A former priest accused of sexually assaulting 13 women while he was the head of a church group has said consent was the “grounding of everything”.
Chris Brain, 68, denies one count of rape and 36 charges of indecent assault, relating to his time with the Nine O’Clock Service (NOS), an influential evangelical church movement in Sheffield in the 1980s and 1990s.
Prosecutors allege he used his position to abuse a “staggering number” of female members, exerting control over their lives and ostracising them.
Giving evidence at Inner London Crown Court, Mr Brain, from Wilmslow, Cheshire, said he had sex with one of the complainants, but said it “just went too far” but insisted it had been consensual.
He said the Sheffield-based evangelical movement was a “free, open, really caring, very fun environment” and denied claims he had abused anyone.
Discussing one victim, Mr Brain admitted there had been “petting at a regular basis” but that she had “absolutely” consented to having her breasts touched under her clothing.
He agreed the relationship had gone further but that it was consensual.
Asked by Iain Simkin KC, defending, if he cared whether the woman he had slept with consented, he replied: “Of course I did”.
He also told jurors there was “consent at a very serious, deep level” with another woman after they agreed to have a more sexual relationship.
Mr Brain insisted consent was “absolutely the grounding of everything we were doing”.
NOS, which began in 1986, was initially celebrated by Church of England leaders for its nightclub-style services which incorporated live music and multimedia and attracted hundreds of young people to its congregation.
Mr Brain said the environment in the NOS was less like a church house and “much more like a group of musicians living together”.
The defendant said he had built up “intimacy and trust” with church members over a long period of time, but said he was not the “kind of guy to try it on”.
“It’s not part of my character or my belief system.”
Mr Simkin told the court Mr Brain admitted to having relations with members of his congregation in a BBC documentary in November 1995.
The defendant said he was “in a state of complete overwhelmed trauma” at the time of the admission and had “needed to be really open and accountable for what I had done”.
He said he had resigned from his priesthood in the same month “because the hassle at the time (and) the press intrusion had pretty much devastated my life”.
Mr Brain rejected testimonies from people who said he had tried to control people’s clothing, weight and relationships.
“The intensity of what we did tended to draw people in,” he said.
Prosecutor Tim Clark KC, cross-examining, put it to Mr Brain that he spoke “psychobabble” to get his own sexual gratification.
“No,” the defendant replied.
The defendant told jurors he felt he had used his position of trust “to the best effect I could at the time” and denied abusing any trust placed in him.
The trial continues.
Additional reporting by PA Media.
