Father Michael Higginbottom targeted two children separately while they boarded at St Joseph’s College, a school for students aged 12 to 18 in Upholland, Lancashire.
During a two-week trial at Burnley Crown Court, jurors heard that he “regularly, systematically and horrifically” abused the boys, with prosecutor David Temkin saying: “They were both threatened with violence and both were struck with a strap or a belt.”
After being convicted of five counts of buggery and seven of indecent assault, 76-year-old Higginbottom was jailed for 18 years, half in prison and half on licence.
Judge Andrew Woolman, sentencing Higginbottom on Tuesday, told him: “You were in the highest position of trust in relation to these boys, who you abused in a quite appalling way.
“I have no doubt that you specifically targeted these boys.
“These acts were accompanied, time after time, by threats or actual violence under the guise of a normal school punishment.”
Higginbottom was originally found guilty at Liverpool Crown Court in April 2017 of offences relating to the first complainant, but these convictions were quashed in November last year by the Court of Appeal.
It was ruled then that a retrial would be necessary as jurors had not been given full details of the complainant’s conviction for fraud by false representation, which were not available at the time of the original trial.
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