LONDON, England – Former priest Chris Brain has been convicted of 17 counts of indecent assault against nine women who were members of a church movement he once led.
Brain, 68, was the founder and head of the Nine O’Clock Service (NOS), a radical evangelical community that rose to prominence in Sheffield during the 1980s and 1990s.
A jury at Inner London Crown Court delivered the verdicts on Wednesday, finding him guilty on multiple charges but acquitting him of 15 others.
Brain, from Wilmslow in Cheshire, showed no visible reaction as the decisions were read out.
Jurors are still considering four additional indecent assault charges and one count of rape, with deliberations expected to resume on Thursday.
The case has cast renewed scrutiny on the Nine O’Clock Service, once celebrated as a pioneering youth-focused church movement before collapsing amid allegations of sexual and spiritual abuse.
