Former bishop jailed for sex attacks on boy

A former bishop has been jailed for sexually abusing a boy over a five-year period while he was a priest.

Anthony Pierce, 84, who was bishop of Swansea and Brecon between 1999 and 2008, pleaded guilty to five counts of indecent assault on a child under the age of 16.

Swansea Crown Court heard the offences, which included sexual touching, happened between 1985 and 1990, while Pierce was a parish priest in West Cross, Swansea.

Sentencing Pierce to four years and one month - half of which he will serve behind bars before spending the rest on licence - Judge Catherine Richards said: "You exploited his age and your position of trust."

Reading a statement in court, the victim said he remembered "exactly how I felt as the abuse took place" and had "an overwhelming sense of embarrassment, as I could not feel the courage to say no".

"I have very low self-esteem and self-worth. I do not have friends. I feel trapped as I'm unable to move past the trauma of what happened," he said.

He said he had become dependant on alcohol as a teenager and had been left unable to form relationships.

He added he felt an "overwhelming sense of relief" after speaking out and felt like he had been "released from something that's had a hold over me all these years".

Pierce was also made subject of a sexual harm prevention order and will be on the sex offenders register for life, meaning he is barred from working or volunteering with children or vulnerable adults.

Prosecutor Dean Pulling told the court the abuse was "completely uninvited and unwanted".

"He said he felt repelled by what the defendant did to him," he said.

In a police interview, Pierce said he had "no attraction towards children", Mr Pulling added.

Addressing Pierce, who was in his late 40s at the time of the attacks, Judge Richards added: "You were expected to be trusted and respected.

"Any parent or adult at that time would understandably have trusted that their child was safe with you and you would act in accordance with your professed Christian values.

"Instead, you began to groom him."

Heath Edwards, representing Pierce, said his client "deeply regrets the behaviour".

"There is every risk that this is a defendant who spends the rest of his life serving a custodial sentence," he added.

The Church in Wales said they feel "the most profound shame at the dreadful offences", and allegations about this offending did not emerge until 2023 when the victim reported it to a safeguarding officer.

In a statement, a spokesperson said: "Anthony Pierce has abused his position, disgraced his church and, worst of all, has inflicted appalling and lasting trauma on his victim.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim in this case, who has shown immense courage in reporting what are deeply painful experiences. We offer him the most heartfelt apology for what he has had to endure."

It was later revealed a different allegation of sexual abuse against Pierce was reported to "senior figures" in the church in 1993, 17 years before it was passed to police.

That person, believed to have been under 18 at the time, had died by the time the church informed the police in 2010.

The Church in Wales said an independent review had begun into the separate allegation of Pierce's conduct, which will also review how safeguarding allegations are handled in the church's current systems.

In 2002, Pierce was made a commander of the order of St John, and in 2010 a knight of the order of St John, an honour conferred to show "exceptional" charitable service in hospital settings and for those in need.

St John Ambulance said he was no longer a member of the order.

Pierce stood down as bishop of Swansea and Brecon in January 2008, aged 67.

He was awarded an honorary fellowship by Swansea University, which the institution has now said it will review.

Following his guilty pleas, the current Bishop of Swansea and Brecon, the Right Reverend John Lomas, said he would be asking the tribunal to consider deposing Pierce from Holy Orders - the most severe sanction available.

Following the sentencing, Monique McKevitt from the Crown Prosecution Service, said Pierce denied what happened when interviewed by police, "but when he was faced with the overwhelming prosecution evidence against him" he pleaded guilty in court.

She described the attacks as "gross abuse of trust" by someone who was "entrusted to preside over christenings, funerals, weddings and prayers".