A former altar boy molested by a Catholic priest more than 20 years ago said he wished he “had not bothered” to report it to police.

He spoke out after Malcolm McLennan avoided being sent to jail for indecent assault, an offence he committed while assistant priest at St Simon Stock Church, Walderslade, between 1987 and 1989.

Instead, the 69-year-old was given a three-year community order when he was sentenced at crown court.

His victim, who is in his 30s, travelled to Maidstone to see his abuser in court. Afterwards, he said: “I feel very bitter. I have been let down by the British justice system.

“I went through the correct motions. Now I regret it, I wish I had not bothered. I wish I had dealt with this my way and not gone to the police or through the courts. This is a smack in the face for me.”

The man, who is now married with a family, added: “It was not an easy ride, a real rollercoaster. But this was to be my prize.

"I wanted to see him go down, to see him blubbing. Even if it was for just one month.

“I have been left feeling emotionally abandoned.”

McLennan, now of Teal Close, Quedgeley, Gloucester, admitted molesting the boy when he appeared before Medway magistrates last month.

The court heard McLennan would rub himself up against the victim or give him a cuddle when the boy was changing into his robes while helping at services at the Bleakwood Road church.

One day, he put his hands down the youngster’s underpants and started to touch him.

He reported the matter and was visited by a bishop the following week, who dismissed his allegations by saying: “We’ll have no more of your silly talk”.

After reporting the incident to police in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal, the victim learned McLennan had previously indecently assaulted three church boys - the youngest believed to be five - while working in Tunbridge Wells in the mid-1980s.

The court heard how in 2009 he was jailed for 18 months and placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years for these offences.

He also had convictions for gross indecency dating back to 1973, 1977 and 1989 involving offences in public toilets with men.

Since then, he was said to have turned his life around, starting from when he began attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. He has been alcohol-free for 23 years.

McLennan’s barrister Andrew Espley said he now works as an infirmary assistant looking after ill monks at an abbey in Gloucestershire, where he has no contact with children.

"I wanted to see him go down, to see him blubbing. Even if it was for just one month. I have been left feeling emotionally abandoned” - McLennan's victim

McLennan was given a 36 month community order, with supervision, and a requirement to attend a sex offender programme.

Judge Jeremy Carey said at crown court that the sentence was a “constructive alternative” to a prison sentence as McLennan had already served a minimum of nine months in 2009 for “strikingly similar sexual offences” and could therefore only sentence him to a few more months in prison.

He told McLennan: “You have been punished as a sex offender. You have not committed further sexual offences for many years and I accept you have been leading a non-criminal life of a positive kind.”

After the magistrates’ court hearing, the Archbishop of Southwark Peter Smith told the Messenger: “The Archdiocese greatly regrets the suffering that has been caused to those affected by Malcolm McLennan’s behaviour.

“The Archdiocese has co-operated fully with the police since the first allegation was received in December 2006.”

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