Christopher Brain led the Nine O'Clock Service (NOS) in Sheffield during the 1980s and 1990s and cultivated a "homebase team" of women who wore lingerie and kept his house. He was charged with one count of rape and 36 counts of indecent assault relating to 13 women between 1981 and 1995; jurors convicted him of 17 indecent-assault counts against nine women, acquitted him on 15 counts against two women, and are still deliberating the rape charge and four further counts. Some women gave him "sensual" massages he said relieved tension headaches; members were organised into vetted "discipleship" groups and isolated from friends and families.
A trial heardChristopher Brain, who led the progressive Nine O-Clock Service (NOS) in Sheffield in the 80s and 90s, surrounded himself with women who wore lingerie or revealing clothes as part of his "homebase team" who kept his house "spotlessly clean". The court heard the women - sometimes referred to as "the Lycra Lovelies" or "the Lycra Nuns" - were on a rota to help then-Reverend Brain with his every need.
He was charged with one count of rape and 36 counts of indecent assault relating to 13 women between 1981 and 1995. On Wednesday, jurors at Inner London Crown Court found him guilty of 17 counts of indecent assault against nine women. However he was acquitted of another 15 charges of indecent assault against two women. The jury is still deliberating the rape charge and four further counts of indecent assault.
Prosecutor Tim Clark KC told the court he "abused his position first as a leader and then as an ordained priest to sexually assault a staggering number of women". When Brain was first confronted over claims he had abused up to 40 women, he replied: "I thought it was more," the court heard. Mr Clark said NOS became a cult in which members, who were vetted and organised into "discipleship" groups, were isolated from their friends and families.
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