In his own words: sex charges vicar speaks

The Rev Peter Jarvis, now of Clares Green Road, Spencers Wood, has been giving evidence in the third week of his trial at Reading Crown Court.
Previously the jury heard one boy claim that “Pete” had turned up unexpectedly at a party attended by teenagers and wanted to know if he had spent the night with a specific girl, asking: “Was she good then?” before making an explicit, sordid reference to a sexual act.
The boy denied making things up, adding: “I’ve taken the oath and my statement says what happened.”
But, recalling the incident yesterday, Mr Jarvis denied making sexual remarks and explained he had asked if the girl was “all right” - meaning, he said, “was she safe?”
Mr Jarvis denied telling one girl she had a “nice bum.”
But he admitted sending the teenager a message on Facebook after spotting her on television during the Royal wedding celebrations in Bucklebury and said: “It was something along the lines of: ‘You look beautiful on television.’”
Mr Jarvis added: “Now, looking back, that’s an inappropriate phrase, maybe. But I didn’t think.”
He also said another conversation had been misunderstood and denied asking one girl how much she would charge him to sleep with her.
The married priest told jurors: “I did not use those words. She hasn’t told the truth.”
He admitted buying condoms for one underaged girl to protect her sexual health and added: “I believed she was 16.”
Mr Jarvis, aged 50, denies 12 sexual offences against two teenage girls and two teenage boys between June 1, 2008, and October 31, 2011
See next week’s Newbury Weekly News for a full report of Mr Jarvis’ evidence from the witness box.
The trial continues.