Outrage as serial abuser escapes jail because he is “a man of faith”

A predatory paedophile walked free from court yesterday after admitting a string of sex attacks on children, including an 18-month-old baby. Michael Porter, 38, used his trusted position as a prominent Jehovah’s Witness to prey on youngsters, many of them children of members of the church.

In court he pleaded guilty to 24 counts of indecent assault and gross indecency over 15 years. But at Bristol crown court Judge Tom Crowther handed him a three-year community rehabilitation order after hearing he had undergone therapy and, according to the BBC, after being impressed that Porter was “a man of faith”. Full details of the case here:

Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said: “The fact that this man escaped a jail term because the judge took into account that he was ‘a man of faith’ is a disgraceful abuse of the law. What if he had been an atheist? Would that have meant he went straight to jail? You cannot have a legal system that favours people because they claim to be religious. This is a very disturbing development.”