Paedophile priest faces five-year foreign travel ban after finishing prison sentence for abusing boys in his care

‘Predatory’ paedophile Father Patrick Smythe was jailed in April this year after a trial at Leeds Crown Court. Smythe, 79, of Manor Square, Otley, was given a seven-and-a-half-year sentence after being found guilty of six counts of indecent assault and one of attempted indecent assault. Some of the offences took place more than four decades ago

Smythe targeted three of his victims during swimming trips to the former Leeds International Pool. He also preyed upon boys in his care while on a retreat at a hostel in North Yorkshire. At Smythe’s sentencing hearing, disturbing details also emerged that he had spent ten years visiting a country in Asia where vulnerable children were allowed to stay in his hotel room.

Police and prosecutors expressed concerns over Smythe’s conduct after he told detectives he had spent a decade visiting East Timor. After Smythe was found guilty, prosecutor Michael Morley made an application for a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) to include a ban on him travelling abroad upon his release from custody. Mr Morley said Smythe had told police officers during an interview that he had spent ten years travelling to East Timor “sponsoring people in that country.” The court heard that he had been in contact with children of a similar age to the victims he has been convicted of abusing.

Mr Morley said: “In the course of that interview he said he had taken those children back to his hotel room to, in his own words, ‘show them how the other half lives.' This has caused the police and the prosecution some considerable concern.”

Judge Simon Batiste said he was aware that there had been sex trafficking issues in East Timor, adding: “I understand now why the application has been made.”

The judge told Smythe he is prohibited from travelling to any country outside the UK apart from countries within the EU or North America. Smythe’s lawyers appealed the restriction last week. Court of Appeal Judges ruled that Smythe should be banned from travelling to countries not within the EU or North America for five years upon his release from prison. At Smythe’s sentencing hearing earlier this year, Judge Batiste told the pensioner he had told a “pack of lies” during his trial.

He said: “The offences involved six different complainants who were at the time of the offences aged between 12 and 16. You are a Catholic priest. During the trial you denied any criminal wrongdoing whatsoever. You took an oath on the Bible – the book that you have purported to have used to preach from for many years – and then told a series of falsehoods and lies that the jury have seen through. In short, your account in relation to these matters is a pack of lies.”

Three of the victims provided statements to court describing the lifelong suffering the abuse had caused them. One described how it led to him abusing alcohol from an early age.