Defrocked, sex-texting priest who strayed with a married parishioner
A PRIEST has been banned for life by the Church of England for his ‘shameful’ affair with a married parishioner who went to him looking for spiritual guidance.
The Rev Simon Sayers had previously been suspended for five years in 2016 after admitting sexual conduct with a 16-year-old schoolgirl while working in Islington, North London.
Now after his latest transgression he will never preach in a church again after admitting ‘straying appallingly’ when a married woman approached him for pastoral support which then turned into an affair.
A Church of England tribunal heard how Sayers – who was married at the time – sent explicit texts to the woman.
In one he told her: ‘You too are the most passionate, sexy, skilled and sensuous lover and my body is yours, my heart and soul are yours for ever.’
The 60-year-old cleric confessed to ‘betraying his calling’ in a letter to the private CofE tribunal hearing that found him guilty of inappropriate conduct this week.
Sayers, the former rector in Emsworth-with-Warblington in Hampshire, had already been suspended by the CofE for five years for ‘sexual incidents’ with a schoolgirl, dating back to the 1990s, when the latest probe was launched.
During the hearing it emerged that the former archdeacon of Portsdown, Dr Joanne Grenfell, filed a formal complaint against Sayers in March 2017.
The tribunal heard how Sayers was married to his wife Andrea when he started the affair with the other woman when she turned to him seeking ‘comfort and support’.
‘Betrayed my wife and my calling’
However, this developed into a sexual relationship leading the woman to believe the pair were ‘in love’.
The tribunal found he failed to keep ‘appropriate professional boundaries’ after becoming sexually intimate with the woman and sending her ‘filthy’ texts. In a letter to the tribunal Sayers, who did not attend the hearing, said: ‘I can offer no excuse, only my profound sorrow for betraying my wife and my calling once more, after that terrible incident in 1995.
‘During the autumn of 2010, there was a shameful affair. We were both facing painful issues, and mutual comfort and support strayed appallingly into an affair.’
In a statement the Diocese of Portsmouth confirmed he would never be able to work as a clergyman again.
It said: ‘The Rev Simon Sayers had already been prohibited from ministry for five years after accepting a penalty for previous misconduct. The tribunal has now imposed a penalty of prohibition from ministry for life.
‘He will not be able to work as a Church of England clergyman again. The Church takes all allegations of misconduct seriously.’
Sayers, a father of two, was suspended for five years in 2016 after an investigation into sexual contact with a 16-year-old schoolgirl while he was serving as a vicar in London in 1995.
Following a 19-month review of the allegations, the Bishop of London accused Sayers of abusing his ‘position of trust’. The Metropolitan Police investigated but no criminal charges were brought.