Former Ampleforth College monk given 20 years in prison for child sexual abuse

A former monk who worked at the Catholic boarding school Ampleforth College has been sent to prison for 20 years for sexually abusing three boys more than three decades ago.

80-year-old Peter Turner from Redcar, who was previously known as Father Gregory Carroll, was sentenced to 20 years and 10 months, with an extended year on licence. He will have to serve at least half of the sentence before being considered for parole.

The former monk was sentenced at York Crown Court on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to multiple non-recent child sex offences. He was due to contest the charges but changed his pleas at the start of the trial.

The court heard the first boy was aged between 10 and 12 when Turner committed indecent assault and another serious sexual offence against him between September 1984 and January 1987 while he was at Ampleforth.

Turner was sent to work in a parish in Workington in 1987 after confessing to church authorities.

His second victim was nine or 10 when he indecently assaulted him between October 1987 and December 1988. The third was aged between 10 and 12 when Turner committed gross indecency and indecent assault against him between June 1987 and June 1990 in Workington.

He was recalled from the parish and confined to the monastery at Ampleforth after the 2001 publication of the Nolan Report on the problem of clerical child abuse.

North Yorkshire Police’s Non-Recent Abuse Investigation Team began a new investigation in 2018 when a victim from Ampleforth College came forward to make a complaint.

He was already known to police after being convicted of non-recent child abuse in 2005 relating to his time at the college and abbey.

Following an extensive investigation, led by Detective Sergeant Graeme Bevington, Turner was charged with more than 20 offences in March 2019.