By Ashley Young-
A defrocked Church of England priest living in Skipton has been jailed for four years.
Paul Clifford Battersby, 72,(pictured) was sentenced at York Crown Court for evading police monitoring, but more seriously, for committing his fourth set of offences involving indecent images of children.
Some of the youngsters pictured in images found in his possession were as young as two years old.
Battersby had used computer wiping software to remove evidence of his online activities despite being banned from doing so under a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) and a special kind of browser.
“You say you want to change,” Judge Simon Hickey told Battersby. “I find that difficult to accept, given, in my judgement, your deeply embedded behaviour.
“You deliberately flout any court order and attempts to rehabilitate yourself.”
Branding him a dangerous offender, the judge said: “I am quite satisfied on the evidence before me – these offences and the deliberate way they were committed and the offences on three other occasions – you will go on to commit serious harm by the commission of further specified offences.”
Strengthening existing court-imposed restrictions on Battersby, the Judge ordered him to co-operate if police wanted him to take a lie detector test.
Twice-married Battersby, formerly of Blackburn, and most recently of Spencer Walk, Skipton, pleaded guilty to three offences of having indecent images of children and one each of having extreme pornography, having prohibited images of children and breaching a sexual harm prevention order.
The pervert held his face in his hands as he was given a seven-year extended prison sentence of four years imprisonment plus three years’ extended prison license.
He is to remain on the sex offenders’ register, barred from working or volunteering with children and vulnerable adults, and subject to a sexual harm prevention order.
Expelled from Priesthood
The embarrassing misfit was expelled by The Church of England from its priesthood after his first sexual conviction.
The oddball had been a parish priest in Lancashire and at one point a principal officer in the Blackburn Diocese Board of Social Responsibility.
His barrister Helen Chapman said: “There is little that can really be said on his behaviour as mitigation.”
Battersby had pleaded guilty and wanted to do sex offender rehabilitation work in prison.
The former priest had been homeless when he had been released from his last sentence. He was “eventually housed in Skipton” she said. He didn’t know anyone in the area.
Monitoring
Cops closed in on thepaedophile after North Yorkshire Police made an unannounced monitoring visit to Battersby’s home on October 6, 2020, and found a USB stick with extreme pornography on it.
A search of his home and computer equipment found 201 different images of the worst kind of child abuse.
Of the images found in his possession, 83 were of the middle category and 319 of the least serious category. There were 205 prohibited images, nine extreme videos and 13 extreme pornographic pictures.
Damaged
Sexual abuse in the Church has for years stained and damaged its image, particularly in the Catholic Church where it has been rife. Sexual abuse has over the years also been found to take place in The Church Of England Wide abuse ruins the good name of those genuine people in the church trying to good.
One member of the Church Of England, Adam Matthews, told The Eye Of Medfia.Com: ” it is a terrible when these priests commit these offences and give the Church a bad name. Many people are now ashamed to identify with The Church Of England because of the bad name these perverts give the Church.
They are poor examples of the church and should not be seen as representatives of the church. They have caused so much suspicion among members of the Church. Good, loving members of the church from time to time fall under a cloud of suspicion once they are seen being nice to children, or giving them gifts, all because of evil people like Battersby.
These days, it is not difficult to put words in the mouth of some young kids. Once someone falls under suspicion, some people ask kids if they have ever touched them, and you will find some children with mental health issues who are seeking attention who will accuse an innocent person of sexual abuse.
The adult asking the question would in many cases have mental health issues of their own. Horrible perverts like Battersby is a cancer to the church.”
Investigations
The Church Of England is one of 15 investigations being looked at by IICSA, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. There have been three hearings and two reports, including a number of recommendations, for the Church of England. These are detailed below along with our responses.
Two weeks ago, an innocent priest, father Alan Griffin, 76, hanged himself at home in November last year, after spending a year under investigation while denied knowledge of the source of the accusations.
In a damning report following the inquest into his death, Coroner Mary Hassell exonerated Father Griffin and heavily criticized the Church of England for its handling of the investigation.
“He killed himself because he could not cope with an investigation into his conduct, the detail of and the source for which he had never been told,” she said.
“Father Griffin did not abuse children. He did not have sex with young people under the age of 18. He did not visit prostitutes. He did not endanger the lives of others by having sex with people whilst an HIV risk. And there was no evidence that he did any of these things.”
Locals in Skipby told The Eye Of Media.Com that Barnsby will not be welcome in the area when he comes out of jail.
One local said: ”this nonce will be about in about 2 years, but will not be welcome in this town. A lot of people are horrified with the news and want him miles away from children, miles away. He will need to be moved to another town. He is a disgusting human being”.