Peter McConnell was spared jail for his sex attack on a fellow BA passenger on a flight from the US (Picture: North News)

A student has spoken about the devastating impact a sexual assault by a vicar had on his life after being groped during a flight to the UK.

The American PhD student, 23, was on British Airways plane from Philadelphia to Heathrow when he was fondled under a blanket by Reverend Peter McConnell from St Helen’s Church, in Longhorsley, Northumberland.

He tried to engage his victim in conversation and talked about his time in the US with his godson.

McConnell moved from his allocated seat to be next to his victim, saying a child was kicking his seat and went on to tell him that his godson had got really drunk and went to a ‘titty bar’.




Prosecutor Andrew Espley said: ‘He asked the complainant if he had ever been to a titty bar. He said he hadn’t and felt uncomfortable about the conversation.’

He moved to sit next to his victim saying it was because a child was kicking the back of his seat (Picture: North News)

He then went on to talk about masturbation as a way to relieve stress before going on to talk about God, religion and his love of teaching children.

The student eventually started to drift off and McConnell covered him with a blanket, which the victim thought was an act of kindness.

People flock out of pubs and restaurants on first weekend of 10pm curfew

But then as he drifted off he felt the vicar’s hand on his right knee and then massaging his thigh area.

That lasted for around 15 seconds before the victim jolted awake as McConnell moved towards his groin.

McConnell then started talking to him trying to apologise, blaming the alcohol and begging for forgiveness.

The victim said: ‘He kept trying to shake my hand, he twice tried to hug me, I pulled away. He tried to kiss the hair above my ear, which was very disturbing.’

He told the student about his visits to ‘titty bars’ with his godson while in the US (Picture: North News)

He then managed to get McConnell’s contact details, which is when he realised that he was a vicar because of the word ‘vicarage’ in the email address given to him.

The victim told the airline and the Church of England, who got police involved.

Towns and cities across northern England and Wales to face new restrictions this weekend

He then denied the allegations, forcing the student to have to fly to the UK to relive the ordeal and give evidence in court.

McConnell has now been found guilty and was ordered to pay £11,504 in costs. He was given a nine-month prison sentence suspended for two years.

Speaking after the sentencing the victim said: ‘I felt that [the Church of England’s] structure is unsupportive of people reporting crimes perpetrated by their clergy and that their policies were designed to protect abusers like Peter McConnell.

‘Their policies fall woefully short of solving the problem of systematic sexual abuse and protecting the most vulnerable members of society such as children.

‘Their measures also place the burden of providing all evidence to the complaint against the clergy on the accuser.

‘I felt that their communications were cold and unsupportive. The communications sent to me felt like they came from a legal firm.



‘I do not think their methods are very encouraging to people reporting crimes committed by their clergy. This was painful and discouraging to me as a victim of sexual assault.’

Victim's statement in full This crime and the aftermath have had a major negative impact on me both emotionally and psychologically. This assault has been the most painful chapter of my life. I feel in many ways I have had to put my life on hold during these past nearly two and a half years and I worry that some of the effects stemming from the assault may be irreversible. As a deeply personal incident, I have felt uncomfortable telling members of my family including my brother and sister and close friends about what happened on the plane. This is difficult as keeping secrets from the ones I care about so much has caused me significant pain. The impact on my family has been difficult to deal with. I did not initially tell my father about what happened as I did not feel comfortable. This had the unintended consequence of my mother having to keep secrets from my father for a period of time. The conversation where I had to tell my father that I had been a victim of sexual assault was extremely painful. It has been painful for me to see my mother have to go through all of this. The crime has affected the way I am able to move through life. I sometimes have flashbacks to what happened. These flashbacks are extremely uncomfortable to endure. I still often feel uncomfortable being touched by others. The assault has made me feel vulnerable to such an assault happening again in a public place such an airplane. I had difficulty sleeping following the assault and still have difficulty sleeping on airplanes due to what happened. I felt bad after the assault for not reporting it while I was still on the plane. The thought that that mistake might have allowed him to have access to children to abuse was very hard for me to handle. I felt that if that happened it would be my fault due to my grave concern for the safety of the young children of Newcastle. The numerous statements he made both about how important God was to him and his love of children while on that same flight sexual assaulting me were deeply disturbing and haunting. The concept that this person used religion as a method to engage in sexually predatory behaviour is absolutely appalling. I have struggled since the assault with knowing that I may never be able to go back to the life I had before that flight. I will never forgive this man, Peter McConnell, who sexually assaulted me.

Got a story for Metro.co.uk? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page.