A BRADFORD church worker was almost caught by the Archdeacon when he was sexually assaulting a boy in the city’s Diocesan Office, a jury heard.

David Hennessey is alleged to have abused five children he befriended through his involvement with a Sunday School and a church choir.

Hennessey, 74, formerly of Marlborough Street, Shipley, is charged with ten counts of indecent assault on a male person and three charges of indecency with a child, all dating back to the 1960s and 1970s.

Judge David Hatton QC told the jury at Bradford Crown Court that Hennessey, now resident in Belle Green Close, Cudworth, Barnsley, was not present for his trial through no fault of his own but because he had dementia.

The judge said the jurors must decide if Hennessey did the acts alleged against him.

Prosecutor David McGonigal said Hennessey had connections with a church in the Bradford area and the Diocesan Office on North Parade in the city.

He organised Sunday School outings, the church choir and camping trips to beauty spots.

Mr McGonigal said Hennessey was a trusted figure in the church community at that time.

The Crown allege that he befriended five boys, aged between eight and 16, preyed on their vulnerabilities and made them feel special to abuse them.

The jury heard that the first alleged victim was aged nine to 11 when Hennessey molested him. He was still in short trousers when he was touched indecently in the Diocesan Office and the Odeon cinema in Bradford. During the cinema trip, the child moved away from Hennessey and put his coat on his lap to keep him off, it was said.

The boy stopped going to the church after that and many years later, he told his wife, the court heard.

The second boy was abused when he was aged eight to 16, Mr McGonigal stated.

Hennessey is said to have abused him at his home when he was teaching him the Bible and on camping trips when he zipped their sleeping bags together.

The jury was told that Hennessey was almost caught by the Archdeacon when he was assaulting the boy in the Diocesan Office, and that a woman had seen Hennessey and the youngster kissing.

Hennessey went on to abuse two more boys, aged 11 to 14, it was alleged.

One was said to have been molested on a camping trip and another boy, a choir member, at the Odeon and at Hennessey’s home as well as the Diocesan Office.

The court heard that the police were alerted in 2017 and made enquiries concerning all five complainants, now grown men.

The trial continues.