A Church of England priest raped a worshipper and indecently abused others, after ‘brainwashing’ scantily clad women who joined his ‘cult’, a trial heard.
Chris Brain, 69, is said to have sexually abused young women in his thrall as he led the distinctive Nine O’Clock Service (NOS) in Sheffield.
Brain even persuaded some of his congregation – often young, attractive women wearing lingerie or revealing clothing – to join his ‘homebase’ team and effectively ‘look after’ his needs.
He is accused of raping one woman and assaulting three others between 1983 and 1995, having already been convicted of a string of attacks on women at a trial last year.
He is now facing a re-trial on five offences jurors were unable to decide on in 2025.
Prosecutor Tim Clark KC told Brain’s retrial at Inner London Crown Court on Friday: ‘NOS presented itself as a progressive force for good.
‘In truth, NOS became a closed and controlled group which the defendant dominated.
‘He abused his position first as a leader and later became an ordained priest, and he used that position to sexually assault a staggering number of women from his congregation.’
Chris Brain, pictured at a previous hearing two years ago, was a Church of England priest conducting the Nine O’Clock Service in the 1980s and 1990s when he is said to have sexually abused women
He said the Church of England initially viewed NOS as a ‘stunning success story’.
It appeared ‘ground-breaking,’ he said, because the high-energy services were ‘visually stunning’ and were popular with young people, many of whom were scantily dressed, he said.
The prosecutor said Brain was ‘the central figure in a cult, he decided the rules, he designed the punishments’.
Mr Clark said Brain was aware that the women in his close circle ‘feared ostracisation more than anything’.
Witnesses later told police they were encouraged to become estranged from their family members and those who were not part of NOS, the court heard.
Jurors were told Brain raped one such congregant in the mid-1980s at his home while his wife was away.
Three other young NOS members said he sexually assaulted them, including by touching their breasts.
The defendant says that he engaged in sexual activity with some of the prosecution witnesses, but that it was always consensual.
Brain, pictured at court last year, has gone on trial accused of rape and sexual assaults
Prosecutor Mr Clark said: ‘The Crown will submit that the defendant knew, and you can be sure he knew, that all these women did not perform sexual acts with him willingly or consensually.
‘But rather, were submitting to acts which, but for the situation the defendant had created, would never have happened.’
He added: ‘Any capacity they (the complainants) had to consent had been removed by the domineering nature of the defendant, by his control over their entire lives and by their absolute terror of being ostracised if they did not submit.’
The court heard how some women said they were ‘groomed’ by Brain, and that ‘no-one was able to stand up to’ him.
Another complainant said that Brain was a ‘man of God’ whom she could not question, and that she was ‘terrified’ of him.
At his ordination in 1991, large sums of money were spent on robes for Brain to wear which had been worn by actor Robert De Niro in 1986 film The Mission, the court heard.
The prosecutor said that Brain was confronted by members of the church in the 1990s and told it was believed he had abused up to 40 women.
But Brain replied: ‘I thought it was more.’
Brain, from Wilmslow, Cheshire, denies rape and four counts of indecent assault relating to at least 15 alleged incidents involving four women.
None of the complainants can be identified as alleged victims of sexual offences.
The trial continues.
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