A retired vicar who was barred from the ministry for buying and taking drugs today pleaded guilty to making and distributing indecent images of children.
Geoffrey Baulcomb, 79, Filching Grove, Eastbourne, entered guilty pleas when he appeared before a judge at the Central Criminal Court, better known as the Old Bailey, in London.
Baulcomb, who ministered in his retirement at St Mary the Virgin, Eastbourne, admitted three counts of making indecent images of children, including videos and photos, on or before Wednesday 14 December 2022.
He also admitted three counts of having 195 extreme pornographic images in total and one count of distributing an indecent image of a child in March 2020.
This afternoon (Tuesday 22 April), Judge Nigel Lickley remanded Baulcomb to appear at the Old Bailey again on Friday 2 May.
Baulcomb retired as a vicar in 2003 – and last year he was prohibited from ordained ministry for life after being found with drugs by the police on Wednesday 14 December 2022.
He had crystal meth and ketamine and said that they helped him in his “pastoral mission”. He was given a police caution.
He then faced misconduct proceedings under the Clergy Disciplinary Measure for conduct unbecoming of a clerk in holy orders.
Baulcomb admitted: “I purchased drugs over the telephone and online periodically over the last 20 years.”
He admitted trying crystal meth and injecting himself with heroin but said that, despite periodic drug-taking, he was not an addict.
Baulcomb had previously been a man of good character but, nonetheless, last June he was permanently barred from the ministry.
