Priest charged over possessing and making indecent images of children

A priest has been charged over possessing and making indecent images of children.

Paul Clarke, 71, faces five charges involving images taken from the internet.

One alleges his possession of an indecent image of a child, another alleges his possession of prohibited images, and three allege his making a total of 3100 indecent images of children.

The priest, who now lives in Urmston in Manchester but formerly lived in East Sussex, is due to appear on bail at Brighton Magistrates Court on Thursday 15 October.

Sussex Police said there is no evidence of contact offending and none of the images are of local children.