Bishop Of Northampton

The Bishop of Northampton, David Oakley, has been charged with two counts of rape of a girl aged under 16. The alleged offences are said to have taken place between 2000 and 2001 in Staffordshire. He is due to appear at Cannock Magistrates’ Court on 14 August Bishop David Oakley has been charged with two counts of rape of a girl aged under 16. Bishop David Oakley, the Bishop of Northampton, has been charged with two counts of rape. In a statement, Staffordshire Police said: “Bishop David James Oakley, 70, who is White British, of Desborough, Kettering, has been charged with two counts of rape of a female under 16. It follows his arrest in September 2025 following an allegation made to police.” The statement added: “Oakley is due to appear at Cannock Magistrates’ Court on 14 August.” The offences are alleged to have taken place in Staffordshire between February 2000 and February 2001, the force said. Following the announcement, the Diocese of Northampton released its own statement, confirming that “Bishop David Oakley has been charged after an investigation into non-recent safeguarding allegations”. The statement continued by acknowledging that “this will be very distressing for all concerned” but said that it “cannot comment further on an active legal process”. Anyone with further safeguarding concerns is encouraged to contact the diocesan safeguarding team or the police directly. The diocese said that, beyond the statement, it would not be releasing any further information at this time. Bishop Oakley was ordained a priest in 1980 for the Archdiocese of Birmingham by Archbishop George Patrick Dwyer, then Archbishop of Birmingham. He served as rector of St Mary’s College, Oscott, the seminary of the Archdiocese of Birmingham and one of England’s two remaining diocesan seminaries, from 2013 to 2020. During his tenure as rector, controversy arose after a former formation tutor at the seminary wrote an open letter to the bishops of England, Wales and Scotland in which he claimed that he had been “fired from the college for striving to uphold the Church’s teaching on homosexuality”. Following the letter, published in 2018, the then Canon David Oakley told the Tablet : “Fr Marsden was asked to step down from the formation team for a number of reasons. As some of these are subject to legal review I am unable to comment at the moment.” The Archdiocese of Birmingham also released a statement saying: “The Archbishop of Birmingham, The Most Reverend Bernard Longley, and the seminary trustees, have full confidence in the Rector and his staff.” Bishop Oakley was appointed Bishop of Northampton on 8 January 2020 by Pope Francis and ordained bishop by Cardinal Vincent Nichols on 19 March that year. He withdrew from public ministry last year after the police investigation began, with Canon Michael Harrison, Vicar General, provisionally leading the governance of the diocese.