Priest talks of abuse by cleric

Priest talks of abuse by cleric

Two men who are now priests claim Canon Davies had abused them

An Anglican priest who thought a south Wales clergyman was a "charismatic" figure has told a crown court jury how the older man had sexually abused him when he was a boy.

The priest said he was left feeling "like an empty shell" after the assaults by Canon Lawrence Davies at the cleric's Cardiff home.

The man, who cannot be named, was the second to give evidence on the second day of the trial of Canon Davies.

The 62-year-old senior Church in Wales cleric faces a total of 14 charges of serious sexual assault and attempting to pervert the course of justice - which he denies.

'Puppet'

All the offences are said to have taken place over a 25-year period and two of the canon's alleged victims have gone on to become Anglican priests.

The second man told the Cardiff Crown Court jury how he felt "worthless" and like a "puppet" after being sexually abused in his youth by the senior clergyman.

He claimed the cleric told him that he loved him and showed him "hardcore" pornographic films.

He told the court: "These people grind you down and they make you feel worthless and of no value whatsoever."

The trial is being heard at Cardiff Crown Court

"You become nothing. You become an empty shell. He added: "You become a puppet."

Under cross examination by Stephen Hopkins QC, defending, he agreed that he had been too frightened to make a complaint himself about Canon Davies and had at first instructed another priest to make a complaint on his behalf to the church.

He claimed he had been forced into sex by psychological means rather than through physical force.

The priest added that once he told Canon Davies that he had met a girlfriend, his relationship with the cleric had become "strained and frosty".

Vestry

Earlier on Tuesday, the first priest to give evidence told the jury he was 12 years old when his sexual abuse began.

The man, who also cannot be named, wept and struggled to contain his emotions as he explained how the first assault took place in the vestry of the church.

On Monday, prosecuting counsel Christopher Vosper QC, told the hearing that Canon Davies had cultivated one boy's trust and then abused him in the vicarage and on parish trips.

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

Canon Davies denies a total of 14 charges

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.

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

Mr Vosper added that Canon Davies was interviewed by police in November last year, for a second time, after the first victim learned about the complaints to the police about Canon Davies from television reports.

But Canon Davies lied, 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.

The trial continues.