A LEEDS vicar has been given a 14-year jail sentence for raping two boys and for a string of other sex offences.
Peter Hedge, who was given a 14-year sentence
As a result of your conduct, which really defies description in its wickedness, you not only robbed these young men of their childhood, you scarred their young lives.
He said Hedge had abused the trust in placed in him in the most cynical and corrupt fashion, and his offending had undermined the respect for other decent and respectable members of the Anglican Church.
He rapped Hedge’s “sickening hypocrisy” in boasting to the court about helping push through a child protection code at the heritage railway where he worked while at the same time carrying on his abuse.
At the trial at Bradford Crown Court the jury heard evidence that Hedge gave youngsters cash to buy cannabis and later gave them money to secure their silence.
In 1997 one of the boys reported Hedge’s assault on him to police. The vicar was questioned but never charged.
Hedge was suspended from his post at the church when the allegations came to light two years ago.
Hedge, who was ordained in 1993, faced three charges of rape and 33 of indecent assault against six boys during the 1990s. He stood emotionless in the dock as the jury returned a series of unanimous guilty verdicts.
He denied all the charges claiming that the victims were motivated by a possible “big money” compensation claim.
In a statement The Right Reverend David James, the Bishop of Bradford, said he had heard about the guilty verdicts with the deepest regret and sadness.
Clergy of the Church of England are expected to uphold the highest moral standards; by committing these very serious crimes Peter Hedge has betrayed the trust put in him by the people of Thornbury and Queensbury.
My thoughts and prayers are with the victims who have been deeply damaged by someone who should have been nurturing them and keeping them safe. And I thank them for their courage in coming forward to give evidence.
The Diocese of Bradford now has stringent policies in place. We have adopted codes of good practice which help prevent abuse and these are regularly reviewed.
Hedge was sentenced to seven years each for the two rapes with concurrent prison terms for the remaining sex assault charges.
He will be subject to a indefinite sexual offences prevention order following his release from prison and he has also banned for life from working with children.
Hat Tip: Peter Brietbart & Barriejohn
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
October 18th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
When you subscribe to a way of life or mode of thought …insert almost any religion here…. that most, if not all, have a dim view of sex and females you are bound for trouble.
Catholics priests and nuns for example, cut off as they are from "normal" human behaviour regarding marriage and sex all too often find and outlet for for sexuality in the very young and innocent.
who may not tell and most likely are afraid to.
I am aware that this article is not about catholic clergy however the religious in general are bound up and confined by holy books and dogma to such a degree that their outragious conduct should not surprise us………They are after all ….only human…..sick humans created by a system that seems to loath femininity and exalt the imaginary.
October 18th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Yep a C of E Priest behaving badly. We know it happens. Dogon has a good take on the increased prevalence of this kind of abuse by various sections of the clergy.
However don't forget that this guy could have been an atheist. In this particular case I don't see the C of E being complicit in the abuse in the same way we would take for granted from The Vatican.
Largely speaking this seems a horrible example of sexual abuse. Prima facie not a reason to be bashing religion though.
October 18th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
That's a valid point, dogon. I think you also have to ask questions about the mentality of the kind of person who is drawn towards these ideologies and peculiar practices. I can attest from personal experience that a great many of them have serious psychological problems to begin with. In many cases the religious fanaticism is an effort to "exorcise" their personal demons. It doesn't work, of course, although the completely artificial lifestyle may help in controlling them in some cases. Many of them are just attempting to "sublimate" their sexual desires into "religious aspirations". When those "demons" do come back, though, they seem to do so with a vengeance!
October 18th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Not a reason for bashing religion? Well there are a disproportionate number of child abusers in religious organisations; and let us not forget these priests are in position of trust. Maybe the Cof E is not as bad as the catholics when it comes to kiddie fiddling, but they are up there with the rest when it comes to mental abuse – burn in hell if you don't worship our sky fairy etc.
October 18th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Neal O………… why would anyone expect rational behavior …..ie that you should not molest children because you know it is wrong……from an individual at all that is already way beyond irrational given they belive that people rise from the dead….conceive without having sex…or better still walk on water !!
Irrational belief systems create irrational people who conduct their lives in irrational ways.
October 18th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Loads of people believe loads of weird stuff, take the American atheist comic and talk show host Bill Maher on vaccination for one. Religions don't have the monopoly on nut cases.
As Atheists we are always exposed to the Stalin, Mao etc were atheists (Hitler is debatable). At the end of the day they did what they did not because they were atheists but for their other misguided beliefs. I think a similar case can probably be made here by the C of E on Hedge and his perversions.
Please don't get me wrong. I am in no way a fan of the C Of E and I abhor the actions of people like Hedge. I just think there are better targets to pick in Freethinker than this. Ryan on Catholics for instance has serious meat. The C of E (Williams) on sharia being acceptable in the UK is just outrageous.
