Paedophile vicar who kept dead rotting animals stayed on 'trustworthy' clergy register 'by mistake’
The Church of England has admitted that it made a mistake in adding the name of a paedophile vicar to its National Clergy Register, after he was charged by Sussex Police.
Last week the 63-year-old, who was the vicar of Holy Trinity and Christ Church in Worthing, was found guilty of eight offences.
They consisted of three counts of possessing indecent images of children; three counts of making indecent images of children; possessing prohibited images of children; and possessing extreme pornographic images portraying acts of intercourse with animals, namely dogs and horses.
Police also found dead rotting animals in his vicarage.
He will be sentenced next month.
Renshaw had been at Holy Trinity and Christ Church in Worthing since 2018, and ministered in this Diocese since 2005.
A spokeswoman for the Diocese of Chichester said: "This was a very tightly managed case, working in close cooperation with Sussex Police throughout.
"Mr Renshaw was suspended at the earliest possible opportunity and remained so throughout the criminal investigation.
"It is clear that Mr Renshaw’s name should not have been added to the National Clergy Register when it was launched.
"We are referring this to the National Safeguarding Team as a matter of urgency and asked if they can investigate how this happened.
"At the end of every complex case, a review of lessons learned is common practice and in the Diocese of Chichester we welcome this opportunity to learn."
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