A CHURCH deacon was cleared of repeatedly raping a 14-year-old boy after the youngster admitted that he had lied.

The teenager had claimed that Anthony Childs, 69, had sex with him and indecently assaulted him on several occasions. In court he confessed to lying to police and jurors, and accepted that he had previously made false allegations of a similar nature.

Tana Adkin, for the prosecution, told Harrow Crown Court that she had been given clear instructions not to continue with the case.

Earlier Ms Adkin had said that the deacon, supervisor of a church youth club, had abused the youngster between October 2004 and February last year. The lay minister, from Stanmore, northwest London, denied any wrongdoing.

Judge Dawn Freedman told jurors why the case had collapsed and explained why it was necessary for them to return not guilty verdicts on two counts of rape and three of sexual assault. “It is right that I should tell you because reference has been made to two pieces of evidence,” she began.

The first involved a medical examination which had failed to find any sign of injury. Secondly, an expert witness called by the defence had made it clear that DNA traces found on the boy’s tracksuit “could not be said” to have either come from the defendant or originated from semen.

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