United Kingdom: Ealing Abbey Benedictine monk and former headteacher convicted of abusing five pupils over 36 years

Proceedings

1. 2009-08-01 · conviction; sentence reduced on appeal, conviction stands

   Isleworth Crown Court, United Kingdom. David Pearce, a Benedictine monk of Ealing Abbey and former headteacher of St Benedict's School, pleaded guilty at Isleworth Crown Court to the sexual abuse of five pupils, with offences dating back to 1972 and continuing while he was under restricted ministry. He was sentenced in October 2009 to eight years' imprisonment; the Court of Appeal reduced the sentence to five years in May 2010 without disturbing the conviction. IICSA later found that since 2003, two monks (Pearce and Laurence Soper) and two lay teachers had been convicted of abusing over 20 children at the school between the 1970s and 2008.

Appellate history

1. 2010-05-01

   Court of Appeal reduced the sentence from eight years to five years; the underlying conviction itself was not disturbed and stands.

Documented coercion mechanisms

• monastic and headmasterly office within the abbey's own school, later maintained access to pupils even under restricted ministry