Latest news with #GeoffreyBaulcomb
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Telegraph
Former vicar linked to ‘Eunuch Maker' castration cult admits back-street surgery
A former vicar linked to the 'Eunuch Maker' ring performed a back-street surgery on another man's genitals with a pair of scissors. Geoffrey Baulcomb, 79, retired from the historic St Mary the Virgin church in Eastbourne, East Sussex, several years ago, but was still ordained at the time of the offence. A hearing at the Old Bailey heard how Baulcomb was a friend of Marius Gustavson, the imprisoned Norwegian ringleader of an extreme body modification cult operating in the UK. The pair are said to have exchanged around 10,000 messages. On Friday, Baulcomb admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent after using nail scissors to perform a procedure on a man's penis in January 2020. The victim cannot be identified for legal reasons. Baulcomb carried out the unlawful procedure at his home in Filching Road, Eastbourne. He previously admitted seven charges, including distributing an indecent video of a child and making a category A indecent image of a child. Baulcomb admitted making four indecent photos of a child, namely four category B images and making 37 category C indecent images of a child. He admitted three further charges of possessing extreme pornographic images. The charges date between March 4 2020 and Dec 14 2022. The self-styled 'Eunuch Maker' Gustavson mutilated paying customers and streamed it online. The Norwegian, who had his own penis cut off, a nipple removed and his leg frozen so it had to be amputated, was jailed for life last year with a minimum term of 22 years. Police had raided Baulcomb's £25,000 cottage near Eastbourne in December 2022 and found a stash of heroin along with the tranquilliser ketamine. Baulcomb accepted a police caution for possessing the substances and told church officials he had been buying and using drugs, including heroin, 'periodically' for 20 years. The Church of England's disciplinary tribunal had 'utterly rejected' his claim that taking drugs 'assisted him in carrying out his pastoral mission'. Baulcomb was handed a permanent ban from any church position last September. 'Carrying out surgical procedure' Prosecutor Caroline Carberry, KC, previously told the court: 'The images relate to moving images which had been on the 'Eunuch Maker' website. 'Mr Baulcomb is an acquaintance of Marius Gustavson and the evidence discloses over a four-year period he was regularly in touch, exchanging just over 10,000 messages to each other on their mobile phone. 'At the time of his arrest his phone was seized and analysed and as a result of that some material was found which led to this defendant being charged with the offence of section 18 GBH with intent. 'That charge specifically refers to the defendant carrying out a surgical procedure designed to enlarge the opening of the urethra and to use a pair of scissors to do so. 'There is a nine-second video of the procedure being carried out.' Judge Nigel Lickley, KC told Baulcomb on Friday that he would likely face 'a custodial sentence of some length'. He was placed on conditional bail and will be sentenced on Sept 1.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Retired vicar, 79, admits role in 'Eunuch Maker' castration ring after using nail scissors on man's penis and swapping 10,000 messages with ringleader
A retired vicar has today admitted his role in a castration ring with a self-styled 'Eunuch Maker' after he was found using nail scissors on a man's penis. Geoffrey Baulcomb, 79, who was expelled from the Church of England last year by a disciplinary panel, was still ordained at the time of his offences. The 79-year-old today pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent at the Old Bailey, after he was captured enlarging the opening of a man's urethra in a nine-second video of the incident. The footage, which was found on the vicar's mobile phone, is said to have been filmed on January 4, 2020. He was later arrested in December 2022. Baulcomb previously admitted to three counts of making indecent images of a child, namely one Category A image, four Category B images and 37 Category C indecent images. Three further charges against Baulcomb related to possession of extreme pornography, one of which related to eight images of a person performing an act of intercourse with a live or dead unknown animal. Another involved '182 images which portrayed in an explicit and realistic way an act which resulted or was likely to result in serious injury to a person's anus, breasts or genitals and which were grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character.' The images were linked to 'Eunuch Maker' Marius Gustavson's website, who mutilated paying customers and streamed it online. Gustavson, from Norway, who had his own penis cut off, a nipple removed and his leg frozen so it had to be amputated, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years in May 2024. His penis was found in a drawer in his home almost four years after it had been amputated. Judge Nigel Lickley KC today told Baulcomb he would likely face 'a custodial sentence of some length'. He added: 'The sentence will be on September 1. You are required to be here, if you are not here you are likely to be arrested. 'The date may move, things change so keep in touch with your legal advisors. Your bail will be as before - you are free to go today, thank you.' Baulcomb was granted conditional bail, ordering him not to attend any Church of England premises or functions and to have no contact with children under the age of 18. Prosecutor Caroline Carberry said: 'This defendant is not deemed a flight risk by the police in this case. He has been on bail for a really long period of time now.' Baulcomb will be sentenced on September 1. Police raided Baulcomb's £25,000 cottage near Eastbourne in December 2022 and found a stash of heroin along with the tranquilliser ketamine. He accepted a police caution for possessing the substances and told church officials he had been buying and using drugs, including heroin, 'periodically' for 20 years. The Church of England's (CofE) disciplinary tribunal had 'utterly rejected' his claim that taking drugs 'assisted him in carrying out his pastoral mission'. Baulcomb, from Eastbourne, East Sussex, was ordained as a priest in 1970, according to the Church of England website. He retired from the historic St Mary the Virgin church in Eastbourne, East Sussex, several years ago but was still ordained at the time of the offences. The diocese said the Baulcomb's permission to officiate was immediately removed after being contacted by police. A statement said: 'The Diocese wishes to put on record our gratitude for the Metropolitan Police's pro-active approach to information sharing and partnership working, which has enabled us to manage the risks Mr Baulcomb has presented whilst under investigation.'
