Priest jailed for historic sexual abuse at boys school in Dorset

89-year-old Timothy Biles was employed as a PE teacher

Author: Maria GreenwoodPublished 10 hours ago

A priest who was formerly employed as a PE teacher has been jailed for six years having been found guilty of non-recent sexual abuse against boys as young as eleven.

Timothy Biles, 89, was convicted of five offences of indecent assault from his time working at the former St Francis School for boys in Hooke.

The offences took place sometime between 1966 and 1967.

Although Biles, of Sherbourne, admitted that he knew of the victims in his capacity as a teacher, he vehemently denied ever assaulting the boys.

Lucy Paddick, a Senior Crown Prosecutor with CPS Wessex, said, “Timothy Biles exploited his position within the clergy in the worst possible way and took advantage of young boys.

“He was entrusted to teach and safeguard these children, and in turn he chose to abuse them and leave them with traumatic and long-lasting effects.

“Working closely with Dorset police, the prosecution was able to piece together a large amount of evidence which refuted these claims and present it to a jury who saw through his lies and found him guilty.

“Both of the victims have shown admirable courage to support the prosecution against Biles and I would like to thank both of them for their bravery in giving evidence, with which we have been able to bring this sex offender to justice.

“We hope that this conviction sends a message to other survivors that the CPS takes sexual abuse seriously and that it is never too late to achieve justice.”

Biles’ criminal acts were discovered when one of the victims disclosed the abuse to the police.

The victim told how he was abused at Biles’ mother’s house, while another was abused in Biles’ room at the chapel.

Biles was in his thirties at the time of the offences.

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