Vicar banned for ‘spiritual abuse’ of boy he tried to stop seeing his girlfriend

A Church of England vicar has become the first member of the clergy to be banned from the ministry for “spiritual abuse” after he tried to stop a teenage boy seeing his girlfriend.

The Rev Timothy Davis, vicar of Christ Church, Abingdon, was found guilty of misconduct and banned for two years after a tribunal ruled his “intense mentoring” between 2012 and 2013 amounted to abuse.

The Bishop’s Disciplinary Tribunal found he had “sought to control” the boy’s life and relationships “by the use of admonition, scripture, prayer and revealed prophecy”. The boy “was put under unacceptable pressure... and was deprived of his freedom of choice” after Davis moved in with his family in 2013.

Nightly mentoring sessions which lasted for up to two hours took place unsupervised in the boy’s bedroom at Davis’s request, the tribunal heard. The abuse lasted for 18 months, when the boy was aged 15 and 16.

Davis became angry if he did not come to his services because the boy was with his girlfriend, it was said. He called her “evil” and her family “bad seed” and “poisonous”, quoting the Bible to support his claims.

Accusations found proved against Davis included “deliberately touching him, albeit not in a sexual manner”.

The tribunal report said: “During prayer they laid hands on each other’s head, shoulders, chest and back.”

Davis told the tribunal he was “shocked and confused” about the claims and said he had “no idea” of the effect his behaviour was having.

The tribunal was told that the Rev Timothy Davis had moved in with the boy’s family and took part in ‘intense mentoring’