An alleged rapist priest, Chris Brain, who directed a “cult” within the Church of England sexually attacked a “staggering” number of women in his flock, a court was informed.
Jurors in Chris Brain’s trial were informed that he anticipated victims would “put him to bed” with “sexual favours” in the bedroom of his family residence.
Prosecutor Tim Clark KC stated that the women experienced “absolute terror of being ostracised” from the Nine O’Clock Service (NOS), a prominent evangelical church organisation directed by Mr. Chris Brain in Sheffield throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Mr. Chris Brain, 68, currently residing on Park Road in Wilmslow, Cheshire, is being trial at Inner London Crown Court for 36 counts of indecent assault and one count of rape involving 13 women. He refutes all the allegations.
NOS was first praised by authorities of the Church of England for its “ground-breaking” nightclub-style services that integrated live music and multimedia to engage young individuals at St Thomas Church, Mr. Clark informed the jury as he commenced the prosecution’s evidence on Tuesday.
He asserted that the group “transformed into a cult” where members were urged to sever ties with family and friends, rendering them “completely reliant” on NOS and “desperate for the attention and approval” of its leader, Mr. Chris Brain.
The court was informed that Mr. Chris Brain advised one of his purported victims that he was assisting her in “healing from her sexual repression” and encouraged another to utilise her “sexual power” to “glorify God”.
The jury was informed that several young ladies who became involved in the movement were enlisted to a team responsible for caring for Mr. Chris Brain, his wife, and their daughter at their residence in Sheffield, where the defendant was “surrounded by attractive women” clad in lingerie or other provocative attire.
A woman who became part of the group, known as “the Lycra lovelies” or “the Lycra nuns,” stated in a police interview that she was cautioned she would be expelled if she defied Mr. Chris Brain.
The court heard testimony from another lady, who enrolled at NOS as a student, stating that she was compelled to “disassociate from her previous life and embrace NOS as her new family”.
Several of Mr. Chris Brain’s purported victims informed the police that they thought they had been “brainwashed” and “groomed” by him.
The jury was informed that Mr. Chris Brain would “suddenly appear” alongside female pedestrians and solicit them to enter his vehicle.
Mr. Clark stated: “Individuals who failed to satisfy the defendant would become alienated from the group – this was profoundly unsettling for young, impressionable women who had developed emotional dependence on NOS and, consequently, were rendered highly vulnerable.”
In 1995, church leaders addressed Mr. Chris Brain following a report from a NOS member, who alleged that the defendant had organised a schedule for women to assist him in bed, as presented in court.
According to Stephen Lowe, the former archdeacon of Sheffield, it was claimed that he had assaulted as many as 40 women. Mr. Brain said, “I believed it was a higher number,” as shown throughout the trial.
The jury was informed that Mr. Chris Brain confessed in a 1995 BBC program to engaging in “improper sexual relationships” with individuals from his congregation.
Mr. Clark stated that Mr. Chris Brain will probably inform the jury that any sexual interaction with the women was consensual.
The prosecutor stated that “any capacity to consent” had been “eliminated by the defendant’s domineering nature, his control over their entire lives, and their profound fear of ostracism.”
The purported offences are reported to have occurred between 1981 and 1995.
The trial, anticipated to endure for six to eight weeks, proceeds.
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