A monk, Michael James Callaghan, the Moortown Paedophile, convicted of sexually abusing two students at Ampleforth College has received a seven-year prison sentence.
Michael James Callaghan, 71, of Moortown, Leeds, also referred to as Father James, refuted 12 allegations of indecently abusing the first victim, four of which occurred when the lad was under 16, as well as one charge of sexual assault against the second victim.
After a trial at Teesside Crown Court, he was convicted on all charges and today, 19 June 2025, received a seven-year prison sentence.
He will be subjected to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order, prohibiting any contact with the victim and any unsupervised interaction with individuals under the age of 16.
The offences occurred at Ampleforth College, North Yorkshire, from 1994 to 2013. Michael James Callaghan focused on the initial boy at Ampleforth from 1994 to 1997. He subsequently committed an indecent attack on the second boy in 2013.
Initial occurrences were reported to North Yorkshire Police in December 2022, prompting an inquiry by the Non-Recent Abuse inquiry Team.
Michael James Callaghan was apprehended and interrogated; although his denial of any misconduct, he was charged.
The court received victim impact statements from both men detailing the effects of Michael James Callaghan’s assault on their lives.
The initial victim articulated that he perceived the abuse inflicted by Michael James Callaghan as comprising two facets: the subconscious repercussions before to his recognition of the events, and the profound consequences on his life thereafter.
He described how he became withdrawn, stopped taking part in activities he enjoyed, and how it has affected his view of the world and impacted him both financially and mentally.
He said: “This man knows what he has done, he knows exactly how this will have affected me. He knew what he was doing was wrong – why else would it have had to be a secret?
He continued: “Yet, when given the opportunity to acknowledge this himself, he chose to continue the abuse by denying it. He chose to leave me, when I was already devastated myself, having to fight for the 14-year-old boy he hand-picked for his own gratification.
The second victim said: “I looked up to him; I trusted him. And what was the response? He chose to violate my boundaries; first to groom me over a period of time, and then to sexually assault me.”
He described how he suffers from nightmares, panic attacks, becomes startled if someone unexpectedly touches him, and still has sleepless nights to this day.
“He chose to prey on me, in full knowledge of how very vulnerable I was. It all leads me to ask: How come? Why? And how obsessed was he with me in particular, or was I one of a larger number of victims?” he said.
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