Chris Brain has been convicted of rape and four sexual assaults against three women who attended the Nine O’Clock Service in Sheffield, the church movement he led in the 1980s and 1990s.
The 69-year-old was found guilty at Inner London Crown Court after jurors heard that he used his authority over members of the congregation to abuse women, including ordering them to give him massages at his home.
Brain had denied the allegations, claiming the sexual acts were consensual or had not happened. He is now awaiting sentence after being convicted of a total of 22 sexual offences against 13 women.
He had previously been found guilty of 17 counts of indecent assault involving nine women. None of the complainants can be identified for legal reasons.
Chris Brain convicted after claims of coercive control
Prosecutor Tim Clark KC told the court that the Nine O’Clock Service presented itself as a progressive organisation, with energetic services featuring live bands and elaborate lighting.
But he said it had developed into a closed group dominated by Brain, who was treated by followers as “the mouthpiece of God”. Some women in his inner circle were encouraged to wear lingerie or revealing clothing and join a team at his home to attend to his needs, as well as those of his wife and their baby daughter.
The court heard that members were sometimes expected to surrender their wages to a “common purse”. Two newlywed members were also said to have been persuaded to sell their house and donate the proceeds, while others were isolated from family and friends.
Mr Clark said Brain was “the central figure in a cult” who “decided the rules” and “designed the punishments”. He told jurors that women feared being ostracised and submitted to sexual acts which would not otherwise have taken place.
One woman, giving evidence from behind a screen, said Brain forced her to strip naked while she massaged him and he touched her breasts. She said she felt unable to refuse because he used his position and religious authority to influence her.
“I don’t feel I had the choice to say no,” she told the court. “My brain was frozen, he was telling me how to think, he used God to, I suppose, mess with my mind.”
She said the people around her had portrayed Brain as a man whose actions were in her best interests. “If I could turn the clock back and never have met the guy, I would want that,” she added.
The prosecution said the Church of England initially regarded the service as a major success because it attracted young people to visually striking, high-energy worship. Brain was ordained in 1991, and the court heard that large sums were spent on robes for him which had been worn by Robert De Niro in the film The Mission.
Brain denied that the Nine O’Clock Service was a cult or that he had led one. He told jurors he might have been a “hypocrite” but rejected the allegations of sexual abuse.
Victims waited decades for verdicts
Following the convictions, one of Brain’s victims said the women had first gone to the Bishop of Sheffield about his alleged emotional, financial, spiritual and sexual abuse more than 30 years ago.
She compared him to Andrew Tate and described him as “an earlier version of Andrew Tate with a dog collar”. She said the women had lived with unresolved trauma and had been too ashamed to discuss their experiences with one another.
Julie Moss, senior crown prosecutor for CPS Yorkshire and Humberside, said Brain had manipulated and intimidated members, isolating them from friends and family and making them financially and emotionally dependent on the group.
“This was not consent. It was forced submission, caused by the culture of fear and dependency Brain had deliberately created,” she said.
Detective Superintendent Eleanor Welsh said the women had waited three or four decades for the verdicts and had been required to relive their experiences in court. She described Brain as a “devious and arrogant sexual predator” and said the convictions could not erase the harm caused.
Richard Scorer, a lawyer representing Brain’s victims, said the convictions had finally held him to account. He also said the Church of England had “fast tracked” Brain to ordination, supported and promoted him, and that a full examination of its role was overdue.
Her Honour Judge Freya Newbery will sentence Brain at a later date.
