Canon denies child sex charges

Canon denies child sex charges

Davies watched porn videos before assaulting his victims, the court heard

Cardiff Crown Court has been told that a Church in Wales canon sexually abused two young men after watching porn videos with them.

It was only television coverage of Canon Lawrence Davies's arrest, after one man had complained, that prompted another to come forward.

Both men had gone on to become Anglican priests.

Canon Davies, 62, of Briton Ferry, denies a total of 14 charges of serious sex abuse and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

All the offences are said to have taken place over a 25-year period.

Prosecuting counsel Christopher Vosper QC told the hearing on Monday that he first cultivated one boy's trust - then abused him in the vicarage and on parish trips.

It is the defendant who has every reason to lie

Christopher Vosper QC

Once that youth was at college, he claimed the vicar turned to a younger boy.

The jury heard that both were shown pornographic videos, obtained from a parishioner, before being abused.

Mr Vosper said the abuse of the first boy began in the 1970s, after Canon Davies was appointed to a church in Cardiff.

He said the boy was sexually assaulted in the church vestry.

"The defendant would leave the key in the lock of the door so that no one could get in," he said.

Mr Vosper said Canon Davies took the boy on outings in Wales and give him money, claiming the cash was from church bingo sessions.

The cleric also sexually assaulted the boy in his study after offering to help him with his schoolwork - but had told him not to say anything about what had happened, he said.

Canon Davies is said to have bought a £50 porn video

Mr Vosper said the lounge and the bedroom of the vicarage were also locations where assaults took place.

Mr Vosper said Canon Davies's second victim described him as a "charismatic figure".

He said the defendant also abused that boy in a church hall and during a summer camp as well as the vicarage.

He claimed both boys were shown pornographic videos and the first boy was taken on trip to Soho, where the cleric spent £50 on a video.

The court heard the second boy made a complaint to the police in August last year after he had sought counselling.

When police interviewed him in October 2002, Canon Davies said that nothing improper had taken place.

He also said he had never really liked watching pornographic videos.

'Conspiracy'

But Canon Davies was lying, said Mr Vosper, as another man had supplied him with between 10 and 15 such videos - but had stopped as the defendant was becoming a "pest".

Mr Vosper added that Canon Davies was interviewed again in November last year after the first victim learned about the complaints to the police from television reports.

But he lied to police, said Mr Vosper - a CD containing pornographic images had been played on his computer even though he said it had not been used to view pornography.

Mr Vosper said Canon Davies was saying there was a "conspiracy" against him.

The trial continues at Cardiff Crown Court

In February 2002, a church child protection officer told Canon Davies not to have unsupervised contact with children, but the cleric had lied by telling her he had never been alone with children.

"Either the defendant has grossly betrayed the holy orders which he has taken by abusing two young boys, or those two young boys are abusing the holy orders which they have now taken and are falsely accusing him of things which he never did," said Mr Vosper.

He said that either one priest, the defendant, was a liar, or two priests were both liars and conspirators.

"It is the defendant who has every reason to lie," he told the jury.

The trial continues.