Priest who rubbed paint on girls’ bodies jailed for a year

A CATHOLIC priest whose sexual abuse of seven schoolgirls in Britain was uncovered 30 years later after two women shared memories of him on the Friends Reunited website was jailed for one year yesterday.

Fr Peter Carr, 73, rubbed stage-paint onto the naked bodies of the pupils before school plays between 1969 and 1975.

He was exposed after the two women, now in their 40s swapped online recollections about the clergyman’s intimate application of the make-up. They complained to police who found that other girls were also abused at the boys’ school in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, after being invited there to join in with productions.

Jailing Carr yesterday at Gloucester Crown Court, Judge Martin Picton told him that he had done the church “much damage” and had left his victims feeling “degraded and humiliated”.

Father Carr, whose duties included teaching drama, was convicted of eight counts of indecently assaulting six different girls, after a trial last December.

Carr, a member of the Salesian order, then pleaded guilty last week to two counts of indecently assaulting a seventh girl, who came forward later.

The jury heard Carr put on two plays — Sinbad the Sailor and Tom Thumb — which he said required full-body make-up to be put on. During rehearsals he smeared paint over the naked girls, sometimes when they were alone with him, although he claimed he “only wanted to put on good show”.

One of the first two victims, now a 49-year-old singer and osteopath, said Carr had become a “monster in her mind” during all that time and she had never told of the abuse.

Prosecutor Ian Dixey told the court yesterday: “They were torn between desire to take part in productions which they enjoyed and the discomfort of having to be totally naked before a strange man.”

After reports of the case appeared last week three other women have come forward making identical complaints, Mr Dixey said.

But no further charges will follow because the sentence would not be affected.

In mitigation, Noel Lucas, defending, said yesterday: “The plays were a huge success for a number of reasons. The girls in them loved being in the plays and returned year on year. The public who watched them regarded them extremely highly.

“They were praised in local press, but the most significant feature is that they inspired many of them in later life. One prosecution witness described herself as professional singer.

“One defence witnesses who remains loyal to Father Carr is a playwright and lecturer in drama... Whatever bad things can be said some very good things came out of this as well.”

Carr, now of Orbel Street, Battersea, south London, was also made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order (SOPO) to prevent him working or living with children.

Judge Picton told Carr custody was the only adequate sentence and paid tribute to the courage of the women giving evidence.

Carr was a member of the Salesian Order, founded by Don Bosco in the 19th century to help poor young boys. His future as a priest is “subject to an inquiry”, according to his superiors.