Andrew Soper, 74, fled to
Kosovo in 2011 to avoid prosecution over charges that he molested boys while
headmaster at St Benedict’s School in London.
A priest was jailed for 18 years
on Thursday for sexual abusing boys at a top British Catholic school in crimes
dating back to the 1970s.
He was extradited in 2016
to face 19 counts of indecent assault and buggery against 10 former pupils in
the 1970s and 1980s.
A jury at the Old Bailey
central criminal court in London found him guilty of all charges on December 6.
Sentencing him Thursday,
judge Anthony Bate said that Soper’s conduct was “the most appalling breach of
trust” and that he had “subverted the rules of the Benedictine order and
teachings of the Catholic Church”.
Bate said Soper’s life
would now be “overshadowed by the proven catalogue of vile abuse”.
“Your disgrace is
complete,” he added.
The trial heard how Soper’s
victims were subjected to sadistic beatings for “fake reasons” including
kicking a football “in the wrong direction”, “failing to use double margins”
and “using the (wrong) staircase”, leading to a caning and a sexual assault.
Giving evidence, Soper
denied using the cane as a ruse to abuse boys who were given the choice of six
lashes with trousers on, or three with them off.
“Soper abused his position
of trust as headmaster of a middle school over a sustained period of time,”
police Detective Superintendent Ang Scott said after the sentencing.
“Throughout the
investigation he has attempted to evade justice by leaving the UK and then failing
to answer his bail.”
Speaking of the victims, he
said: “Although it can never make up for the emotional and psychological trauma
caused by Soper’s crimes, I hope the sentence handed to him today can give them
some form of closure.”
AFP
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