the Times, "So he said, 'You're all Year 6, now let's be real, Santa isn't real.' Then he also was saying what Santa likes. Someone said he likes cookies. Then he said that, 'Do your parents like cookies?' And a lot of them said, 'Yeah.' And then he said how the parents were the ones that were eating it."

"Paul has accepted that this was an error of judgment, and he should not have done so. He apologized unreservedly to the school, to the parents and to the children, and the headteacher immediately wrote to all parents to explain this," a diocese spokesperson said to the newspaper.

Teachers wrote an email to the parents saying they have told the kids that "all stories and legends around Christmas" are legitimate.