Rev Canon Charles Richardson

[Monkey]

colville09 Wrote:

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> I only had a brief contact with the Rev but he

> obviously was loved by his parishioners. He also

> seemed to add much to our ED community. Maybe

> people should reflect more on the motives,

> exploitation of distress and morality of The Daily

> Mail before they start getting hysterical. There

> is something very sick about that rag and its sad

> readers.

What's the Mail done wrong this time?

[Scruffy Mummy]

Charming priests and teachers are not strangers. Most abuse is done by people on a position of trust - be that family members or teachers or priests.

[Concerned Parish 2]

I go to St John's and I am glad this has been published.

I do not particularly like the DM but at least this information is out in the open after the complete silence and lack of openness from the church authorities.

I actually thought the article was informative and measured considering it's content.

[Nicholas Spears]

Actually I'm reflecting on the motives of the seemingly many people who think the apparent suicide of a vicar police caught with child porn should be kept quiet...

Why have so many people been anxious to keep this a secret?

colville09 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I only had a brief contact with the Rev but he

> obviously was loved by his parishioners. He also

> seemed to add much to our ED community. Maybe

> people should reflect more on the motives,

> exploitation of distress and morality of The Daily

> Mail before they start getting hysterical. There

> is something very sick about that rag and its sad

> readers.

[Huggers]

I think the only people keeping this a secret has been the C of E church hierarchy. everyone else has been in the dark for months- until today.

[Sally81]

I too wonder why so many have been anxious to keep this quiet. But colville09 your statement below is utterly ridiculous and frankly worrying. I am glad that the mail has reported this, in (albeit an uncharacteristically) measured way. This man seemingly enjoyed watching videos of children being abused. Until this was published I felt very very sad that this man had been driven to kill himself and wondered what it could possibly be that was so bad. Now, honestly, I am very glad that my son, who will most likely be attending St John's and St Clements from September, will not be exposed to him. It makes my blood run cold to think of it.

-------------------------------------------------------

> I only had a brief contact with the Rev but he

> obviously was loved by his parishioners. He also

> seemed to add much to our ED community. Maybe

> people should reflect more on the motives,

> exploitation of distress and morality of The Daily

> Mail before they start getting hysterical. There

> is something very sick about that rag and its sad

> readers.

[Penguin68]

It is worthwhile pointing out that neither The Mail, nor the police they reported, suggest that the Canon made any moves from watching films to any personal real life inappropriate contact with children locally - so it seems likely (unless clear evidence comes to the contrary) that children in the local school and choir had not been put at risk. Nor, if this is so, would any suspicion necessarily have been raised by those who knew and worked with him - the whistle seems to have been blown on his on-line activities and that from abroad. Those who view child abuse create the market for its continued filming, etc. so his guilt is not lessened by this, but those who have had children who were in social contact with him should not necessarily be too alarmed by his past (and pastoral) roles.

[Sally81]

Totally agree Penguin68 and I appreciate he does not seem to have been accused of harming any children himself (though viewing them being harmed is no better). I am sure no children at the school or in the local area were at risk. However, I am still glad he is now out of the area- though I would not necessarily wish anyone dead and the whole situation is sad.

[edcam]

It's a shame these revelations weren't out there before his memorial service. I feel for the poor people who were fooled by him and attended.

[Salsaboy]

I think that the apparent hiding of this case by the church is typical of the attitude of that organisation; that nothing bad can be done by members of the clergy, despite repeated examples of it. Otherwise why would they hide it?

I agree with Penguin. His guilt, and you have to assume that he was guilty if images were found on his computer, is not lessened by the fact that no known physical contact with children was ever made. He viewed something that is abhorrent and so encouraged it.

I'm surprised that this time it's the church of England. I thought that it was always the RC's that indulged in this. Shame he wasn't an RC priest - I always understood that suicide is a mortal sin and he would be burning in hell right now and deservedly so.

[Loz]

edcam Wrote:

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> It's a shame these revelations weren't out there before his memorial service. I feel for the poor

> people who were fooled by him and attended.

You mean all those people whom he helped and comforted over the years? I'd like to hope they were grown up enough to separate the good stuff he did for them over the years from his personal issues.

[MrBen]

edcam Wrote:

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> It's a shame these revelations weren't out there

> before his memorial service. I feel for the poor

> people who were fooled by him and attended.

On so many levels.This is a pretty shitty comment.

[indya]

Salsaboy Wrote:

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> I think that the apparent hiding of this case by

> the church is typical of the attitude of that

> organisation; that nothing bad can be done by

> members of the clergy, despite repeated examples

> of it. Otherwise why would they hide it?

> I agree with Penguin. His guilt, and you have to

> assume that he was guilty if images were found on

> his computer, is not lessened by the fact that no

> known physical contact with children was ever

> made. He viewed something that is abhorrent and so

> encouraged it.

