Vicar guilty of child sex abuse

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The Rev David Smith, 52, took advantage of his trusted position to groom and molest six vulnerable youngsters.

He indecently assaulted some of his young victims during sleep-overs at the vicarage in Clevedon, Somerset, and during holidays abroad.

The two-week trial at Bristol Crown Court heard that concerns about the vicar were raised with the Church of England on two occasions, first in 1983 and again in 2001.

The two complainants were assured that the matter had been "dealt with", but Smith continued to abuse boys in his parish.

Smith, vicar of St John the Evangelist in Clevedon, had denied all 12 charges against him, claiming they were a "figment of someone's imagination".

But a jury of eight women and four men took just two hours to find him unanimously guilty of 10 charges of indecent assault, one sexual assault of a child under 13 and one of sexual activities with a child under 16.

The attacks happened between 1976 and 2005 and involved six boys under the age of 16.

Smith closed his eyes as the jury foreman read out the guilty verdicts on all the charges.