Anthony Pierce: Former bishop jailed for historic child abuse
Anthony Pierce, the former bishop of Swansea and Brecon, was jailed for four years and one month on Wednesday.
He had previously pleaded guilty to five counts of indecent assault on a male child under the age of 16.
Swansea Crown Court heard the abuse took place when Pierce was working as a vicar in the city, several years before he became the bishop of the Swansea and Brecon diocese in 1999.
The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was 14 years old at the time.
'Let down and betrayed'
Sentencing, Judge Catherine Richards told the court the defendant "began to groom [the victim] in a manner that is sadly familiar to this court".
"You progressed to sexual abuse in the ways described by the prosecution," she said.
The judge went on to say that there would be people in the wider community who felt "let down and betrayed that a man in your position could behave in such a hypocritical way".
She said the defendant had outlined the impact of the abuse upon him "eloquently and realistically" in his victim personal statement and that he had gone on "to have to deal with the devastating impact of your abuse".
"There is only one person who should have shame for what took place, and that is you," she added.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Fort Pierce City Commission seat vacated by James Taylor may sit empty until 2026
FORT PIERCE — The city plans to hold a special election Nov. 4 to replace City Commissioner James Taylor, who resigned just hours before a special meeting July 28. As the meeting to plan his replacement was called to order, Taylor sat in the St. Lucie County Jail in lieu of $360,000 bond, charged with 24 felony counts related to an alleged explicit internet relationship with a teenage girl. If a runoff is needed after the November election, residents of District 2 could go until early next year without full representation on the City Commission. According to a preliminary plan, which commissioners will have to approve at their Aug. 4 regular meeting, candidate qualifying would run from noon Aug. 15 to noon Aug. 22. The Nov. 4 special election would be followed by a Jan. 20 runoff only if there are more than two candidates and no one receives a majority of the vote. What will a tie vote mean? In the meantime, with a four-member commission, any votes that split 2-2 will fail. The election will be open only to registered voters in District 2, and candidates must have lived in District 2 for at least two years in order to qualify, City Clerk Linda Cox said. By the time they vote Aug. 4, commissioners will have to decide how they want to run the election, which Cox estimated would cost the city about $60,000. At first, commissioners said they would like to see the election run the same as a normal election. However, they later expressed openness to not opening the two precincts with the smallest numbers of registered voters and to opening a precinct for early voting, as both the normal early-voting locations are in District 1. Cox said she would work with Supervisor of Elections Gertrude Walker between now and Aug. 4 to see how those changes would impact the cost. After Commissioner Arnold Gaines asked where the money for the election would come from, saying the City Commission has "fought over every penny" during the ongoing budget process, Cox said that has yet to be determined. City Manager Richard Chess said the cost may be able to be split over multiple fiscal years, while Commissioner Michael Broderick suggested using emergency funds, likening the situation to a natural disaster. "This is a disaster," Broderick said. Presenting a united front Commissioners presented a united front, saying the city will continue to conduct its business. "We love this city and this city will not be defined by the actions of one person," Mayor Linda Hudson said. More: James Taylor, from jail, resigns ahead of Fort Pierce City Commission meeting about him More: What to know about City Commissioner James Taylor, his arrest, Fort Pierce city reaction Taylor, whose resignation is effective Aug. 2, is accused of conducting a years-long relationship with a 14-year-old girl from Evanston, Illinois, over the private messaging app Snapchat. That relationship, which local sheriff's investigators believe began when the girl was 12, included Taylor sending and asking for nude images, according to investigators. Police in Evanston were first tipped off to the alleged relationship by the girl's mother in August 2024, while Taylor was in the midst of his campaign for City Commission. Taylor — who won that race with nearly 62% of the vote — was first on St. Lucie County investigators' radar in May, when they were contacted by Evanston police. Taylor faces six counts of transmission of materials harmful to minors by electronic equipment; six counts of transfer or display of obscenity to a minor; six counts of harmful communication to a minor and lewd computer solicitation; four counts of lewd computer solicitation of a child; and two counts of solicitation of transmission of child pornography by electronic device or equipment. His arraignment — when he would enter a plea on those charges — is not yet scheduled. Minutes after the meeting ended — as attendees, staff and the remaining four commissioners filed into the City Hall parking garage — the nameplate marking Taylor's assigned parking spot was being taken down with a drill. Wicker Perlis is TCPalm's Watchdog Reporter for St. Lucie County. You can reach him at This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: James Taylor special election in Fort Pierce planned for November Solve the daily Crossword
USA Today
15 hours ago
- USA Today
TikToker facing charges after pranking workers at Chipotle, Pep Boys: police
