Church of England clergyman found guilty of historical sex offences

UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Harriet Sherwood Religion correspondent
@harrietsherwood
Thursday 4 August 2016

A senior Church of England clergyman has been found guilty of sex offences committed against two young men in the 1970s and 80s amid claims of a church cover-up.

A jury at Durham crown court found George Granville Gibson, 80, the former archdeacon of Auckland, guilty of two counts of indecent assault against two men, then aged 18 and 26. He was found not guilty of buggery and four other charges of indecent assault. Two charges of indecent assault were dropped.

The court was told that the former bishop of Durham, John Habgood, had been told about Gibson’s inappropriate behaviour, which occurred when he was a vicar at St Clare’s Church in Newton Aycliffe. A former clergyman told the court he “got the push” from the church after raising concerns about Gibson.

Gibson was found guilty of indecently assaulting that man.

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