Worthing vicar had 20,000 indecent images of children
- Published
David Renshaw was a vicar at Holy Trinity and Christ Church in Worthing, West Sussex
A vicar has been found guilty of possessing more than 20,000 indecent images of children.
David Renshaw, of Worthing, West Sussex, was arrested after he came to the attention of authorities in 2019 when an illegal image was identified on a file sharing website in New Zealand.
The account was attributed to Renshaw via his email address and IP address.
During a search of his home, Sussex Police found dead and malnourished animals, and drugs paraphernalia.
A total of 22,504 illegal images were also discovered.
A jury at Hove Crown Court found the 63-year-old guilty of eight offences, including three counts of possessing indecent images of children and possessing extreme pornographic images portraying acts of intercourse with animals.
Renshaw, vicar of Holy Trinity and Christ Church in Worthing, has been bailed until sentencing on 13 March.
The RSPCA also seized a number of dogs, cats and chickens that were found in a severely malnourished state from Renshaw's home, police said.
Det Sgt David Rose said the search of his address was "one of the most revolting tasks our officers will ever have to endure".
"It was a deeply unpleasant scene to search," he said.
"The sheer number of images indicate that they were accumulated over a protracted period of time."
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