22 Oct 2010

Child abuse priest jailed for 21 years

A paedophile former priest is jailed for 21 years for a campaign of sexual offenses against young boys which began in the 1950s.

Seventy-three year old James Robinson, who fled to the US in 1985, was jailed today at Birmingham Crown Court after he was extradited from California last year to face trial.

The former Roman Catholic priest, who worked in the Black Country, Staffordshire, Birmingham and Coventry after being ordained in 1971, simply stared at the jury foreman as he was found guilty of 21 sexual offences.

The jury deliberated for around six hours before unanimously convicting the former priest.

Robinson, who was brought up in Brownhills, near Walsall, had denied all the offences, which were committed between 1959 and 1983.

Passing sentence, Judge Patrick Thomas QC, described the defendant as devious and manipulative.

This man was a very clever, devious man. Victim

‘Wicked’
He told Robinson: “The offences you committed were unimaginably wicked and caused immense and long-lasting – we can only hope not permanent – damage to the six victims.

“You used, you abused your position of trust, your position of authority and total trust within the communities that you moved to and from.”

Commenting after the guilty verdicts, Detective Sergeant Harry May said: “As we investigated this case, we found nine victims. Six were mentioned in court and for personal reasons, three weren’t able to come to court.

“I have no doubt there are more victims, not only in this country but in America.

“On a personal note, I would like to say how brave these men have been, giving their testimonies in court.

“We couldn’t have done it without them.”

Victim’s story
One of Robinson’s victims who found the courage to speak out said the trial had been “traumatic”.

“I’m not a bad person – I don’t hate the man. But he had to be sorted out – I’ve lived with it for years,” said the victim, a married man of 62.

“For years I thought it was a one on one situation and I wasn’t prepared to do anything about it but when I found out there were other victims, it was terrible.”

The victim added: “This man was a very clever, devious man.”