>

> I'm surprised that this time it's the church of

> England. I thought that it was always the RC's

> that indulged in this. Shame he wasn't an RC

> priest - I always understood that suicide is a

> mortal sin and he would be burning in hell right

> now and deservedly so.

Admin - maybe you should take this thread down. Charles has a family.

[Zebedee Tring]

Whatever one thinks of Canon Richardson's behaviour, suggesting that he should be burning in hell is thoroughly offensive. Some of the comments on this thread are OTT. This in no way condones what he is supposed to have done

[buddug]

All those people he helped and comforted? You mean behind his mask, I presume. Meanwhile, he was viewing - and worse, sadistically getting off on - watching the real-life torture, physically and emotionally, of children.

As to 'separate the good stuff from his personal issues'? Jesus! This is exactly the attitude of the C of E, which said, "We are all flawed human beings..." Yes, we are all 'flawed', but not to the extent of torturing little children, whether directly, or indirectly - as this man did - by encouraging the committing of these vile inhuman acts and the proliferation of them. No 'good' anyone could do could compensate for this.

[Loz]

Agreed. Salsaboy's post was really quite appalling.

[Concerned Parish 2]

Penguin, I hope you are right. I can?t help thinking that although they don?t have any allegations or filming they can place here, it?s certainly not unprecedented for those who watch such footage to also be involved in abuse and grooming. Only at the end of last year there was a paediatrician, Myles Bradbury from Cambridge who was identified by this very same project, admitted to filming his patients and sexual assault.

I very much hope that Fr Charles was only watching but the almost veneration with which he has been treated accompanied by the wall of silence from the church would make it very difficult for any local victim to come forward?

I am appreciative of the fact that he clearly ended up in a bad place and knew what he was doing was very wrong. I feel like I am grieving for the person I thought he was (the lovely man described above!). However, I cannot get the thought out of my head of what he may have been doing before he came into church and blessed my children at the altar rail! Am I wrong to feel like this and to find it very hard to take the good with the bad?

My biggest problem is with the church. This has been hushed up, probably to protect his family and perhaps even us from this hurt. Have the national events of the past few years still not sunk in, that institutional silence instigated and maintained by an establishment cannot end well?

I hope that God can show him mercy but I also pray for healing for his victims.

[newboots]

Scruffy Mummy - how can you separate downloading "child porn" as you call it, from child abuse? They are one and the same thing. It is not "child porn" anyway it is images of child abuse. To purchase those videos is to be part of the process. I feel every sympathy for all the people who will have been shocked and saddened by this news because they knew or liked or admired the Rev, but really we should be reserving our sympathy for the children who have suffered so dreadfully.

[buddug]

To have committed this evil while purportedly being a representative of Christ on earth, is the greatest betrayal and hypocrisy of all. And yes, anyone who still calls it 'porn' needs to have a word with themselves. It is torture. And as to those bleating about burning in hell, those poor children in these godawful videos and pictures, are themselves living a daily hell, one that no one, never mind a child, should ever experience.

[edcam]

>

> You mean all those people whom he helped and

> comforted over the years? I'd like to hope they

> were grown up enough to separate the good stuff he

> did for them over the years from his personal

> issues.

Which counts for nothing now that we know the truth.

[edcam]

MrBen Wrote:

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> edcam Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > It's a shame these revelations weren't out

> there

> > before his memorial service. I feel for the

> poor

> > people who were fooled by him and attended.

>

>

> On so many levels.This is a pretty shitty comment.

Really? Why? He was charlatan and therefore has taken advantage of people's goodwill and faith. I think that's the shitty thing really, don't you?

[hellosailor]

Loz Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> edcam Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > It's a shame these revelations weren't out there

> before his memorial service. I feel for the poor

> > people who were fooled by him and attended.

>

> You mean all those people whom he helped and

> comforted over the years? I'd like to hope they

> were grown up enough to separate the good stuff he

> did for them over the years from his personal

> issues.

I don't think watching videos of children being sexually and violently abused can be classified as 'personal issues'. And it negates the good stuff for most people I'm afraid, and not because those people aren't 'grown up.'

[buddug]

Exactly, Edcam - and hello sailor. You've hit the nail on the head. He may well have been tormented by his twisted desires, though I doubt it as he didn't end it all until his sickness was discovered. He feared the consequences of that, not what he had become. A coward too, in other words. I do feel for his family - it's not in any way their fault. They will move on because of that. And I'm sure they share our opprobrium, amid their grief and shock.

[Sally81]

I am utterly shocked at those of you trying to push his actions aside as 'personal

Issues'. You think the impulse to view children being abused is merely a 'personal issue'? I'm not sure you understand what he was doing?? He knew it was wrong, so wrong in fact he appears to have killed himself. I'm too angry and disgusted to write a coherent response but admin, yes, perhaps this thread should be removed as, if it is offensive to anyone, it is offensive to victims of child sex abuse and others affected by it.

[je-suis-concerned]

Jimmy Savile also did much of good in the community.

These people suck in those around them. We are all victims.