Documentary record Bound by Fear
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Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Other or denomination not established North London, England, United Kingdom · 2026

United Kingdom: church deacon convicted of sexually abusing four young men over four decades

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

church deacon, youth group leader

Organization

Muswell Hill Baptist Church, north London, Billingham Baptist Church, Stockton-on-Tees

Spiritual nexus

Grant held deacon and youth-leadership roles at Muswell Hill Baptist Church and Billingham Baptist Church, plus several affiliated youth groups in north London, over a more-than-40-year span; those church offices gave him repeated access to the four young men he was convicted of abusing.

  • Pastoral or clerical authority
  • Institutional obedience or isolation

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. Date in cited record · jury conviction

    Wood Green Crown Court, England. Found guilty of three counts of sexual assault, six counts of indecent assault and two counts of causing another person to engage in non-penetrative sexual activity, against four victims between 1970 and 2012. (Reported 2026; exact verdict date not stated in available coverage.)

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • deacon and senior youth-leadership standing across multiple congregations
  • targeting of 'vulnerable' young men through church youth groups

Primary record

Sources

regional newspaper court reporting criminal disposition and nexus The Star, "Former church deacon sexually abused young men over four decades."

Court report naming John Grant, his deacon and youth-leader roles at Muswell Hill and Billingham Baptist churches, and the jury's guilty verdicts on all counts.

wire service court reporting corroboration Yahoo News UK (Sky News), "Former church deacon convicted of historical sexual offences against 'vulnerable' young men."

Wire corroboration of the conviction, describing the victims as vulnerable young men targeted through Grant's church standing.

national radio court reporting corroboration LBC, "Ex-church deacon and youth group leader guilty of sexual offences on young men."

Additional court corroboration of the guilty verdicts and Grant's youth-group leadership role.

Related record

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