Army padre who bribed woman to withdraw sexual assault claim dismissed from service

An Army Padre has been dismissed from the services and ordered to complete community service after he pressured a female soldier to withdraw an allegation of sexual assault. 

Rev Capt Huw Ryden of the Army Chaplaincy Department was convicted at Catterick Military Court Centre of Conduct Prejudicial to Good Order and Service Discipline after he offered a female private soldier £3,000 to drop a complaint of sexual assault against another soldier.

He has now been dismissed from HM Forces and ordered to complete 240 hours of community service within an 18-month period.

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Sentencing, Judge JA Legard described Rev Ryden's conduct as "inexcusable" and said serving personnel should be able to trust their padres as sources of counsel and guidance.

Prosecutor Captain Frances Coles-Hendry Royal Navy of the Service Prosecuting Authority said Rev Ryden "misused his position to attempt to persuade a vulnerable victim to withdraw her complaint of sexual assault". 

"This is completely contrary to the values of the British Army and undermines the good work being done to improve the experience of servicewomen," he added.

Lucy Baston, a lawyer with the Centre for Military Justice, previously told BFBS Forces News that Rev Ryden used classic victim-blaming attitudes that could deter other women from coming forward with their experiences of sexual assault.

"I think that it provides an example of a really appalling checklist of rape myths and stereotypes, and things that you shouldn't say to a victim of sexual assault when they're reporting that to you," she said. 

"It only takes comments like that for women to decide they might not want to pursue their complaint or they don't want to report these behaviours."

Ms Baston also called for the creation of an independent and impartial complaints unit to investigate allegations of sexual assault within the military. 

The MOD has been developing a tri-service complaints unit to allow the most serious types of allegations to be dealt with outside individual services' chains of command. However, progress has been slow.

A pilot has been completed and legislative changes were expected by summer 2026, according to evidence given in March, but no further updates have been forthcoming.