Married vicar, 47, quits after being convicted in child porn images case

In a letter to Church of England congregations in the Uttoxeter area of Staffordshire, the Bishop of Lichfield said Dominic Stone had tendered his resignation with immediate effect.

Stone, of Marchington, Staffordshire, was ordered to register as a sex offender last Wednesday after a jury at Stafford Crown Court found him guilty of 16 specimen charges of making indecent photographs.

Jurors took around three-and-a-half hours to unanimously convict the 47-year-old father-of-two, who was granted bail and will be sentenced next month. In his letter to parishioners, the Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Rev Jonathan Gledhill, wrote of his regret that the court process had taken 21 months to conclude following Stone's suspension in January last year.

The Bishop said: "The downloading of indecent images of children is a very serious crime as it not only depicts but also encourages and feeds the real abuse of innocent children.

"The Clergy Discipline Measure is the law which dictates how I deal with complaints against priests.

"This law requires me to wait until the convicted priest has been sentenced before I can consider removing them from their post. However, on Thursday of this week, Dominic tendered his resignation with immediate effect and I have accepted it."

Stone, of Moisty Lane, Marchington, had been the team vicar for the rural parishes of Marchington, Marchington Woodlands, Kingstone and Leigh since the summer of 2002.

Expressing gratitude for the work done by the local ministry team and lay leaders during Stone's suspension, the Bishop of Lichfield said a new priest would be recruited in the New Year.

The Bishop added: "I recognise that this will be scant consolation for you and there will no doubt be a mixture of thoughts, feelings and emotions in the parishes."