CROSBY & LITHERLAND
28 March 2018
Archdiocese say there was no suggestion of problems during his ministry THE Archdiocese of Liverpool say they learned of Father Wood’s crimes with “disbelief and regret” and said there was “no suggestion of any problems of this nature during his ministry.” A spokesperson for the diocese said: “The Archdiocese of Liverpool acknowledges the conviction of and sentence passed on Thomas Wood at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday, March 21. “It was with disbelief and regret that his former parishioners and the archdiocesan authorities learned of this as there had been no suggestion of any problems of this nature during his ministry. “There is no evidence to suggest that images were made during the course of his work and no evidence to suggest that he had sexual contact with any children. “Such crimes are not victimless, and people have been left greatly saddened by these events. “The thoughts and prayers of many are with those involved.”
Vol 25 l Issue 13
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‘SHAME ON YOU’
Priest watched sickening videos of children being abused on the internet then denied it to police By our Court Reporter
A PERVERTED Catholic priest, who served for several years at a church in Crosby, secretly watched videos of children being raped in online conference chat rooms. Father Thomas Wood was a long serving priest at Our Lady Star of the Sea in Seaforth, and held a senior position in the Archdiocese of Liverpool. A court heard last week that he spent time late at night viewing the disgusting images in internet rooms along with up to 50 other paedophiles. He was later led way from the dock to cries of ‘Shame on you’ from the public gallery. Liverpool Crown Court heard on Wednesday, March 21 that the sickening footage included children as young as eight being sexually abused by adults. Simon Duncan, prosecuting, said the pro-
secution arises from a multi-national investigation set up into paedophiles abusing video conferencing facilities. Wood was caught by the US Department of Homeland Security who contacted British authorities in February 2017. The National Crime Agency discovered Wood used his iPad to access such conferences on a chat room site in November 2015. Just before midnight on November 12, Wood was watching a video showing children aged 10 to 16 being abused. He logged on again and joined 50 people looking at a girl, aged eight to 10, being raped by a man. On November 13, he was one of 50 perverts who watched two boys having sex. When arrested, Wood told police: “I may have looked at something on the internet.” Mr Duncan said: “He said he wanted to meet other men and watch them [perform lewd acts]. He claimed he had no sexual interest in children.” When interviewed in June, Wood suggested he threw the iPad away because it was faulty, but police seized his mobile phone and hard drive. They provided evidence of him chatting about his sexual interest in children. He again denied this to officers but three temporary internet files were found. Continued inside
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Father Thomas Wood outside the court.
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