Vicar fined for sex assault in public toilet

Father John Moore, 67, former vicar of St Stephen’s Church and a former vice-dean of Guernsey, was suspended from the Church last year and has moved to France, where he previously served the Anglican Church.

He returned to the island to face trial in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday and denied the charge, but was found guilty and fined £1,000.

Moore had taught at Ladies’ College on the day of the offence in September and went for a drive in the afternoon, stopping at Grandes Rocques, where he knew from experience that the public toilets had a reputation as a meeting place for homosexual encounters.

He went to the toilet admitting that he had thought it could lead to a sexual encounter.

The victim, who had eaten lunch in his car in the car park with a female friend, threw rubbish into the bins and then went to the toilet. He used the urinals while Moore was in a cubicle.

As he went to the sink to wash his hands, Moore left the cubicle and reached around to squeeze his groin.

Moore admitted that move. He said he had thought the other man was interested in a sexual encounter, based on ‘signals’ that he had picked up. But his claims that the teenager had exposed himself were disputed.

The complainant said he had been shocked when the defendant touched him. He ran out of the toilets to meet up with his female friend.

She told the court that he was distressed and he told her what had happened. They both went back to his car and called the police.

Moore left the toilets to see where the man had gone, and went back inside, wondering if he would return. Instead it was police officers who were the next to enter the toilets, 15 minutes later, and they spoke to Moore.

Advocate Jenny McVeigh, prosecuting, asked Moore why he had not asked for permission to touch the other man. Moore, who had been married for more than 40 years but admitted in court that he was bisexual, said these encounters worked on non-verbal signals.

Advocate Liam Roffey said Moore was regretful if he had misread the signs, but if it was a mistake it was a genuine one. Moore had no previous convictions and his evidence had been honest and forthright. He argued that discrepancies in respective evidence could mean that both men were telling the truth and a not guilty verdict would be proper.

Judge Graeme McKerrell said he had found the evidence from the complainant and his friend believable. He was satisfied that the man had done nothing which the defendant could have interpreted as a signal or an indication of consent.

Given Moore’s previous good character and his age, he imposed a fine of £1,000 and ordered him to pay £500 to the victim.Moore was also made subject to a five-year notification order.