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	The Catholic Boy Abused by Father David Pearce Whose Life Fell Apart By Julia Bradshaw The Times April 9, 2010 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7093857.ece After less than a year in the care of Father David Pearce, the 10-year-old pupil at St Benedict’s School attempted to hang himself from a stairwell. The boy, who came from a devout Roman Catholic family, joined the celebrated Catholic independent school in West London when Pearce was head of the junior section. Twenty years later he is unclear of the exact sequence of events but told the High Court that he had no doubt he had been repeatedly sexually abused. He said that Pearce, known by pupils as “Gay Dave”, would watch him change after swimming lessons and touch his genitals while drying him with a towel. He recalled two occasions on which Pearce used a video to record boys showering. The boy found it difficult to confide in his religious parents because he didn’t think anyone would believe him, the High Court court was told. When he told his mother that Pearce was videoing the boys in the shower, she reacted with apparent indifference. By the age of 11 his behaviour deteriorated. He grew into a disturbed teenager and was sent to boarding school. Memories of the abuse continued to haunt him, and when he was 15 he took up drugs and alcohol. His parents threw him out of his house. Later, when his mother said she was shocked to discover that his sister’s judo teacher was a paedophile, he became furious. He couldn’t understand why his mother had not reacted the same way when he told her about the video incident. The abuse also left him sexually confused. He said that when he was 17 he would vomit after having sex with his girlfriend. The teenager felt that his body was dirty and that he might be gay. He lost his faith. The next few years were a blur of heavy drinking, failed attempts at art schools, escapes abroad and a mental breakdown. In 2003 he began a fine art degree and started to rebuild his life. The final blow came the following year when he visited his former school to report that he had been abused by Pearce. Abbot Martin Shipperlee told him that he had known of the rumours about Pearce and of his reputation while he was headmaster. Angry and distressed that the school knew what was happening, he reported the matter to police and brought his own civil court proceedings. In February 2006 he finally found someone who believed him. In his judgment Mr Justice Field said: “I regret to have to say that I found Pearce to be an unconvincing witness. It appeared to me to have been carefully rehearsed.” The judge awarded the former pupil ?43,000 damages against Pearce and Ealing Abbey for the sexual abuse and the loss of earnings caused by the disruption to his life that had delayed the start of his career.
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