How bishop, 70, ‘raped 15-year-old girl’ after going on pilgrimage to holy town 

THE Bishop of Northampton has appeared in court accused of raping a teenage girl after a pilgrimage to Lourdes.

According to The Sun, David Oakley, 70, allegedly had sex with the girl twice in the early 2000s, when she was just 15 years old.At the time of the alleged offences Oakley was in his mid 40s and working as a Catholic priest.

He was charged in June with two counts of rape of a girl under the age of 16, following an investigation by Staffordshire Police’s Rape and Serious Sexual Offences team.

He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court yesterday via videolink from his lawyer’s office to face the charges for the first time.

Prosecutor Sarah Madden told the court Oakley and the girl had: “started dating… after going on a pilgrimage to Lourdes.”