'Eunuch Maker' ex-vicar sentenced to 3 years for nail scissors body modification

A retired vicar who was caught on video cutting a man's penis with nail scissors as part of a 'Eunuch Maker' extreme body modification ring has been jailed for three years.

Geoffrey Baulcomb was seen performing a procedure, which involved enlarging the opening of a man’s urethra, in a nine-second video which was found on his own phone. The incident, which the former vicar used nail scissors to carry out, took place on January 4, 2020, the Old Bailey previously heard.

In June, the 79-year-old defendant, from Eastbourne, East Sussex, pleaded guilty to one count of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

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He previously admitted seven charges, including possessing extreme pornography and making and distributing images of children on or before December 14, 2022. Prosecutors said some of the material included moving images which had been on the eunuch maker website, run by 47-year-old Norwegian national Marius Gustavson.

Gustavson was jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years last year after a court heard he made almost £300,000 through his website, where thousands of users paid to watch procedures, including castrations. Baulcomb was said to have been an "acquaintance" of Gustavson, and the pair exchanged more than 10,000 messages with each other over a four-year period.

The Old Bailey was told last year that the extreme body modification group was linked to a subculture where men become 'nullos' - short for genital nullification. The practice involves men having their penis and testicles removed.

During a search of Baulcomb's home in December 2022, police seized surgical tools, medical supplies, drugs and a Burdizzo clamp - a type of clamp used in castrations that is used to break the blood vessels that supply the testicles. During the raid, Baulcomb tried to submerge his iPhone in a toilet - but it was recovered and the download revealed material across two indictments.

Gustavson and nine other men previously admitting to being involved in the 'Eunuch Maker' ring, which was described by one victim as having a "cult-like" atmosphere. The sentencing judge described the surgeries carried out by the group as "little short of human butchery".

Baulcomb was ordained as a priest in 1970 and worked in Chichester, West Sussex, according to the Church of England website. He previously admitted to distributing an indecent photo of a child in March 2020 and three counts of making indecent images of children on or before December 2022. He also pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing extreme pornographic images, amounting to 195 images.

Baulcomb retired from full-time ministry in the Church of England in 2003. According to the diocese of Chichester, he applied for "permission to officiate", which allows clergy to officiate at church services even if they have retired, when he moved to Sussex the year after retiring.

However, Baulcomb was banned for life from exercising his Holy Orders after a tribunal last year heard he was issued with a caution after police found crystal meth and ketamine at his home in December 2022. He claimed experimenting with drugs or letting his Eastbourne home be used by those who take drugs would "better enable him to relate and minister to people with difficulties as part of his pastoral care."

Following this, the diocese said the Bishop of Chester immediately removed Baulcomb's permission to officiate after being contacted by police, adding that bail conditions prevented him from attending church or entering any Church of England premises.

Today, during the sentencing, Matthew Gowen, mitigating for Baulcomb said he had been a respected figure in his community and within the church, where he carried out pastoral work with vulnerable people.

He told the court: “A number of people have known Mr Baulcomb for a considerable period of time. Those that have known him within the church environment know of the good work, the exemplary work he has done, not just as a vicar but also in the wider community.”

Mr Gowen said the majority of Baulcomb’s contact with the victim was online and “it is clear he regarded Mr Gustavson as a fantasist”. He added: “It is abundantly clear and obviously relevant that [the victim] was not simply consenting to the procedure. There are many messages showing he was very much the instigator of what happened. He described it as a fun and very enjoyable night.”

Mr Gowen stressed that the procedure had involved only “two small cuts”, not the removal of body parts, and that Baulcomb had previously carried out the same on himself without adverse effects.

He said drugs consumed that night were brought by the victim, adding: “It is not a case where the victim was plied with them nor were they forced on him.” The barrister told the court: “Any custodial sentence is going to be very challenging for him, not just by virtue of his age but particularly given the practical considerations of that.

“He is clearly the main actor in his downfall but these offences have eroded his reputation in his church and his family. That is a consequence of his actions but it is something he has struggled with and continues to struggle with.”

Sentencing him, Judge Mark Lucraft KC said the case fell into the most serious category given the nature of the procedure, the planning involved, and the fact that it had been filmed.

He said: “There are some aspects of the offending here that might suggest it is in the highest category. With any extreme body modification feature there has to be some planning. In my judgment this is a category A case. The procedure and resulting injury is something that is serious. It is an aggravating feature that the procedure was filmed, bearing in mind the obvious sexual nature of this offence."

The judge said Baulcomb had no previous convictions, but told him: “When interviewed you sought to distance yourself from what was done and downplay the significance of your offending. You sought to minimise the potential for harm of what you were doing. As I observed over the course of this hearing, the extreme pornographic images here are concerning.”

Baulcomb was sentenced to two years and six months for the GBH offence, with a further six months for the indecent images offences, making a total of three years.