Child abuse priest gets two-year community order

A priest and former school chaplain has been given a two-year community order after admitting the sexual abuse of two schoolboys more than 40 years ago.

Edwards Phillips-Smith, 76, pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting an 11-year-old boy and inciting him to commit an act of gross indecency in his flat at St Peter's Collegiate School in Wolverhampton between 1978 and 1980.

He had also admitted to indecently assaulting a second boy under 14, and inciting him to commit an act of gross indecency in Brewood, Staffordshire, between 1982 and 1983.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard the defendant, who had previously served time in prison for sexually abusing schoolboys, was dying of cancer.

Phillips-Smith, who now lives in Essex, was sentenced in January 2024 to 32 months in prison after admitting sexually abusing St Peter's schoolboys at his Brewood home in the 1980s.

The priest, known to children as Father Eddie, was released on licence in May 2025.

• This story contains details of the evidence heard in court, which readers may find distressing.

Prosecution counsel Andrew Wallace told the court on Monday that subsequent media coverage of the 2024 case had led to the two additional complainants coming forward.

The first victim was 12 or 13 years old and also a pupil at St Peter's at the time of his abuse.

He went to Phillips-Smith's school accommodation because the "cool and trendy teacher" had a Scalextric set he was excited to see, Wallace said.

After a time playing with the set on the floor, the defendant had become "irritated" and told the child he had something else to show him in his bedroom.

The boy followed the priest into the room, where Phillips-Smith undressed him and lay next to him on his bed, before assaulting him and encouraging him to perform a sex act.

He then asked the complainant to follow him to the bathroom to watch him masturbate, the court heard.

The priest later tried to encourage his victim to join him on a barge trip, telling him he could attend for free if he shared his cabin, but the boy declined.

In a victim impact statement read by Wallace, the survivor said he had struggled with paranoia, anxiety and a degree of post-traumatic stress, suffered "dark dreams" and, as a person of faith, been "deprived of the sanctuary and comfort" he should feel in places of worship.

He said the "selfish and repulsive crime" had led to him to "suffer in silent pain".

The second complainant was assaulted in Phillips-Smith's former home in Brewood when he slept there overnight alone.

His family had trusted Phillips-Smith after getting to know him through their local church.

The court heard how the defendant assaulted the boy and made him perform a reciprocal sex act.

The victim's impact statement described the "fear and emotion" he had experienced on seeing a news report about Phillips-Smith's sentencing in January 2024.

He had screamed for his wife and begun shaking, he said, but felt "angry" he had kept the abuse to himself for so long out of fear he would not be believed.

He had developed an avoidance of public toilets because they filled him "with fear", the court heard, and also avoided crowds.

"This crime has been eating away at my mind for over 40 years and it's not going away any time soon," he said.

"I still get sleepless nights waking up sweating, reliving the night."

Defence counsel Lucy Tapper said Phillips-Smith wished to express his "remorse and his sincere apology for what he has done".

Describing the defendant as "incredibly unwell", she told the judge: "He is now at the end of his life and that isn't an exaggeration."

She said doctors revealed chemotherapy was likely to prolong his life for just a few months and argued a suspended sentence would mean the treatment he had undergone to date would not have been "in vain".

Addressing Phillips-Smith, His Honour Judge Butterfield KC told him he had "held and misused" a position of trust.

"He has terminal cancer, with a current life expectancy of one to two years from point of diagnosis (in December 2025), which may be extended by a few months if his chemotherapy continues to be effective, but it will not cure him," the judge said.

He had also suffered an embolism and now walked with a crutch, he added.

The judge said "competing factors" including the defendant's deteriorating health, a lack of prison space, and rehabilitation time already served made passing sentence "extremely difficult", but acknowledged his previous sentence would have been longer had these charges been included.

He concluded by passing a community order of two years on each charge, to run concurrently.

The defendant must also complete a Building Choices programme and 30 days of rehabilitation activity, and is subject to a five-year sex offenders' notification order.

A spokesman for Lichfield Diocese confirmed Phillips-Smith had been employed as school chaplain at the time of the offences and described the harm he caused as "reprehensible".

"It is deeply sorrowful and shameful that a priest who is in a position of trust should have committed such offences," they added.

"We are pleased he has been brought to justice for these and other crimes."

They encouraged any other victims to contact the diocese's safeguarding team or to contact police.

Details of help and support with child sexual abuse and sexual abuse or violence is available at BBC Action Line.

Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.