CHRISTOPHER HILL SENTENCED IN ESSEX FOR CHURCH-BASED INDECENT ASSAULTS

In March 1999, Christopher Hill, a 43-year-old man from Northampton, was sentenced for a series of indecent assaults that took place in Essex during the 1970s and early 1980s. Hill, who was a technical director at a computer company residing on Thornton Drive, Northampton, admitted to five charges of indecent assault involving three boys between June 1973 and 1984.

During the court proceedings at Chelmsford Crown Court, it was revealed that Hill often wore a wooden cross around his neck while committing the assaults within church premises. The court heard that he exploited his membership in local church communities in mid-Essex to target vulnerable boys.

One of the victims, now in his twenties, testified that he still has nightmares and fears crosses due to his experience. He stated, “I still have nightmares about what happened. I can’t get it out of my mind. I get scared at the sight of a cross.”

Prosecutor Craig Rush explained that the victims ranged in age from four to nine years old at the time of the assaults. One of the victims was the son of a man Hill was lodging with, and the abuse occurred while Hill showed the child his computer. Another boy, aged nine, was assaulted after Hill fostered a friendship with another family.

The court highlighted that Hill’s actions were facilitated by his involvement in church communities, and one of the assaults was notably marked by his wearing of a wooden cross on a leather strap, which the victim remembered vividly.

Upon confronting Hill, police recorded his remorseful statement: “The damage I have done devastates me.”

Judge Jonathan Haworth sentenced Hill to six years in prison and ordered him to remain on the sex offenders register for life. Commenting on the case, the judge stated, “The courts will not tolerate this sort of behavior,” emphasizing how Hill exploited his church membership to abuse the boys.