Originally published at The Crux
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Bishop David Oakley of Northampton was in court yesterday facing allegations that he raped a 15-year-old girl twice in the early 2000s.
Oakley, who was in his 40s and a priest for the diocese of Birmingham at the time of the allegations, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday via videolink to face the charges from his lawyer’s office. He was released on bail, on condition that he doesn’t contact the alleged victim or her family.
Prosecutor Sarah Madden said Oakley and the girl “started dating… after going on a pilgrimage to Lourdes.”
“She recalls sex with the defendant on at least two occasions,” Madden added. The incidents are alleged to have occurred between 2000 and 2001, when Oakley was in his mid-40s and a priest of the Birmingham archdiocese.
Oakley was not asked to enter a plea as the case has been sent to the Old Bailey by Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring. There will be a plea hearing on Sept. 10.
Oakley was charged in June on two counts of rape of a girl under the age of 16, following an investigation by Staffordshire Police’s Rape and Serious Sexual Offences team.
Oakley stepped down from public ministry for
