JONATHAN REES BRISTOL CHURCH ABUSE SCANDAL: FORMER QUEEN'S CHOIRMASTER SENTENCED

In August 2004, a disturbing case involving a prominent figure in the musical and religious community unfolded in the United Kingdom. Jonathan Rees, a former choirmaster and organist associated with prestigious institutions, was convicted of a long history of child abuse spanning over a decade. The court proceedings revealed a troubling pattern of misconduct that had persisted since the mid-1970s, with Rees operating primarily from his base in Bristol.

Rees, aged 55 at the time of sentencing, was found guilty at Reading Crown Court of multiple counts of indecent assault. The allegations included assaults carried out in various church settings, including cathedral and church crypts, as well as incidents on public transportation. The court heard that Rees had preyed on children over a period of 14 years, with some of the abuse occurring during his tenure at Windsor Castle, where he served as the organist and master of the choir at St George’s Chapel until his resignation in 2002.

Judge Jonathan Playford QC sentenced Rees to five years in prison for the indecent assaults. Additionally, he received a three-month sentence to run consecutively after being convicted of possessing 127 indecent images of children, which were found on two separate computers. The judge condemned Rees’s actions, stating that he had “fallen from the top to the bottom of society” and describing his crimes as “deplorable and offensive to the public.”

Rees, who is married and has two teenage children, was once regarded by colleagues as an exceptional musician. His career included working for various cathedrals and eventually earning a position working for the Queen at Windsor in 1991. Despite his professional success, the court heard harrowing accounts from five men and one woman who recounted childhood abuse inflicted by Rees in locations such as cathedral organ lofts, church crypts, and even on public transport.

During the trial, Rees-Williams admitted to five counts of indecent assault involving two boys. However, he denied a further 10 counts involving boys and three involving a girl. One of the admitted assaults involved a 13-year-old boy whom Rees invited to his house for a drink of juice after a Sunday morning service. In another disturbing incident, Rees-Williams assaulted the same boy while he was experiencing an asthma attack in bed. The victim described the experience, saying, “He sat me on his knee and I remember thinking ‘Oh no, don’t do this again, not now’.”

Rees-Williams also confessed to multiple assaults on a second 13-year-old boy, claiming that the child had initiated the sexual contact. He argued that he feared the boy would tell someone if he ended the relationship, a defense dismissed by prosecutors as an “exercise in role reversal.”

Following the conclusion of the trial, authorities revealed that police had discovered 127 indecent images of children stored on Rees-Williams’s two computers. After the jury found him guilty of indecent assault, Rees-Williams pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children. As part of his sentence, he is now permanently banned from working with children and is required to register on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely, ensuring ongoing monitoring of his activities.