A LAY preacher at a Southampton church has been jailed for 30 months for sexually abusing a teenager.

Colin Lemay, 64, wiped away tears as a judge imposed the sentence.

The city crown court heard the indecency happened more than 20 years ago when Lemay was involved with St Mary's Youth Church in St Monica Road, Sholing. It began with a remark made to a 14-year-old boy at a urinal and Lemay regularly assaulted him after they had gone swimming.

On one occasion, Lemay took the youth to London and they went around sex shops in Soho. That evening he committed a serious sexual offence against him. He repeated the incident in a field in Guildford.

The crimes came to light after the youth married and told his father. They went to see the vicar, the Rev Bruce Hartnell, and Lemay admitted what he had done. The court heard police were informed and Lemay confessed.

Lemay, of Wingate Drive, Sholing, pleaded guilty to three charges, including gross indecency and indecent assault. As well as the jail sentence, he was ordered to be placed on the sex offenders' register for ten years.

Judge David Griffiths, who read several references, said he took into account the defendant's previous good character, his co-operation with the authorities and his "extremely good'' work with young people.

"I accept your remorse is genuine and you have a genuine desire to make amends for this behaviour. I also accept there was no coercion, persuasion and physical injury to the boy.''

The judge said he considered whether he could pass a suspended sentence but his conduct represented "a gross and wholly abuse of trust" placed in him by the church and the victim's family.

Richard Onslow, mitigating, said there had been no contact between the pair since the offences. They had not been repeated and widespread publicity in the parish about the case had not brought any further complaints.

Asking the judge to impose a non-custodial sentence for what he described as an exceptional case, Mr Onslow said: "He is assessed as not being a risk to the public. He accepts what he did all those years ago was improper and illegal.He is now of an age of not wanting to do this again.''