Former Bishop Jailed for Five-Year Sexual Abuse of Child

A former bishop has been jailed for sexually abusing a boy over a five-year period while he was a priest. 📋

Anthony Pierce, 84, who was bishop of Swansea and Brecon between 1999 and 2008, pleaded guilty to five counts of indecent assault on a child under the age of 16.

Swansea Crown Court heard the offences, which included sexual touching, happened between 1985 and 1990, while Pierce was a parish priest in West Cross, Swansea.

Pierce received a sentence of four years and one month, with Judge Catherine Richards stating: “You exploited his age and your position of trust.”

In a powerful courtroom statement, the victim said he remembered “exactly how I felt as the abuse took place” and had “an overwhelming sense of embarrassment, as I could not feel the courage to say no.”

“I have very low self-esteem and self-worth. I do not have friends. I feel trapped as I’m unable to move past the trauma of what happened,” he continued.

The victim, who became dependent on alcohol as a teenager, added he felt an “overwhelming sense of relief” after speaking out and felt like he had been “released from something that’s had a hold over me all these years”.

Pierce will serve half his sentence behind bars before spending the rest on licence. He was also made subject of a sexual harm prevention order and will be on the sex offenders register for life.

The Church in Wales issued a statement saying: “Anthony Pierce has abused his position, disgraced his church and, worst of all, has inflicted appalling and lasting trauma on his victim. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim in this case, who has shown immense courage in reporting what are deeply painful experiences. We offer him the most heartfelt apology for what he has had to endure.”

It was later revealed a different allegation of sexual abuse against Pierce was reported to “senior figures” in the church in 1993, but wasn’t passed to police until 2010. That person, believed to have been under 18 at the time, had died by the time authorities were informed.

Following his guilty pleas, the current Bishop of Swansea and Brecon will be asking for Pierce to be deposed from Holy Orders – the most severe sanction available. ⚖️