A Phoenix area content creator is facing criminal charges after authorities say he went too far pranking multiple businesses over a four-month period. Heston Cobb, 21, known on social media as Heston James, was arrested on July 23 and charged with one count of third degree burglary, two counts of criminal impersonation, five counts of disorderly conduct and five counts of criminal trespassing, the Tempe Police Department announced in a press release. Police called the alleged crimes 'serious viral pranks that disrupted several local businesses.' What did the pranks entail? Between March and July, Cobb and a group of other men targeted businesses in Tempe, about 11 miles southeast of Phoenix, police said in the press release. The group went into stores such as Pep Boys, Jiffy Lube and Chipotle dressed as employees. Once inside, the men allegedly began disrupting businesses by entering employee-only areas. When they were asked to leave, they refused. Cobb, later identified as the leader of the group, told the others to start working, police said. The videos were uploaded to Cobb's social media pages. While his TikTok page has been deleted, he has an Instagram account with 1.2 million followers as of July 28, as well as a YouTube page with nearly 79,000 subscribers as of July 28. 'The videos garnered millions of views and potentially generated large amounts of money,' police said. Cobb recognized in previous videos In a compilation video titled "Top 5 Heston James moments," Cobb can be seen at a Target store pretending to be on the phone. "Go ahead and uh, bring the guys in," he said as a security worker tried to get him out of the store. In the next clip, a group of men dressed in red, as if they worked at Target, marched into the store, and Cobb directed them to "get to work." "Take over the lanes,' Cobb said. 'I need people at self-checkout." Another clip in the compilation shows a store employee telling Cobb he recognizes him. 'You look a lot like a guy who goes around recording videos of himself screaming in stores,' the employee said to Cobb, referencing another type of video Cobb had previously posted. In his other videos, he goes into stores yelling profanity. One clip he shared on his Instagram page on July 4 showed a group pulling up to a mechanic's shop in a white van and rushing inside. As of July 28, the video has over 1 million likes. 'Diligent police work' Police were able to connect the most recent retail pranks to each other once they began happening more often in Tempe, they said in their statement. 'Diligent police work connected 21-year-old Heston Cobb to the social media platforms as the leader of these pranks,' Tempe police added. Cobb captioned multiple videos "Bro pulled up with his own army of workers." Once viewers got wind of his arrest, they've been piling on comments. "Bro had a full page full of evidence," wrote one user on July 25. Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@
USA Today
18 hours ago
- USA Today
New docuseries explores Ruby Franke's 'twisted dynamic' with Jodi Hildebrandt: See trailer
Viewers will learn more about the "twisted dynamic" between infamous mommy vlogger Ruby Franke and business partner Jodi Hildebrandt in a new docuseries from Investigation Discovery. "Ruby & Jodi: A Cult of Sin and Influence," set to premiere in early September, combines exclusive interviews, commentary, as well as extensive archival and police footage to offer "unprecedented insight" into Hildebrandt's rise to power within the Mormon community through her life improvement program ConneXions and how it led her to Franke. The show, specifically, will chronicle the women's "doomed partnership" and the "dangerous, disturbing results of unchecked influence to reveal the physical and psychological impact of their abusive actions." Franke, who ran a popular YouTube channel called "8 Passengers" with her family, and Hildebrandt, Franke's counselor-turned-business partner, were arrested and convicted of child abuse after two of Franke's six children were found abused and malnourished. "The docuseries charts the magnetic connection between the two and how the melding of Franke's strict family values with Hildebrandt's controversial beliefs created a microcosm of control, manipulation, and brutality that led to the devastating emotional and physical abuse of the Franke children," Investigation Discovery said in a news release. Here's what we know about "Ruby & Jodi: A Cult of Sin and Influence," including how to watch it. Who is Ruby Franke? And what did she do? Ruby Franke, 43, is a former mommy vlogger who lived in Springville, Utah, with her husband Kevin and their six children. The couple ran a popular and now-defunct YouTube channel called "8 Passengers," which showed snippets of the family's daily life online to an audience of millions beginning in early 2015. Franke later became the subject of widespread criticism online for her parenting choices, particularly her discipline methods that some considered borderline abusive. The pushback intensified when Franke co-founded ConneXions with Hildebrandt, a family counselor turned business partner. Many found that the "parenting style" the pair promoted was extreme and harsh. The frequent inclusion of what has been called homophobic, racist and transphobic comments did not help their popularity. In one often-referenced example, Franke told viewers that children do not deserve, and should not receive, unconditional love. Both women were arrested and initially charged with six counts of second-degree aggravated child abuse in September 2023 after two of Franke's six children were found abused and malnourished, the office of Eric Clarke, the Washington County Attorney in St. Georiga, Utah, announced at the time. They both pleaded guilty in December 2023 to four of the six counts as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, USA TODAY previously reported. Franke and Hildebrandt were sentenced to prison time ranging from four to 60 years in February 2024 and are currently serving their respective sentences. What will be in 'Ruby & Jodi: A Cult of Sin and Influence'? The four-part docuseries "underscores Hildebrandt's manipulative and dangerous tendencies and how when combined with Franke's strict family values, they created an environment rife with manipulation, control, and abuse," according to Investigation Discovery. "Ruby & Jodi: A Cult of Sin and Influence" does feature "extensive interviews with former clients." Jessi Hildebrandt, Hildebrandt's niece, and others, including local journalists as well as current and former members of the Mormon faith, will also offer "additional and exclusive insight" throughout the docuseries, the TV network said. Jason Sarlanis, president of Investigation Discovery, said in a statement, "The disturbing alliance between Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt has captivated and horrified the public, and this docuseries peels back the layers of that relationship through exclusive interviews with family members, former clients, and experts to explore the broader implications of family vlogging and the devastating impact of family abuse." Watch 'Ruby & Jodi: A Cult of Sin and Influence' trailer How to watch 'Ruby & Jodi: A Cult of Sin and Influence' The four-part Investigation Discovery docuseries will premiere over two nights, Sept. 1 and Sept. 2, at 9 p.m. ET/midnight PT. Episodes will be available to stream on HBO Max.