October 18th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Neal O …A better target…..How about a discussion on the merits of Ireland passing a "blasphemy" law due to take effect this month….would you not think a society that calls itself "secular" and leader in the computer age could have it's elected officials dwell on something more urgent………… such as repair the failed banking system.
I cannot imagine any member of an elected body within Ireland claiming they have issues on their plate more pressing than pandering to the religious right afraid of losing their feeble grip on a waining power base.
Society as whole needs less of the imaginary and more of the imagination.
October 19th, 2009 at 9:19 am
Did anyone bother to read my comment (above)? All religions, especially Christianity, are absolutely crammed with people like Hedge, battling away with their own personal "demons", like volcanoes just waiting to explode! Look up Romans chapter 7, and tell me if the "Apostle Paul" wasn't experiencing the self-same thing, and merely sublimating some deep, dark, hidden desires which he dared not even mention. There has been much speculation as to what he meant, especially as he keeps on throughout the epistles about this "spiritual warfare" that is going on, and the fact that he has to continually keep "the flesh" under control. He speaks of God having given him a "thorn in the flesh" to keep him humble, and Christians have tried to explain this by referring to some unknown physical problem, but others have said that it is much more likely that he is referring again to his "spiritual" weakness, which some have even thought was homosexuality. Whether they are right or not, he was most certainly a tortured soul, fighting a continual battle with his mind against desires that were almost certainly of a sexual nature to be so very strong.
October 19th, 2009 at 10:44 am
It's hard to take the bible seriously, just like any other of those centuries old religious texts. So what if Paul was screwed up? Just cos the bible may have screwed up a few people it blatantly does not make all christians screwed up like Hedge just because they 'believe'.
The question with Hedge is two fold. Did his religion make him a child abuser? I don't think so. Anyone with any research evidence to suggest otherwise, particularly in religions like C of E as opposed to Catholic? Secondly is the church complicit? In most cases of Catholic abusers we know they usually are but here I can find no suggestion of this here. I therefore propose again the case that this story really does not merit space in Freethinker.
October 19th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
If there's one thing Christians do best, Neal, is hypocrisy. I have a fridge magnet which shows a family at prayer in church. The wording is "Christians aren't perfect. They just want you to be!" So long as sanctimonious believers bang on about how superior to everyone else they are we will continue to publish items which demonstate that religion and morality are not only NOT linked, but are generally poles apart.
October 19th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
I was an evangelical Christian for years, and I know what I am talking about! Almost exactly twenty years ago a young Christain woman whom it was a delight to know, and of whom I was very fond, jumped off a multi-storey car park in one of our major towns and ended her life. The reason given – which most people believe to this day – was that it was found that her father-in-law (a big noise amongst the local Plymouth Brethren) was molesting her children. I was a family friend, and can tell you that this was only half the story. The real reason for her grief and despair was the fact that HE HAD DONE THIS BEFORE AND IT HAD BEEN BRUSHED UNDER THE CARPET!! Amongst Jimmy Swaggart-style "tearsof repentance" he had promised that such a thing would never happen again, and then, because he had "got away with it", carried on where he had left off! He had to leave the Brethren, of course, but was welcomed with open arms by another local "Evangelical Church", and nothing was ever said to the police, to my knowledge. I'm telling you, this sort of thing is going on all over the place, and because of "misplaced loyalties", most of it never comes to light.
October 19th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
I was an evangelical Christian for years, and I know what I am talking about! Almost exactly twenty years ago a young Christain woman whom it was a delight to know, and of whom I was very fond, jumped off a multi-storey car park in one of our major towns and ended her life. The reason given – which most people believe to this day – was that it was found that her father-in-law (a big noise amongst the local Plymouth Brethren) was molesting her children. I was a family friend, and can tell you that this was only half the story. The real reason for her grief and despair was the fact that HE HAD DONE THIS BEFORE AND IT HAD BEEN BRUSHED UNDER THE CARPET!! Amongst Jimmy Swaggart-style "tearsof repentance" he had promised that such a thing would never happen again, and then, because he had "got away with it", carried on where he had left off! He had to leave the Brethren, of course, but was welcomed with open arms by another local "Evangelical Church", and nothing was ever said to the police, to my knowledge. I'm telling you, this sort of thing is going on all over the place, and because of "misplaced loyalties", most of it never comes to light. "The Church" must be protected at all costs!!
October 19th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
You're right – and the nature of faith is that those who wield authority within a church (or whatever) have power without real responsibility, because they are given that power by God – a nonexistent being who is by definition unaccountable. 'God will forgive me if I break this law because He can see into my heart and know I'm a good man really' is a point of view that I'm sure many child-abusers hold. Can anyone imagine a similar case in which someone decided that 'people in general will forgive me and decide that I'm a decent bloke really if I have have sex with a nine-year-old'? Of course not. If you are morally responsible not to other people but to a fantasy that only exists in your imagination, indulging your fantasies must become much easier. And of course abusive personalities are attracted to religion. The evidence is just overwhelming.