A former priest sexually assaulted a “staggering number” of female members of an alleged cult church group he led, exerting control over their lives and ostracising them from friends and family, a court has heard.
Christopher Brain, 68, from Wilmslow, Cheshire, was leader of the evangelical movement the Nine O’Clock Service (NOS), part of the Church of England, in Sheffield between 1986 and 1995.
Brain sat in the dock at Inner London Crown Court on Tuesday for the opening of his trial in which he is accused of one count of rape and 36 counts of indecent assault between 1981 and 1995 against 13 women.
Prosecutor Tim Clark KC told jurors that the NOS group was aimed at younger people and “presented itself to the outside world as a progressive force for good”.
“In truth NOS became a closed and controlled group which the defendant dominated and abused his position first as a leader and then as an ordained priest to sexually assault a staggering number of women from his congregation,” he alleged.
The church initially viewed NOS as a success story, the prosecutor told jurors, with Brain’s ordination appearing to be fast-tracked despite “concerns” from the defendant’s personal tutor.
“At his ordination, signs of grandiose self regard were already present,” Mr Clark said.
The court heard large sums of money were spent finding the robes worn by Robert De Niro in the movie The Mission for Brain to don at his ordination.
Bishop Stephen Lowe, who was a senior member of the Church of England when NOS was being established, raised issues with the then Bishop of Sheffield after a woman approached him in 1995 and told him of women who had been put onto a rota to help Brain get to bed, which involved sexual favours.
There was a confrontation with Brain in which the defendant was told it was believed he had abused up to 40 women, the court heard.
Mr Clark said Brain replied: “I thought it was more.”
The prosecutor said evidence will show NOS became a cult where members were encouraged to separate themselves from their families and friends, even those loved ones in1volved in the group, and ultimately became “dependent” on NOS and “desperate for the attention and praise” of its leader, Brain.
“They were encouraged to give up their time, finances and, eventually, their sense of self to this organisation and its leader,” Mr Clark said.
The court heard some members gave up their inheritances and others their homes.
The prosecutor said those deemed insufficiently faithful and co-operative were ostracised from the group, and members became “terrified” of being excluded.
The court heard a “homebase team” was set up to “care for” Brain who were referred to as “the Lycra Lovelies” or “the Lycra Nuns”.
“The defendant was seen by a number of witnesses to be surrounded by attractive women at his home,” Mr Clark told jurors.
“They were noted to be wearing lingerie or otherwise revealing clothing whilst apparently employed to look after the needs of the defendant.”
The prosecutor also said that Brain would “suddenly appear” in the lives of female members of NOS, “often picking them up in his car whilst they were walking along”.
Women who did not keep the defendant happy would find themselves estranged from the group, Mr Clark said.
TV programmes were made and books written about NOS after some allegations were made in 1995 around Brain’s alleged abuse of position, the court heard.
Brain appeared in one of the documentaries and made admissions to the filmmaker of sexual contact with a number of the female members of NOS, jurors were told.
In an Everyman Special broadcast by BBC One in November 1995, Brain admitted sexual activity with women members of NOS but denied that it was abuse and insisted it was for “closeness and affection”, the court heard.
He resigned from holy orders two days before the documentary was broadcast.
“It is the Crown’s case that the women named on the indictment who were involved in sexual acts with the defendant did not consent to those acts,” Mr Clark said.
“Any capacity they had to consent had been removed by the domineering nature of the defendant, by his control over their entire lives and by their absolute terror of being ostracised and that’s what he intended.
“It is the Crown’s case that the complainants in this case either expressly made it clear that they did not consent to the sexual acts with which the defendant is accused or that there was no real legal consent due to the cult-like domineering nature of the defendant’s control over them.
“At best, many of the complainants in this case the Crown say merely submitted to the defendant’s actions but they did not, in law, consent to them. Their will had been overborne.”
The court heard Brain accepts he engaged in sexual activity with some of the complainants but that it was consensual.
The prosecutor said: “In short, the defence case appears to be, to quote from the Life Of Brian, Brian Cohen’s mother: ‘He’s not the Messiah, he’s just a very naughty boy’.
“The Crown state it was more than that, the defendant created the atmosphere that allowed him to abuse a series of women.”
The prosecutor gave an overview of the alleged offences, relaying accounts from complainants who made various claims – including that Brain groomed them, would touch them during massages and re-enacted a film scene involving rape or sexual abuse over clothes.
Jurors heard one complainant was kissed by the defendant when she was upset and that she took her top off when he told her to and he started massaging her.
“(She) said that she felt if she didn’t act in this manner she would be failing as a Christian,” Mr Clark said.
“It was central to her that the defendant was a ‘man of God’ whom she couldn’t question. She said now looking back on it that the reality was that she was ‘terrified’ of him.”
Others told of seeing Brain at the time as “an amazing guy who had a vision given to him by God”, viewing him “as almost a God” and of worshipping him, the court heard.
Another complainant recalled Brain criticising her for having friends outside of church, telling her she was a “lamb skipping into a den of wolves” whenever she was with such friends, the court heard.
A different woman described Brain as a “Jekyll and Hyde character”, jurors were told.
A further complainant told police about an incident which occurred after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 when she helped relatives who attended the mortuary to identify their loved ones, the court heard.
“She found her involvement in that understandably traumatic, she didn’t get home until 6am the next day,” Mr Clark said.
“She said the defendant came to her house and climbed into her bed, he started touching her and praising her whilst they lay still.
“She can’t now remember where he touched her but all she could remember was his hands being all over her. She had not she said consented to this happening.”
Jurors had been warned by the judge to cast emotion aside after the full list of charges was read to them ahead of the opening.
Judge Freya Newbery said: “It may be that what you have heard has initially upset you or perhaps revolted you or touched a nerve of some sort.
“Any emotion that you feel, it really needs to be put to one side while you focus on your crucial work as a jury.”
Brain denies the 37 charges against him and the trial continues on Wednesday.
