A victim of a former Church of England priest found guilty of rape and four indecent assaults has said the Church “should have been in the dock” with him during his retrial.
Christopher Brain, 69, used a “culture of fear” to sexually abuse women while leader of the Christian movement the Nine O’Clock Service (NOS). He wielded great power as head of the Sheffield-based evangelical movement, part of the Church of England, between 1986 and 1995.
Brain, a former member of Christian rock group Present Tense, surrounded himself with young women dressed in lycra and lingerie, and abused his status to sexually abuse victims who had joined what prosecutors say was effectively a “cult”.
Convictions and verdicts
Last August, Brain was convicted by a jury at Inner London Crown Court of 17 counts of indecent assault against nine women. On Friday, a second jury found him guilty of one count of rape and four charges of sexual assault. The verdicts mean Brain has now been convicted of a total of 22 sexual offences against 13 women.
In a statement shared by law firm Slater and Gordon, which represents a number of Brain’s victims, one survivor said: “It’s over 30 years since we went to the Bishop of Sheffield to tell him about Chris Brain and his emotional, financial, spiritual and sexual abuse of us.”
“That it has taken 30 years to get to here should be a cause of great shame for the Church of England. We have spent the last 30 years living with our unresolved trauma. We felt so much shame that we didn’t even speak about it to each other, such was the depth of the coercive control that we had experienced.”
Church response and apology
The statement continued: “Shame on the Church of England who never came and asked us a single question about what had gone wrong, at the time of disclosure, or for the intervening 30 years. Who sat on the sidelines, smug and self-satisfied while the pews filled. Who ignored the warning signs because it was in their vested interest to do so. Who failed utterly in their duty of care.”
“The Church of England should have also been in the dock with Brain which takes away nothing from his culpability. He was an opportunistic sexual predator – and they welcomed him with open arms.”
The Right Reverend Pete Wilcox, Bishop of Sheffield, said: “Last year I offered an unreserved apology for the abuse of power and leadership that took place within the NOS. Today’s verdict adds to that same picture, and my apology stands in full.” He added that an independent safeguarding practice review into how the Church responded at the time of the offences, commissioned last year and held while the retrial was taking place, will now begin.
Background and sentencing
Brain shook his head slightly and exhaled when the guilty verdict on the rape charge was delivered on Friday. He will be remanded in custody to be sentenced at a later date. Judge Freya Newbury said victims would be given the chance to deliver impact statements at a sentencing hearing which is likely to take two days.
The NOS was founded by Brain at St Thomas’s Church in the Crookes area of Sheffield, before moving to the Ponds Forge area in the city centre. It took its name from the routine of evangelical services at 9pm on Sunday, complete with live music and nightclub-style light shows.
The court heard that when Brain was ordained as a priest in 1991, he was noted to have a “grandiose self-regard” as he insisted on large sums of money being spent so he could wear robes for the ceremony that had been worn by actor Robert De Niro in the movie The Mission. The NOS attracted a congregation largely of university students and young adults, and boasted a membership at its height of about 500 people.
Prosecutor Tim Clark KC said the NOS “presented itself to the outside world as a progressive force for good”. He told the court: “In truth, NOS became a closed and controlled group which the defendant dominated. He abused his position first as a leader and then as an ordained priest to sexually assault a staggering number of women from his congregation.”
The court heard Brain exerted control over the lives of the women, ostracising them from friends and family, taking away control of their finances, and convincing them to compete for his affections. A “homebase team” was set up to “care for” Brain – referred to as “the Lycra Lovelies” or “the Lycra Nuns” – and witnesses reported seeing the defendant surrounded by attractive women in lingerie at his home, looking after his needs.
The court heard how Brain groomed the women, touched them during massages, and persuaded them into sexual acts when putting him to bed. Brain, who quit as a priest when allegations about his conduct were first raised in 1995, admitted sexual activity with his followers but claimed it was all consensual.
TV programmes were made and books written about the NOS after some allegations were made in 1995 about Brain’s alleged abuse of position, the court heard previously. Brain appeared in one of the documentaries and made admissions to the filmmaker of sexual contact with a number of the female members of the NOS, jurors were told. In an Everyman Special broadcast by BBC One in November 1995, Brain admitted sexual activity with women members of NOS but denied it was abuse and said it was for “closeness and affection”, the court heard.
In the retrial, the court heard how Brain had lured one of the women to his home, plied her with whisky, then raped her in an attic bedroom. A second woman, who was part of the “homebase” team, said she was chided if her clothing was not provocative enough, she recalls frequent incidents of standing naked in front of a fully clothed Brain, and described him as a “Jekyll and Hyde character”.
Victims of Brain whose allegations were proved in the first trial gave evidence again as he faced a retrial. Julie Moss, senior crown prosecutor for CPS Yorkshire and Humberside, said Brain embarked on a “disturbing campaign of manipulation and abuse”, intimidating those who attended his service and isolating them from friends and family. She paid tribute to the “immense bravery” of the women who gave evidence during Brain’s trial, adding: “Their courage has been central to securing these convictions.”
Detective Superintendent Eleanor Welsh, senior investigating officer at South Yorkshire Police, said: “Brain has been shown to be a devious and arrogant sexual predator, who caused these women significant harm through his abuse of power and manipulation of their faith. This occurred at a time in these women’s lives when they were young and impressionable, seeking guidance and leadership from someone who they should have been able to trust.”
