Former bishop Anthony Pierce jailed for historical child abuse

12 March 2025, 10:31 | Updated: 12 March 2025, 13:40

A former bishop has been jailed for more than four years for historical child abuse.

Anthony Pierce, the former bishop of Swansea and Brecon, was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court after pleading guilty to five counts of indecent assault on a boy under the age of 16.

The abuse took place when Pierce was working as a vicar in the city, several years before he became the bishop of the Swansea and Brecon diocese in 1999, the court heard.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was 14 at the time.

Dean Pulling, prosecuting, said the 84-year-old defendant was "trusted to look after and care" for the victim who felt "acute embarrassment and sense of shame".

"He was also worried about what his parents would think if it would ever get out, and how they would react," Mr Pulling added.

The victim's disclosure was made in 2023 and it later emerged that a separate allegation of sexual abuse by Pierce had been reported to senior figures in the church in 1993. Police, however, were only informed of that allegation in 2010, by which time the alleged victim had died.

The court heard the defendant "denied any responsibility" during his police interview and "claimed that he had no sexual attraction towards children".

Heath Edwards, mitigating, said Pierce "deeply regrets the behaviour in which he became involved".

In a statement he read in court, the victim said he had felt an "overwhelming sense of embarrassment and shame that [he] allowed it to happen".

"I have very low self-esteem and self-worth," he added.

"I do not have friends, and I know people only on a superficial level. All my adult relationships have been dysfunctional."

The victim said he became "alcohol dependent" after the abuse, which "destroyed" his post-school education, career and some personal relationships.

He also outlined the impact the abuse had had on his family, saying he felt "trapped in the age of 13 or 14".

"I struggle to relate to my parents as I still feel the emotional age of when the abuse happened," he added.

"I have lived my life not once believing that I would ever disclose the abuse to anybody."

But after he disclosed the abuse he suffered, the victim said he felt "an overwhelming sense of relief" and "felt empowered".

'Let down and betrayed'

Sentencing Pierce to four years and one month in prison, Judge Catherine Richards told the court the defendant "began to groom [the victim] in a manner that is sadly familiar to this court".

"You progressed to sexual abuse in the ways described by the prosecution," she said.

The judge went on to say that there would be people in the wider community who felt "let down and betrayed that a man in your position could behave in such a hypocritical way".

She said the defendant had outlined the impact of the abuse upon him "eloquently and realistically" in his victim personal statement and that he had gone on "to have to deal with the devastating impact of your abuse".

"There is only one person who should have shame for what took place, and that is you," she added.

Read more from Sky News:
Nicola Sturgeon reveals she won't seek re-election
Trump buys a Tesla in support of 'Elon's baby'

A Church in Wales spokesperson said it was "appalled at the offences which have been revealed in this case and expresses its deepest sympathy with the victim for the abuse they have suffered".

"It is a cause of the most profound shame that a priest in the Church in Wales should have been convicted of such shocking crimes," the spokesperson added.

"Our prayers are with the survivor and with all victims of abuse, whose welfare must always be at the heart of our work."

Pierce will serve half his sentence behind bars before he is released on licence.

(c) Sky News 2025: Former bishop Anthony Pierce jailed for historical child abuse