In 2019, the Offender Database reported that Vincent Lewis, then 90, of Annagher Road, Coalisland, County Tyrone, was sentenced to a further three years in prison at Dungannon Crown Court. Lewis, a former monk formerly known as Brother Ambrose of Our Lady of Bethlehem Monastery, Portglenone, County Antrim, pleaded guilty to five counts of gross indecency with a child and one count of indecent assault. These vile historical charges related to the systematic abuse of a fourth victim between 1983 and 1986, following Lewis’s departure from his religious order.
The investigation revealed that Vincent Lewis used his printing business as a front to target and exploit the victim, who was aged between 10 and 12 at the time of the horrific offences. The boy, who began working for Lewis after school, was sexually assaulted within just two weeks of starting. The sickening abuse continued twice a week for a month and resumed later for a further six months after a chance encounter in Coalisland, County Tyrone. When arrested, Lewis displayed a deplorable lack of accountability, refusing to explain his predatory conduct to the police.
Vincent Lewis was already serving an eight-and-a-half-year sentence imposed in 2018 for vile crimes involving 57 sexual offences against three other boys. During the sentencing for these latest charges, the judge directed his remarks to the victim, praising the “bravery” required to come forward and ensure these horrendous acts did not go unpunished. The court acknowledged that the depraved nature of the criminal sexual abuse had caused “untold harm and damage” to the survivor’s life.
As a result of his convictions for these serious sexual crimes, Vincent Lewis was ordered to remain on the Sex Offenders Register for life. He is managed under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), remaining under intensive supervision for the duration of his life. Any further predatory behaviour or breach of his strict registration requirements in Coalisland, Portglenone, or elsewhere will result in immediate legal action.
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