Michael Ingram (c. 1932 – 26 August 2000) was an English child psychologist, Catholic priest and convicted sex offender.
Biography
Ordained as a priest in 1964, he trained as a child counsellor at Oxford. He was a Dominican priest at Holy Cross Priory in Leicester.[1][2] He worked as a child psychologist at St. Thomas' Hospital, London.[3]
Ingram presented research at Swansea University's 1977 Love and Attraction conference.[3] He criticised the prosecution of child sex abuse cases in a presentation at the Second International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect in London in 1978.[4] According to Ruth Gledhill, Ingram argued that "paedophiles could do more good to their victims than harm." Ingram's research was repudiated by Bishop of Nottingham James McGuinness[5][6] and he left ordained ministry in 1991.[1]
In August 2000, Ingram was found guilty of seven counts of indecent assault, gross indecency and serious sexual offence against six altar boys at Holy Cross Priory between 1970 and 1978.[1] Shortly before the verdict was handed down, Ingram drove his car into a wall at high speed and was in intensive care in a prison health care facility when the verdict was issued.[1] Ingram died on 26 August 2000 while in custody at HM Prison Leicester.[7]
References
- 1.[1.2][1.3][1.4]Gledhill, Ruth (August 15, 2000). Ex-priest guilty of sex attacks. The Times (London, England), p. 5.
- 2."My concern is for the child -- not the molester". Leicester Mercury. September 21, 1978. p. 17.
- 3.[3.2]"Sex offenders 'can aid child'". The Sunday Telegraph. September 4, 1977. p. 3.
- 4."Priest returns to child-sex fray". The Guardian. September 14, 1978. p. 2.
- 5."Sex Therapy Clinics Win 86pc Success". The Guardian. September 9, 1977. p. 22.
- 6."Priest hits back over child sex". Western Daily Press. September 10, 1977. p. 7.
- 7."Sex offender dies". The Northern Echo. 28 August 2000. p. 3.