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'Sexual sadist' priest abused boy and locked him in church crypt
By Paul Beard And Charlotte Paxton
[with video] Father Joseph Quigley - former national education advisor for Roman Catholic schools - also beat the boy while he was a parish priest in Warwickshire. A 'sexual sadist' priest who worked as a private tutor sexually and physically abused a boy and locked him in a church crypt. Father Joseph Quigly - who held various 'presitigious' roles including as national education advisor for Roman Catholic schools - sexually and physically abused a boy while he was a parish priest in Warwickshire. The priest - described as a "sexual sadist" - rubbed the teenager’s inner thigh after making him wear gym kit, take showers with the door open, and inflicted ‘sado-masochistic’ punishments on him such as locking him in the church's crypt. He also beat the boy with a hurling stick during his time at St Charles Borromeo RC church in Hampton-on-the-Hill near Warwick. The offences took place while he was the parish priest at the church from 2002 until he was forced to resign in disgrace, a jury at Warwick Crown Court heard. Quigley, 56, now of Aston Hall, Church Lane, Staffordshire, denied four charges of sexual activity with a child, two of sexual assault, two of false imprisonment and one of cruelty. But the jury took less than four hours to find him guilty of all nine charges by majority verdicts of 11-1, reports CoventryLive. Prosecutor Adrian Langdale QC told the court the case involved "allegations of historic abuse at the hands of this defendant, as he was known at the time, Fr Joseph Quigley". He added: "He was a Catholic priest, in a position of power and trust over the complainant. “The abuse took two forms. First that it was overtly sexual by nature, such as touching and massaging the legs of the young complainant up to and around the groin area. “There were other acts which were more like punishment of a sado-masochistic nature, such as caning or hitting boys with hurling sticks or shutting boys in the crypt of the church.” Mr Langdale said although the case involved one victim, teenager, at the time Quigley was at St Charles Borromeo there was another key witness who had also been abused by the priest. That boy was aged 16-17 when he fell under the abusive influence of Quigley – and there were a number of similarities between what the two boys suffered. “It will seem extraordinary that a person’s religious beliefs could make them blind to what was wrong, but this is why Father Joe, as he was known, was able to get away with the abuse for so long," said Mr Langdale. Having targeted his victim, Quigley took advantage of him struggling at school to offer private tuition to get him alone. The offences mirrored those he committed against the older boy, who was a pupil at a Catholic school. Mr Langdale said: “Father Joe was ordained in 1990. He held various prestigious roles, including being in charge nationally for education in Roman Catholic schools, as well as being a parish priest. “From 2002 until his forced resignation he was parish priest at St Charles Borromeo.” But in 2008 his behaviour towards the older boy came to light, and he was "removed from high priesting" and sent to an institute in the United States for six months. “After six months of therapy, he was returned to the UK and put on restricted duties. It would seem the Catholic Church believed that by doing so it had met its duties,” said Mr Langdale, who pointed out that the police were not informed. “Despite there not being an investigation at the time, there was clearly another victim the church would have found if they had looked.” He said Quigley’s abuse of his victim while he was at Hampton-on-the-Hill included repeatedly sexually touching him and subjecting him to sado-masochistic punishment, such as shutting him in the crypt and forcing him to chew paracetamol. Having offered the boy extra tuition at the presbytery, Quigley made him bring his gym kit and sent him on runs before telling him to take a shower and leave the door open as he did so. During the tuition, Quigley would sit in a swivel chair with his legs wide apart and then abuse the boy. Mr Langdale said: "This was for this defendant’s sexual gratification. These actions were not accidental. "The rubbing was always very close to his private area. He constantly maintained eye contact, getting sexual pleasure from the terror in his eyes.” Quigley also made the boy do sit-ups and press-ups as punishments, to stand in the corner and suck paracetamols, which have a bitter taste. He also hit him to the thighs with a hurling stick, as he had done to another boy whose mother had challenged him about it. As another masochistic punishment, he locked him in the crypt, a cold and dark room containing tombs, which he found terrifying, while wearing only his gym kit. Although some allegations emerged in 2012, the full facts only came out after the victim began to see a therapist in 2017 – and the therapist informed the police. When Quigley was questioned he told a series of ‘careful and deliberate lies and untruths’ – and after the jury’s verdicts Judge Cooke praised the ‘devastatingly effective’ questioning by officers during the interviews. Adjourning the case for a report to be prepared, he said: “This defendant, previously diagnosed by an expert as a sexual sadist and voyeur, has demonstrated that. “A lengthy prison sentence is inevitable. I need to decide whether, given that diagnosis, he falls to be sentenced as a dangerous offender.” He added that investigating officer DS Abigail Simpson and the Warwickshire Police team were ‘richly deserving of a public statement of commendation and thanks.’ Describing the perverted priest as "a sexual sadist and voyeur", Judge Peter Cooke remanded him in custody while a report is prepared on him to assess the danger he poses in the future.
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