British Catholic priest faces child sex abuse charges

A British Catholic priest has been arrested on charges of sexually abusing five teenagers, Scotland Yard confirmed on Monday.

Lawrence Soper, 72, is accused of nine sexual assault offences committed against five young men between 1972 and 1986, Efe news reported.

The priest was formally arrested on Sunday by officers of the Metropolitan Police's Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command at Luton Airport upon his arrival from Kosovo, where he had spent five years evading justice.

Soper, who in May was arrested under a European arrest warrant in Kosovo, will appear later on Monday at Ealing Magistrates' Court in London.

He was arrested in 2010 and bailed, but failed to return to a London police station in March 2011.

He is accused of committing offences at St Benedict's School in Ealing, west London, where he taught in the 1970s and 1980s.

One of his victims was under 14 years of age at the time.

--IANS

ss/dg