A retired Church of England vicar has been jailed for three years after admitting to carrying out an extreme body modification.
Geoffrey Baulcomb pleaded guilty in June to causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent after an incident involving a man in January 2020.
The former clergyman, from Eastbourne, East Sussex, appeared at the Old Bailey on Monday for sentencing.
The court heard that Baulcomb was a long-time associate of Norwegian national Marius Gustavson, who styled himself the “Eunuch Maker”.
Gustavson was jailed for life in 2024 after an investigation known as Operation Viktor.
Prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC said Baulcomb had been a subscriber to Gustavson’s website and exchanged thousands of messages with him between 2015 and 2022.
Police also uncovered evidence linking him to other defendants and victims in the case.
During a search of his Eastbourne home in December 2022, officers seized surgical tools, medical supplies and drugs.
Baulcomb submerged his iPhone in a toilet during the raid, but it was recovered and the download revealed material across two indictments.
He had previously admitted seven further offences relating to indecent images of children and extreme pornography, including distributing an indecent video of a 16-year-old being harmed by Gustavson, to co-defendant David Carruthers.
Matthew Gowen, mitigating, said Baulcomb had been a respected figure in his community and within the church, where he carried out pastoral work with vulnerable people.
He told the court: “A number of people have known Mr Baulcomb for a considerable period of time.
“Those that have known him within the church environment know of the good work, the exemplary work he has done, not just as a vicar but also in the wider community.”
Mr Gowen said that the procedure had involved only “two small cuts”, not the removal of body parts, and that Baulcomb had previously carried out the same procedure on himself without adverse effects.
Sentencing him, Judge Mark Lucraft KC said the case fell into the most serious category given the nature of the procedure, the planning involved, and the fact that it had been filmed.
“The procedure and resulting injury is something that is serious,” the judge said.
“It is an aggravating feature that the procedure was filmed, bearing in mind the obvious sexual nature of this offence.”
The judge said Baulcomb had no previous convictions, but told him: “When interviewed, you sought to distance yourself from what was done and downplay the significance of your offending.
“You sought to minimise the potential for harm of what you were doing.
“As I observed over the course of this hearing, the extreme pornographic images here are concerning.”
Baulcomb was sentenced to two years and six months for the GBH offence, with a further six months for the indecent images offences, making a total of three years.
The former vicar, wearing a black suit and tie, showed no emotion as the sentence was handed down.
