European arrest warrant issued for paedophile priest

London: Police in London have obtained a European arrest warrant for a Catholic priest accused of child sex offences, the Telegraph reported Sunday. Father Laurence Soper is wanted over allegations of child abuse dating back to when he taught at St. Benedict`s School, a private Catholic school part of Ealing Abbey in London. Soper, who was abbot of the abbey from 1991 to 2000, was believed to be in a monastery in Rome, and was due to return to London to answer bail in March last year. He failed to show up, which sparked a police hunt. Police said that in June 2010, a man now in his 40s made an allegation of sexual assault related to his time at the school. Soper, now 68, was arrested in September 2010 on suspicion of sexual assault, but got bail.

This is not the first time the school has been in the news. In October 2009, Father David Pearce was jailed for eight years after he pleaded guilty to indecent assaults and sexual attacks on five young boys, four under the age of 14, at St Benedict`s School over a period of 36 years -- 1972 to 2008. IANS Pic Courtesy: Metropolitan Police