Vicar is sacked over sex texts to girl of 16 after suffering 'crisis of faith'



A vicar has been sacked after he sent 'sexual and intimate' text messages to a 16-year-old girl in his parish.

Reverend David Waters, 61, targeted the schoolgirl after he claimed to have suffered a 'crisis of faith'.

The unmarried clergyman has now been banned from taking church services after being stripped of his licence by a church disciplinary tribunal.

The Rev David Waters has been banned from the clergy after sending sexual text messages to a teenage parishioner



Mr Waters admitted sending 'inappropriate text messages, in that they contained words or phrases that were unseemly and of a sexual and intimate nature'.



Their precise content has not been revealed.

Church leaders were tipped off about his behaviour by a member of the girl's family, but the tribunal was told that the teenager, now 18, did not want the vicar to be punished further.

Mr Waters made a full confession, admitting that on various occasions before May 2007 he sent sexual messages to her - behaviour which he later accepted was ' scandalous and offensive'.

He was suspended from his position as rector of St Catwg's Church in Gelligaer, South Wales, in June 2007, but as the girl, understood to be a regular member of his congregation, was 16 at the time, police did not investigate.

The tribunal ruled that the appropriate penalty would be to bar the vicar from holding a licence or obtaining permission to officiate in any church in Wales.

To parishioners, the vicar later likened his situation to that of a surgeon who started shaking .

He partly blamed his actions on being in charge of a huge parish and tending to the demands of his parishioners.

One of them said: 'He was a person you could go to and he would always try and help you - he never turned anyone away. I think it all got too much for him in the end.'

Mr Waters has now left the parish, having previously spoken of feeling 'burnt out' by his role in the community.

He said: 'The demands have been incredible. I love this parish, I love every single person in this village.'



He added: 'I began going through weird experiences and the doctors think I had a breakdown.

'I was going through a crisis of faith. I felt I was unworthy to be at the altar, that I was letting God down and letting the congregation down. I'm so ashamed.'

Although he has not been defrocked, the ban means if he wishes to apply for a licence or obtain permission to officiate again, he must provide written medical evidence that he is not at risk of repeat behaviour.

It will then be up to the relevant bishop to decide whether to grant such a licence or permission.

A Church In Wales spokesman said: 'The Reverend David Waters was referred to the tribunal in respect of an allegation of conduct giving just cause for scandal or offence.

'Having admitted the offence, Mr Waters has been inhibited from holding a licence or obtaining permission to officiate in any diocese in the Church In Wales.

'The tribunal recognised that at the time of the offences the Reverend David Waters was suffering from a form of mental illness.'

Another parishioner said: 'He told us he was going through a crisis of faith and simply felt burnt out.'