June 2010 14 months in prison for Powys vicar charged with assaulting girl A FORMER vicar from Beguildy has been jailed for 14 months at Merthyr Crown Court for a two-year reign of sex abuse on a schoolgirl. Former Reverend Richard Hart, 60, pleaded guilty to eight charges of indecent attacks on the girl between the ages of nine and eleven. Shamed Hart was already in prison for have more than 56,000 images of child pornography – but was due to be released this month. Prosecutor Ieuan Morris said: “What made these offences worse was his position as an ordained priest and vicar of the Church in Wales. “This case respresents another aspects of his previous offending in relation to children. He has already pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children. He collected and stockpiled an abundance of indecent photographs for his own gratification.” Mr Morris told Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court how the 56,000 images “frankly defies comprehension.” He said: “He had a deep-seated and prurient interest in children and a fixation with stories of fantasies.” Hart admitted one charge of gross indecency by encouraging the girl to touch him. Prosecutor Ieuan Morris told how he denied five other charges against the girl but he would not face a trial. John Ryan, mitigating, said Mr Hart had two autistic sons which required a lot of attention. Judge Peter Haywood said: “These offences came to light after an extremely frank admission from you.” Rev Hart and his wife were respectable pillars of the community in the village of Beguildy, where he was also chairman of the governors of the local primary school. But Hart admitted collecting the paedophile pictures “like a magpie” over more than 17 years in the village vicarage. A court heard his wife knew he collected paedophile pictures of children and she told police the pair looked at them in their bedroom. Mother-of-five Julie, 41, told police: “We occasionally looked at images of teenage girls, sometimes leading to sexual intercourse.” He had been a vicar in the area for more than 20 years but was stripped of his duties in the Church in Wales after his sex crimes were discovered. September 2008 Paedophile vicar jailed for three-and-a-half years A PAEDOPHILE vicar who collected nearly 57,000 indecent images of children has been jailed for three-and-a-half years. The Reverend Richard Hart, 59, admitted 12 charges of making indecent images of children, four of taking indecent images and five of possessing images on his computer. He had been living close to two primary schools in Whopshott Avenue, Horsell, before being remanded in custody following his guilty pleas. Hart, who was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday, admitted collecting the child pornography “like a magpie” over more than 17 years in the village vicarage in Beguildy, near Knighton, Mid Wales. The court heard that his wife Julie, a mother of five, knew about the images and looked at them with her husband in their bedroom. She told police: “We occasionally looked at images of teenage girls, sometimes leading to sexual intercourse.” The pair were respectable pillars of the community in the Welsh village, where Hart was also chairman of governors at the local primary school. Ieuan Morris, prosecuting, said: “Over a significant series of time from 1991 for some 17 years, he collected an abundance of indecent photos and downloaded them onto his home computer. “In total he had 56,806 pornographic images of children aged between four and 15 years. “It is an amount that defies comprehension, downloaded for the purpose of sexual gratification.” When asked by police why he did it, Hart replied: “It was one of those things. Once you start there’s this magpie instinct in some of us and you just keep collecting don’t you?” Cardiff Crown Court heard his wife was cautioned by police for possession of photos at category 1, the least serious level. She had worked part-time at the school where her husband was chair of governors, but has now been banned from working with children. Mrs Hart told police: “It wasn’t anyone else’s business if parents were happy to have their children on the internet in this manner. “It was a matter for them and no-one else.” The court heard their five children – aged between five and 17 – have now been put into foster care. In sentencing Hart, Judge Michael Burr said: “Some of the images were taken by you of very young girls entrusted to your care in your capacity as the local vicar. “The girls at the time were very young, and because of their innocence were completely unaware of your sexual interest in them. “But now they are adults they are appalled at the breach of trust.” Hart was also put on the sex offenders’ register, disqualified from working with children and put under a sexual offences prevention order for 10 years. Hart has been suspended from his duties with the Church in Wales since being arrested.