Thaindian News

London, Oct 22 (IANS) A former Roman Catholic priest was Friday jailed for 21 years by a British court for the sexual abuse of boys over a period of more than two decades, a media report said.

According to Sky News, James Robinson, 73, known as “Father Jim”, had a “dreadful weakness” for boys as young as 10, Birmingham Crown Court was told.

Robinson was found guilty of a string of offences involving the sexual abuse of children over a period of 24 years.

He repeatedly abused at least six boys in the West Midlands between 1959 and 1983, the report said.

Prosecutor John Attwood told the jury that the priest used his position of trust to gain “unfettered and unlimited” access to victims.

Robinson worked in churches in Staffordshire, Birmingham and Coventry until he moved to California, the US in 1985, the year that one victim told the church and police about his abuse.

Robinson, who was extradited last year following a change in Californian law, continued to work as a priest in America until other victims contacted West Midlands Police in the early 1990s, the report said.