Ampleforth College monk found guilty of abusing pupils

BBC News

19-05-2025

A monk who admitted having crushes on adolescent boys has been found guilty of sexually abusing two pupils at a North Yorkshire public school.Former housemaster Michael James Callaghan, 71, worked at Ampleforth College, a prestigious private Catholic boarding school which charges about £40,000 a year for tuition.Teesside Crown Court heard his offences took place between 1994 and 2013.Callaghan, of Moortown, Leeds, was found guilty of one count of sexual assault related to a 17-year-old pupil and 12 charges of indecent assault connected to a pupil aged between 14 and 18.
The court heard how Callaghan, who was known as Father James, groomed and repeatedly indecently assaulted one boy over three years in the 1990s. He sexually assaulted a 17-year-old in 2013 by squeezing his bottom during a hug.Jurors were told he "ingratiated himself" with the first victim by giving him cigarettes and buying him gifts.
'It wasn't right'
The complainant told police the "sexual bit" of their relationship had started when he was under 16, with Callaghan kissing him.He said Callaghan would ask to meet him at different locations, including guest rooms at the school.The complainant said in his police interview that Callaghan would "take on the role of a boy I had a crush on" and they would kiss and simulate sex, telling officers he "hated the sexual bit of it" and realised as an adult it "wasn't right".He told police: "He had been grooming me for three years. There's a difference between welcoming someone's affections and the other things that were going on in that room."The defendant admitted having some sexual contact with the boy but claimed it was consensual and only after he turned 16, telling jurors the relationship was "unusual but not criminal".But the prosecution said it "was not consent given freely by someone who had a real choice".
In his closing speech to jurors, prosecutor Mark McKone KC said: "The defendant is massively watering down what he did."He is trying to put a gentle gloss on something very sinister indeed."Mr McKone said both victims were "still struggling now" with what he did.The trial heard that Callaghan had confessed to a doctor in 1990 that he had crushes on "a number of boys" at a previous school, but "by and large had managed to control himself".A letter from the doctor said: "When I first saw him he was rushing after adolescent boys he saw in the street."The court was told Callaghan went to see the same doctor again in 1993 and said he was having "more difficulty in controlling the sexual side of his life".
In 2018, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse found there had been a "culture of acceptance of abusive behaviour" at Ampleforth College.Education watchdog Ofsted graded the college as "good" in an inspection in late 2023.In 2024, a Charity Commission inquiry concluded children had been exposed to the risk of sexual abuse.The commission started an inquiry into the two trusts responsible for the running of Catholic private school Ampleforth College and neighbouring Ampleforth Abbey.The report found, external "significant weaknesses" in the safeguarding, governance and management of the St Laurence Educational Trust (SLET) and the Ampleforth Abbey Trust (AAT).Judge Richard Clews bailed Callaghan until his sentencing in June, and told him: "These are serious offences involving a considerable breach of trust."It is highly likely the only realistic sentence available to me will be immediate imprisonment."
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