Church Protected Pedophile Vicar Convicted Of Sexual Abuse Of Two Teen Boys For Decades Despite History

An alleged serial pedophile vicar has been sentenced to four years in prison anew for a series of sex crimes as he groomed two underage boys for abuse under his care in the 1980s.

David Beater, an 80-year-old vicar, has been sentenced on Monday, Aug. 23, by the Maidstone Crown Court for sexually abusing two teenage boys between 1982 and 1985, according to the BBC.

This is not Beater's first conviction for predatory abuse: In 1985, he was convicted and fined £250 (over US$1,000 today) for abusing a 14-year-old boy in Kent. Despite the conviction, however, he was allowed to stay a clergyman and shuffled to other churches till 2010, according to Kent Online.

One of the victims claimed that Beater assaulted him in the showers, claiming that the child “must be clean” to enter the vicarage, where the abuser then showed the minor pornography while openly telling the victim how much he wished to sleep with him.

Another victim attempted to take their own life because of Beater's actions.

“I considered how different my life might have been had I not been abused by David Beater. I felt angry. I buried the abuse and told myself that worse things happened to others,” the victim said.

“These were profound and grave breaches of trust which cause a sense of public outrage when they are revealed. One of your victims is now suffering from PTSD…but he has had the bravery to come forward and has now been vindicated,” Judge Philip Statman, who presided over the case, said.

“Sexual offending leaves the greatest of scars upon its victims,” he continued.

When he was convicted in 1985, Bishop Michael Turnbull, the Archdeacon of Rochester at the time, stood up for Beater and stated that he would be “staying within the care of the church” and receiving counseling for his actions.

Turnbull, who was convicted of gross indecency in a public toilet with an adult male in 1968, has stated that he was not aware of any allegations towards Beater after 1985.

In a joint statement between the Dioceses of Rochester and Canterbury, they said that they would be doing their own investigation into the matter, which Turnbull has agreed to cooperate with.