A priest who led an evangelical movement in the 1980s and 1990s has appeared in court to face multiple allegations of sexual offences against former members of a church congregation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Reverend Christopher Brain led the movement called the Nine O\u2019Clock Service in Sheffield between 1986 and 1995.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brain appeared at Sheffield Magistrates\u2019 Court for a four-minute hearing on Monday where he faced a total of 34 charges in relation to 11 women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The charges relate to allegations of sexual offences committed against women who had joined the movement, police have said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brain, now 66, of Park Road, Wilmslow, Cheshire, is charged with one count of rape and 33 counts of indecent assault, alleged to have been committed between 1981 and 1995.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Nine O\u2019Clock Service was initially held at St Thomas\u2019s Church, in the Crookes area of Sheffield, before moving to Ponds Forge sport complex in the city centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bearded Brain stood in the glass-fronted dock for the short hearing wearing a grey suit and black open-necked shirt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He spoke to give his name, date of birth and address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
District Judge Marcus Waite granted him unconditional bail and told him to appear again at Sheffield Crown Court on April 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only the rape charge was read out in full in court on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The judge explained to Brain that this allegation was so serious it needed to be dealt with by a crown court judge and that the other 33 counts will also be transferred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 33 indecent assault charges include some which cover multiple different alleged incidents, including a number involving allegations of assault during massages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brain left the court building with his solicitor, wearing a surgical mask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Copy sourced from Dave Higgens, PA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A priest who led an evangelical movement in the 1980s and 1990s has appeared in court to face multiple allegations of sexual offences against former members of a church congregation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":184,"featured_media":56114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,133],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-top-story"],"yoast_head":"\n