A retired Diocese of Hereford vicar has been given a suspended sentence for indecently assaulting a 15-year old girl.

A retired Diocese of Hereford vicar has been given a suspended sentence for indecently assaulting a 15-year old girl. Last month the Rev. Kevin McGarahan was found guilty by the Shrewsbury Crown Court of assaulting his victim 1995. She informed her mother of the attack in 1998, who passed the complaint on to the diocese. However the incident was not reported to the police until 2014 when a new diocesan safeguarding officer discovered the incident in a review of church files.  On 3 June 2016 McGarahan, 64, of Liskard in Cornwall, was given a six-month sentence suspended for 12 months and ordered to pay £2,000 compensation to the victim. Jonathan Kelleher, senior crown prosecutor for the West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service’s rape and serious sexual offences unit, said McGarahan had “abused his position of trust” to carry out the attack on a “vulnerable teenager”. “Today, justice has finally caught up with McGarahan and he will now have to deal with the consequences of his actions.” The Bishop of Hereford, the Rt Revd Richard Frith on 6 June 2016 released a statement saying: “Our thoughts are with the victim and her family.  The Diocese of Hereford is committed to doing everything it can to ensure our churches are safe places to be. A case like this reminds us of our need to be scrupulous in our approach to Safeguarding.”