Michael Ord, a 54-year-old father from Newcastle, has spoken publicly about the lifelong torment he has endured after being sexually abused by a priest as a child. Father David Taylor was jailed for 13 years in 2022 for abusing Michael between the ages of eight and 13. Michael has now waived his legal right to anonymity to highlight the devastating impact of child sex abuse.
Abuse began on trips to Holy Island
Michael grew up in Walker, Newcastle, as a devout Catholic, attending St Anthony of Padua Catholic Church on Welbeck Road, where Taylor was a priest. The abuse began when Michael was eight, during a weekend trip to Holy Island that his parents allowed because they trusted Taylor completely.
"We were devoted Catholics, we went to the church twice a week," Michael explained. "When I was going to the church he was always there. He would come to the house, he was a family friend." The abuse continued regularly until Michael was in his early teens, but he kept it to himself, not fully understanding what was happening.
Reporting the abuse and seeking justice
In 2019, Michael began having nightmares and told his brother, who encouraged him to contact police. Taylor was arrested and charged, leading to two crown court trials after a jury failed to reach a verdict in the first. Michael described the ordeal as "absolutely brutal," spending five and a half days on the stand.
Taylor was found guilty of ten offences of indecency with a child and indecent assault. Newcastle Crown Court heard the abuse happened in a church vestry, an old convent, during a trip to a football tournament, and on Holy Island. Prosecutor Vince Ward said: "These were religious venues where he would have expected to be safeguarded but wasn't."
Sentencing and the aftermath
Judge Julie Clemitson sentenced Taylor, of Angel Lane, Alnwick, Northumberland, to 13 years in prison and placed him on the sex offenders register for life. The judge noted Taylor had a sexual interest in boys from early in his career, having been ordained in 1977. She told Taylor: "There were so many occasions he can't recall them. It seems to him there were hundreds of them because it happened so often in various places."
Following the sentencing, Michael collapsed outside court and was later admitted to the Fellside Ward at St Nicholas Hospital in Gosforth, Newcastle. He now lives in a hostel after losing his home of 37 years, and his mental health has continued to deteriorate. "Right now the priest is still chasing us," he said.
