September 2017 Paedophile priest sentenced to 12 years A paedophile priest has today been sentenced to 12 years Jonathan Graves, known as Father Jonathan, was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for a series of sex and cruelty offences against two boys in East Sussex while he was an Anglican priest. Graves, 60, of Jervis Avenue, Eastbourne, who was a Church of England priest at the time of the offences, was sentenced at Brighton Crown Court, having been convicted the previous Thursday at Hove Crown Court after a nine-day trial. Graves was convicted of 12 sexual offences, against two boys known to him more than 15 years ago, while he was priest at St Luke’s Church at Stone Cross in the Diocese of Chichester. He was sentenced to eight years for two offences of indecent assault on a boy: two offences of indecency with the same boy and two offences of cruelty against that boy. Graves also was also sentenced to four years three offences of indecent assault, and three of cruelty against another boy. He was also be a registered sex offender for life and was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) to last until further court notice, severely restricting his access to children Former Eastbourne priest found guilty of sex abuse A priest has been found guilty of 12 counts of historic sex abuse and child cruelty. Jonathan Graves, a former clergyman at St Luke’s Church at Stone Cross, stood trial at Hove Crown Court after he was charged with 17 counts of abuse dating back to the 1980s. After the nine-day hearing, the jury convicted Graves, pictured, of 12 sexual offences – including indecent assault, gross indecency and child cruelty – against two boys he knew while he was a Church of England priest. He was cleared of five other counts including four against the boys and an allegation he indecently assaulted a 50-year-old woman in 2002. The 60-year-old, of Jervis Avenue, Eastbourne, was released on bail and will be sentenced on Monday.