Rev Keith Hanson banned for life over affair
- Published
A Church of England vicar has been banned from practising as a priest for life after having an affair with a mentally ill parishioner.
Keith Hanson had been Mission Development Vicar of the Maltby Team Ministry and of Thurcroft St Simon and St Jude in South Yorkshire.
A Church tribunal found he had sex with a woman on three occasions but he claimed medication caused impotence.
The tribunal banned Hanson from church ministry for life.
The hearing by the Bishop's Disciplinary Tribunal for the Diocese of Sheffield heard Hanson had sent the woman explicit text messages after they met in 2017.
Hanson had been sending the woman text, e-mail, Facebook and WhatsApp messages before going to her house where they had sex three times.
He did not attend the tribunal hearing claiming he was "mentally unwell", but provided documentary evidence of prescriptions and data sheets outlining the risks of sexual dysfunction.
The messages Hanson sent the woman included references to being "isolated and lonely".
The tribunal heard that when Hanson told the woman the relationship was over he said no-one would believe her if she reported him because of her mental health history.
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