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Former Sussex vicar admits carrying out surgery with scissors
A former vicar from West Sussex has admitted causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) by using scissors to carry out a surgical Baulcomb, 79, performed the procedure on a man on 4 January, 2020, which was recorded in a nine-second pleaded guilty to one count of causing GBH with intent at the Old Bailey on from Eastbourne, will be sentenced at the same court on 1 September. He worked in Chichester, according to the Church of England had previously admitted to distributing an indecent photo of a child in March 2020 and three counts of making indecent images of children on or before December had also pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing extreme pornographic images, amounting to 195 Nigel Lickley KC granted Baulcomb conditional bail, ordering him not to attend any Church of England premises or functions and to have no contact with children under the age of Caroline Carberry said: "This defendant is not deemed a flight risk by the police in this case."He has been on bail for a really long period of time now."The judge told Baulcomb that the seriousness of the GBH offence meant he would receive "a custodial sentence of some length".Additional reporting by PA Media.
Sky News
2 days ago
- Sky News
Retired vicar admits role in 'Eunuch Maker' extreme body modification ring
A retired Church of England vicar has admitted his role in an extreme body modification ring run by man who called himself the Eunuch Maker. Warning: The following article contains graphic details of extreme physical mutilation Reverend Geoffrey Baulcomb, 79, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent at the Old Bailey after using nail scissors to perform a procedure on man's penis in January 2020. A nine-second video of the incident was found on his mobile phone. He previously admitted seven charges, including possessing extreme pornography and making and distributing images of children on or before 14 December 2022. Prosecutors said some of the material included moving images which had been on the eunuch maker website, run by 47-year-old Norwegian national Marius Gustavson. Gustavson was jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years last year after a court heard he made almost £300,000 through his website, where thousands of users paid to watch procedures, including castrations. Baulcomb was said to have been an "acquaintance" of Gustavson, and the pair exchanged more than 10,000 messages with each other over a four-year period. Judge Nigel Lickley KC released him on conditional bail as he adjourned sentencing to 1 September but warned he faces a prison sentence "of some length". Baulcomb was formerly a vicar at St Mary the Virgin Church in Eastbourne but retired from full-time ministry in the Church of England in 2003. The diocese of Chichester said he applied for "permission to officiate", which allows clergy to officiate at church services in retirement, when he moved to Sussex the following year. Baulcomb was banned for life from exercising his Holy Orders following a tribunal last year, which heard he was issued with a caution after police found crystal meth and ketamine at his home in December 2022. He had claimed experimenting with drugs or allowing his home in Eastbourne to be used for drug taking would "better enable him to relate and minister to people with difficulties as part of his pastoral care". The diocese said the Bishop of Chichester immediately removed his permission to officiate after being contacted by police, and bail conditions prevented him from attending church or entering Church of England premises. "The Diocese wishes to put on record our gratitude for the Metropolitan Police's pro-active approach to information sharing and partnership working, which has enabled us to manage the risks Mr Baulcomb has presented whilst under investigation," a statement said. The Old Bailey heard last year that extreme body modification is linked to a subculture where men become "nullos", short for genital nullification, by having their penis and testicles removed. Gustavson and nine other men have previously admitted their involvement in the eunuch maker ring, which one victim said had a "cult-like" atmosphere. The life-changing surgeries, described as "little short of human butchery" by the sentencing judge, were carried out by people with no medical qualifications, who he had recruited. Prosecutors said there was "clear evidence of cannibalism" as Gustavson - who had his own penis and nipple removed and leg frozen so it needed to be amputated - cooked testicles to eat in a salad. Gustavson, who was said to have been involved in almost 30 procedures, pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm between 2016 and 2022. In interviews from prison, he has told Norwegian broadcaster NRK for a podcast series "Evnukkmakeren" he is "just a very, very kind person who perhaps went a little too far to help people live a better life". Gustavson, who lost an appeal against his sentence earlier this year, said: "What we did, what we perhaps created, what we did, was good and fine. But I think, yes... something might have gone wrong somewhere."
Wales Online
2 days ago
- Wales Online
Former priest used scissors to carry out surgical procedure
Former priest used scissors to carry out surgical procedure Geoffrey Baulcomb pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent (Image: Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA ) A former priest has admitted causing grievous bodily harm while using scissors to carry out a surgical procedure. Geoffrey Baulcomb, 79, was captured on a nine-second video performing the procedure, which involved enlarging the opening of a man's urethra, on January 4, 2020, the Old Bailey previously heard. He was arrested in connection with the incident in December 2022. Baulcomb was ordained as a priest in 1970 and worked in Chichester, West Sussex, according to the Church of England website. The defendant, from Eastbourne, East Sussex, pleaded guilty to one count of causing grievous bodily harm with intent as he appeared in person at the same court on Friday. Wearing a black suit and blue tie, he spoke only to confirm his identity and enter the plea during the brief hearing. Baulcomb previously admitted to distributing an indecent photo of a child in March 2020 and three counts of making indecent images of children on or before December 2022. Article continues below He also pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing extreme pornographic images, amounting to 195 images. Judge Nigel Lickley KC granted Baulcomb conditional bail, ordering him not to attend any Church of England premises or functions and to have no contact with children under the age of 18. Prosecutor Caroline Carberry said: 'This defendant is not deemed a flight risk by the police in this case. Article continues below He has been on bail for a really long period of time now.' The judge told the defendant the seriousness of the GBH offence meant he would receive 'a custodial sentence of some length'. Baulcomb will be sentenced at the same court on September 1.
