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Peter Hedge

Peter Hedge was a west Yorkshire priest in the Church of England, convicted on October 16, 2009, of numerous sex offenses with young boys, including two rapes. He was given a sentence of 14 years in jail. Hedges "abused his position of trust as a vicar and committed horrendous acts of abuse against vulnerable boys who trusted him,” according to Detective Sergeant Linda Christie, from the Child and Public Protection Unit handling the case.

Ordained in 1993, Hedge committed the offenses between the 1990s and 2000 . One incident of groping a young boy was reported to the police in 1997. Hedge was questioned but not charged at that time. Allegations from victims emerged again in 2007, when Hedge's first victim was in his 30s. Hedge was then suspended from his position as vicar at Holy Trinity Church, Queensbury. Earlier abuses took place when Hedge was a curate at St Margaret's Church in Thornbury, Bradford.

Hedge, who lived in Pudsey, was charged with three counts of rape and more than 30 counts of indecent assault against six boys. He denied all the charges, claiming the boys testified against him in hopes of getting money from a compensation claim. Hedge maintained that he had not been alone with children following the 1997 report to the police. Hedge told the jury of his pride in working to establish a child protection code at the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, a heritage rail line where he worked during the years when the crimes took place.

Evidence presented at the trial indicated that Hedge preyed on vulnerable youngsters who had learning difficulties or came from troubled homes. He groomed them from age 11 or 12, hosting them in his home and giving them cannibis. Later he gave the boys money to buy marijuana and keep silent about the abuse. The jury of six men and six women deliberated for slightly more than six hours and returned a unanimous guilty verdict. On October 16, 2009 Hedge was convicted of two rapes and 34 counts of sexual assault. He was sentenced to 7 years in prison for each of the rapes with prison terms for the other charges running concurrently. In addition to being listed as a sex offender, Hedge will be under an indefinite sexual offenses prevention order and banned for life from working with children when he is released from prison.

Peter Benson, judge at Bradford Crown Court, where Hedge was tried, said Hedge's crime "defies description in its wickedness," and brought disgrace to the church as he robbed the young men of their childhood and scarred their lives. He decried Hedge's effort in working for the railway's child protection code while carrying on the sexual abuse as breathtaking, sickening hypocrisy.

The Right Reverend David James, Bishop of Bradford, apologized on behalf of the church, saying Hedge's case brought him deepest regret and sadness and reflected betrayal of the trust of congregations in Thornbury and Queensbury. "My thoughts and prayers are with the victims who have been deeply damaged by someone who should have been nurturing them and keeping them safe. And I thank them for their courage in coming forward to give evidence," Bishop James said. He said that the diocese had stringent policies and codes of good practice in place that should prevent such crimes in the future.