Priest Jailed for Child Sex Abuse

05/20/09

Original Article

Father David Taylor pleaded guilty to indecent assaults A Catholic priest has been jailed for sexually assaulting three boys in County Durham during the 1980s. Father David Taylor, 59, of Bedlington, Northumberland, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years at Durham Crown Court. He had earlier admitted five counts of indecent assault between 1982 and 1986 while he was youth co-ordinator for the Hexham and Newcastle Diocese. He was also disqualified from working with children and placed on the sex offenders register for life. 'No exceptions' Father Taylor was suspended from his post at St Peter's Church in Low Fell, Gateshead, in February last year following the allegations involving the boys, who were all aged under 16 at the time. The court heard on Tuesday that the offences had been committed while he was based at St Mary's Church in Seaham. Father Dennis Tindall, child protection co-ordinator for Hexham Newcastle Diocese, said: "The highest standards are required and expected of those working with young people in the church. "No exceptions can be made to this."