A sex predator priest who led a 'cult' church service featuring scantily clad women and strobe lighting has been found guilty of rape and attacking members of his congregation.
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who → lead → congregation
Chris Brain, 69, was convicted by jurors of one count of rape and four counts of sexual assault relating to three women who attended his Nine O'Clock Service (NOS) in Sheffield in the 1980s and 1990s.
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who → convict → 1980s
Brain used his leadership position in NOS to molest women, including when ordering them to give him massages at his home.
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Brain → use → home
His victims described how they felt 'pressurised' into doing what Brain told them because he was revered as 'the mouthpiece of God'.
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he → describe → God
Another associate compared Brain with 'Jimmy Savile at the BBC' because NOS's popularity with young people made him the Church of England's 'golden boy'.
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him → compare → England
Brain denied all allegations and said either the sexual acts were consensual or that they did not happen.
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they → deny → allegations
But the Crown Prosecution Service said following his conviction today: 'This was not consent.
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This → say → conviction
It was forced submission.
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It → force → ?
He is now facing jail having already been convicted of 17 counts of indecent assault on nine women.
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He → face → women
Her Honour Judge Freya Newbery will sentence Brain at a later date.
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Judge → sentence → date
Chris Brain has been on trial at Inner London Crown Court accused of sexual offences including rape, having already been convicted of a string of attacks on women
Prosecutor Tim Clark KC described how the movement held 'vibrant' services, including live bands and light shows, but became a cult dominated by Brain.
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movement → accuse → Brain
The priest even persuaded some of his congregation – often young, attractive women wearing lingerie or revealing clothing – to join his 'homebase' team and effectively 'look after' his needs.
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some → wear → needs
This included catering to his wife, Lynn, and their baby daughter.
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This → include → wife
But he said members of his close circle were often forced to give up their wages to the 'common purse', while two young newlyweds were even persuaded to sell their house and donate the proceeds to the cause.
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newlyweds → say → cause
Others repeatedly spoke of being cut off from their family and friends at Brain's behest.
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Others → speak → behest
Mr Clark told jurors: 'NOS presented itself as a progressive force for good.
'
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NOS → tell → good
In truth, NOS became a closed and controlled group which the defendant dominated.
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defendant → become → which
He (Brain) abused his position first as a leader and later became an ordained priest, and he used that position to sexually assault a staggering number of women from his congregation.'
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he → abuse → congregation
Brain, now 69, pictured in his heyday as the head of the Nine O'Clock Service - a late-night church service compared to a nightclub experience
He said the Church of England initially viewed NOS as a 'stunning success story'.
It appeared 'ground-breaking,' he said, because the high-energy services were 'visually stunning' and were popular with young people, many of whom were scantily dressed, he said.
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he → picture → whom
The prosecutor said Brain was 'the central figure in a cult, he decided the rules, he designed the punishments'.
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he → say → punishments
Mr Clark said Brain was aware that the women in his close circle 'feared ostracisation more than anything'.
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women → say → anything
Prosecutor Mr Clark said: 'The Crown will submit that the defendant knew, and you can be sure he knew, that all these women did not perform sexual acts with him willingly or consensually.
'
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women → say → him
But rather, were submitting to acts which, but for the situation the defendant had created, would never have happened.'
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defendant → submit → situation
He added: 'Any capacity they (the complainants) had to consent had been removed by the domineering nature of the defendant, by his control over their entire lives and by their absolute terror of being ostracised if they did not submit.'
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they → add → terror
The court heard how some women said they were 'groomed' by Brain, and that 'no-one was able to stand up to' him.
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one → hear → him
None of the women can be identified for legal reasons.
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None → identify → reasons
Another complainant said that Brain was a 'man of God' whom she could not question, and that she was 'terrified' of him.
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she → say → him
One woman described how she was 'absolutely terrified' when Brain forced her to strip naked while she massaged him and he fondled her breasts.
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he → describe → breasts
Giving evidence from behind a screen, the woman told jurors at his trial: 'I don't feel I had the choice (to say no).
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I → give → choice
'My brain was frozen, he (Brain) was telling me how to think, he used God to, I suppose, mess with my mind.
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I → tell → mind
'Because everyone else around me was telling me how wonderful he was, he was the mouthpiece of God, what he was doing was in my best interests.'
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doing → tell → interests
Asked to reflect on her overriding experiences with Brain, she said: 'If I could turn the clock back and never have met the guy, I would want that.
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I → ask → that
'Because my response to what's happened to me, my experience being on the receiving end of a man like Chris Brain is I would never like it to happen to anybody.
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it → happen → anybody
'I was treated appallingly.
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I → treat → ?
It was only because I've got a very strong mind that I didn't buckle under, really.'
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I → get → mind
At his ordination in 1991, large sums of money were spent on robes for Brain to wear which had been worn by actor Robert De Niro in 1986 film The Mission, the court heard.
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court → spend → film
The prosecutor said that Brain was confronted by members of the church in the 1990s and told it was believed he had abused up to 40 women.
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he → say → women
But Brain replied: 'I thought it was more.'
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it → reply → ?
Brain told jurors he might have been a 'hypocrite' but denied sexually abusing women.
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he → tell → women
He also denied NOS was a cult, with him as its leader.
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NOS → deny → leader
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
