Bishop in court charged with rape after Staffordshire Police probe, tell me about this news in (https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/bishop-court-charged-rape-after-11152887)
11-09-2026
According to the article from The Sentinel, David Oakley, the 70-year-old Bishop of Northampton, appeared at the Old Bailey facing charges of two counts of rape and one count of indecent assault.Key details reported from the proceedings include:
- Allegations: The alleged offenses involve a teenage girl and date back to the early 2000s, when Oakley was in his mid-40s and serving as a Catholic priest. Court documents allege that he kissed the girl during a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, and subsequently raped her at a presbytery and on a canal boat.
- Investigation and Timeline: Oakley was first arrested in September 2025 and officially charged in June following an inquiry conducted by the Staffordshire Police rape and serious sexual offences team.
- Current Status: Oakley, who was ordained in 1980 and appointed Bishop of Northampton in 2020, has stepped down from public ministry. He remains on conditional bail, with his next court hearing scheduled for January 4.