The Herald
August 6, 2010
http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Rector-trial-child-sex-charges/article-2497003-detail/article.html
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| FOR TRIAL: Wilson is accused of 11 sexual assaults on children when he was a teacher in the 1970s |
A CLERGYMAN will stand trial next month accused of sexually assaulting children when he was a Plymouth primary school teacher.
James Andrew Christopher Wilson, 61, known to his parishioners as the Rev Canon Andrew Wilson, Rector and Rural Dean of Calstock, denies 11 child sex assaults alleged to have taken place more than 30 years ago, when he taught at Pennycross Primary School.
He is accused of sexually assaulting four boys and seven girls, all under the age of 14, between 1974 and 1980.
Wilson, from Calstock in Cornwall, was ordained in 1982 but did not become a full-time priest until 1987, shortly after leaving the teaching profession.
He did not appear in the dock for the short hearing at Plymouth Crown Court yesterday, where his legal team and prosecutors discussed witness issues before Judge Francis Gilbert QC, but travelled to the court with several friends, including fellow- clergymen, who supported him from the public gallery.
Wilson, of The Rectory, Sand Lane in Calstock, pleaded not guilty to all 11 charges when he stood before a Crown court judge last September. The court was told then each charge related to a different child.
The Herald reported at the time how officers from the Sexual Offences Investigation Team began their inquiries in May last year and interviewed alleged victims who were all now adults.
Wilson was charged with six offences last August, and a further five the following October.
Police and the Diocese of Truro both confirmed he would not be exercising any further ministry until the investigation was over.
At the time of the alleged offences the city's schools were under county council control.
Wilson, who is on unconditional bail, will next be before the court on September 13, facing a jury. His trial is expected to last around six days.
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