A former priest and leader of the Nine O’Clock Service has been found guilty of 17 counts of indecent assault.
Chris Brain headed the high-profile evangelical movement in Sheffield during the 1980s and 1990s.
The 68-year-old had a team of young women dressed in lingerie, referred to as the ‘Lycra Nuns,’ tend to his needs at home, the court heard.
It was previously heard that he abused his position to sexually assault a ‘staggering’ number of women in his congregation, which is said to have turned into a cult, with members urged to cut ties with loved ones and become dependent on him.
Jurors were previously told he had such a hold over the Church of England that it was arranged for him to wear Robert De Niro’s robes from the film The Mission at his ordination.
Brain of Wilmslow, Cheshire, was convicted after a trial at Inner London Crown Court and showed no emotion as the jury foreman delivered the verdicts.
He was cleared of 15 other indecent assaults, while jurors are still considering four further counts and one charge of rape.
They are expected to return tomorrow to continue their deliberations on the other counts.
His organisation became a cult and members were encouraged to separate themselves from loved ones, and became dependent on Brain, Tim Clark KC, prosecuting, said.
He then sexually assaulted a number of them, including one woman just hours after she had spent helping relatives identify the bodies of loved ones killed in the Hillsborough tragedy, he added.
TV programmes were made and books written about NOS after allegations were made in 1995 around Brain’s behaviour, the court was told.
Brain appeared in one of the documentaries and made admissions to the filmmaker of sexual contact with a number of the female members of NOS, jurors were told.
‘It is the Crown’s case that the women named on the indictment who were involved in sexual acts with the defendant did not consent to those acts,’ Mr Clark said.
‘Any capacity they had to consent had been removed by the domineering nature of the defendant, by his control over their entire lives and by their absolute terror of being ostracised and that’s what he intended.’
The court heard Brain accepts he engaged in sexual activity with some of the complainants but that it was consensual.
The prosecutor said: ‘In short, the defence case appears to be, to quote from the Life Of Brian, Brian Cohen’s mother: “He’s not the Messiah, he’s just a very naughty boy”.
‘The Crown state it was more than that, the defendant created the atmosphere that allowed him to abuse a series of women.’
One complainant, whose top was taken off by Brain when she was upset, was told she would be failing as a Christian if she failed to submit to him, the court heard.
Another woman told police that she returned home at 6am after helping relatives at the mortuary immediately after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989.
‘She said the defendant came to her house and climbed into her bed, he started touching her and praising her whilst they lay still,’ Mr Clark said.
‘She can’t now remember where he touched her but all she could remember was his hands being all over her. She had not she said consented to this happening.’
This is a breaking news story; it will be updated soon.