Paedophile Worthing vicar who kept rotting animals in his home to be sentenced
A vicar who was found with more than 22,000 indecent images of children and dead rotting animals in his home is to be sentenced today.
Reverend David Renshaw had been the vicar at Holy Trinity and Christ Church in Worthing since 2018.
He was found guilty of 8 offences by a jury earlier this year - and was warned by a judge he faces a lengthy jail term.
The vicar, who smoked crystal meth and boasted about corrupting young boys, attempted suicide after the guilty verdict.
The 63-year-old, of Wallace Avenue, Worthing, came to the attention of authorities in June 2019 after an illegal image was identified on a file-sharing website in New Zealand.
The account was attributed to Renshaw via his email address and IP address.
Police seized a number of devices after executing a search warrant at his home in August 2020. A total of 22,504 illegal images were discovered.
The RSPCA also seized a number of dogs, cats and chickens that were found in a severely malnourished state.
Renshaw, vicar of Holy Trinity and Christ Church in Worthing, was arrested and charged with the offences, all of which he denied.
The case was committed to Hove Crown Court for trial, where Renshaw was found guilty of all eight counts by jury.
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.
Investigating officer, Detective Sergeant David Rose, said: "Throughout this investigation, Renshaw has sought to blame anyone but himself. He has failed to accept or take any responsibility for his actions, which I am certain the local parish he represented would be appalled by.
"Through painstaking and careful enquiries, we were able to show that the child abuse images were on his computer, saved under his username and found on a hard drive on his desk. The sheer number of images indicate that they were accumulated over a protracted period of time.
"The search of his address was one of the most revolting tasks our officers will ever have to endure. As well as malnourished living animals, there was also a dead rotting kitten and a dead rotting rat on the floor, in addition to used needles and other drug paraphernalia lying around. It was a deeply unpleasant scene to search.
"All necessary safeguarding enquiries were carried out and there was no risk to any identifiable children in the case."
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