A former Church of England priest has been jailed for 12 years for torturing and sexually abusing two schoolboys in the 1980s and 90s.

Jonathan Graves, 60, of Eastbourne, abused the boys whilst he was the vicar at St Luke's Church in Stone Cross, Sussex.

During his summing up Judge David Rennie called Graves "secretive, cynical, manipulative and twisted".

With an "overwhelming need to seek punishment and humiliation", Graves used the children as "play things" to satisfy his "perverted sexual desires", he added.

He was convicted on Thursday, 14 September 2017 at Hove Crown Court of 12 offences dating between 1987 and 1992.

 

Dominic is an experienced criminal practitioner whose practice principally concerns serious and large-scale organised crime. He is a Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Grade 4 prosecutor and is on the CPS rape and serious sexual offences list. Dominic is ranked in Chambers and Partners, as a leading individual in crime at the London Bar.