Andrew Soper (also known as Father Laurence Soper) said his whole life had been “ruined” by the allegations over to his time as headmaster and senior priest at fee-paying St Benedict’s School in Ealing, west London.
While on police bail over accusations dating back to the 1970s and 80s, Soper went on the run in Kosovo – but was extradited back to England face trial at the Old Bailey.
Ten former pupils have made allegations against him, including that he used the cane as a ruse to sexually assault and rape them.
Jane Humphryes, QC, defending, asked the defendant: “Have you ever sexually assaulted any of the complainants from this trial?”
The former Ealing abbot replied: “Never.”
His lawyer asked him to explain why he fled Rome for Kosovo while under investigation by police in Britain in 2011.
He said: “My stupidity and cowardice and wishing to bury my head in the sand played a big part.
“If you want to destroy a priest, vicar, anybody, all you have to do is make an accusation up against them. Their future is ruined, their character is ruined.
“Their past is ruined because the whole thing is re-interpreted – everything you have done in the past and tried to do for good – in sexual terms. You must have been in it for something.
“By the time I fled on March 4 2011, I had been on police bail for six months and I had a phone call from a solicitor in England saying I was going to be re-bailed for another three months.
“The pressures I suppose on anybody being on…
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