http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... porn13.xmlPorn drove me out of Navy, says chaplain
By Richard Savill
(Filed: 13/09/2006)
A Royal Navy chaplain quit the service after being told to turn a blind eye to pornography on board two warships, an employment tribunal was told yesterday.
The Rev Mark Sharpe, 37, was so horrified at the amount of pornography below decks that he left training after only a few weeks.
Mr Sharpe has brought a claim against the Ministry of Defence alleging sexual harassment, and discrimination on the grounds of religious affiliation.
Mr Sharpe was a policeman for more than 10 years before becoming a priest. He worked as a curate in York before joining the Navy as a trainee chaplain two years ago. The tribunal in Exeter, Devon, heard that he left the assault ship Albion after only two weeks of his sea training and complained that he had been driven out by pornography.
He was persuaded to stay in the Navy and posted to the destroyer Manchester. But again he said he could not cope with the pornography and left after 10 days.
Mr Sharpe, from Tenbury, Worcs, who has been married for almost 20 years, asked permission to wear his clerical collar on board so as to warn shipmates that he did not want to see their pictures and films. He said he found explicit pictures of women on his bunk aboard Albion and observed messmates watching hardcore DVDs at 7am.
Mr Sharpe said he was prevented from obeying canonical law and his oath of ordination by conditions aboard the warships.
He said special arrangements were made for Muslim sailors to say prayers five times a day but none were made for him even though he was a trainee chaplain.
He said messmates, who knew him as Bish, invited him to a sex club during a run ashore in Fort Lauderdale and suggested he took part in naked drinking games. He said: "I was in the obscene publications squad in the police but this pornography was stuff I had not seen before. On one occasion I found an officer cadet sitting on my bed looking at it and on another I found a library of pornography on my bunk.
" I was asking myself if it was a problem I had to manage or whether I should stand up to it. I did not want to alienate myself but it was horrible. Some of it was extreme.
"I saw a pornographic DVD being played on a laptop and I walked away and indicated I was not comfortable with it.
"I expected people to have pictures of girls but was not aware this level of hardcore pornography would be a routine part of life.
"When I raised it with the others they said it was harmless fun. I was expected to take it as something that comes with putting on a blue suit. On board Manchester I was asked personal questions about sexual positions, which I blanked completely.
"I was asked about celibacy and about whether I preferred the missionary position. These were teasing points.
"I had my bottom smacked but when I looked around there was no one there."
He said he was discouraged from raising his concerns about pornography when he left Albion.
He said: "I met the commodore in charge of the training regime and he was adamant and aggressive that it was not my place to comment on such issues. He made it clear that if I wanted to continue training I should put up and shut up.
"I was afraid of losing my career.
"The consensus was that if I wanted to carry on there were some things I had to learn to live with."
The Navy has admitted sexual harassment but denies discrimination.
The Navy denies condoning pornography aboard its ships and says it was not the true reason for Mr Sharpe leaving the service.
It says he was missing his wife and home and only raised his complaints about pornography when he had decided to leave the service.
The hearing continues.
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Porn drove me out of Navy, says chaplain
Porn drove me out of Navy, says chaplain
[i]‘We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat’ - Queen Victoria, 1899[/i]
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Alfa
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Re: Porn drove me out of Navy, says chaplain
After that statement you know this guy is talking rubbish and must have some kind of agenda.He said: "I was in the obscene publications squad in the police but this pornography was stuff I had not seen before.
Of course it is totally understandable that as a chaplin he'd find porn offensive but it's not illegal anymore so why should it be banned from ships just so he doesn't have to see it.
Last edited by Alfa on Fri 15 Sep, 2006 10:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
Chaplain Harassed By Porn On Ship Wins Claim
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
A Royal Navy chaplain who claimed he was horrified by the hardcore pornography he encountered on board warships yesterday won a sexual harassment case.
The Rev Mark Sharpe said he was kept awake by shipmates watching DVDs that included scenes involving animals, and was ordered to turn a blind eye.
The Ministry of Defence accepted Mr Sharpe, 37, was sexually harassed by being exposed to porn. The father of four is understood to have received a five-figure payout after the tribunal at Exeter.
Rev Sharpe, who left the navy after 24 days at sea, is now a rector in Worcestershire
'Oi', 'You'!... 'Yes You'! Straighten that fu??ing arm or I'll rip it off and beat you round the head with the soggy end!!
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Alfa
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Artist
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Kin good job this ere Sky Pilot never saw the GRONK board we had in 38 mess HMS Fearless then! By heck we'em had some right slappers sending phots to us "Poor Sailers & Marines" from the concerned public after one of the lads sent a begging letter to the SUN newspaper asking for nice ladies to "Adopt" a Sailer/Marine.
One bloke made a point of repling to every letter that had a piccy of a scantly clad Gronk enclosed in it. He ended up shagging quite a few of them whenever we were in harbour. The dirty sod would book a room in this B&B on Southsea Seafront for the weekend (Friday though to Sunday). Check which Gronks looked like they might be up for it, invite them down and arrange to meet them at the Hard railway station. At one stage he had three Gronks all sharing the same bed with him. My but he looked well shagged out come Monday mornings!!!!
Artist
One bloke made a point of repling to every letter that had a piccy of a scantly clad Gronk enclosed in it. He ended up shagging quite a few of them whenever we were in harbour. The dirty sod would book a room in this B&B on Southsea Seafront for the weekend (Friday though to Sunday). Check which Gronks looked like they might be up for it, invite them down and arrange to meet them at the Hard railway station. At one stage he had three Gronks all sharing the same bed with him. My but he looked well shagged out come Monday mornings!!!!
Artist
