A PAEDOPHILE preacher could be jailed for life after pleading guilty to sexually abusing young boys.

Keith Morton molested one of the children while he was working at a Methodist church in Darlington.

The 43-year-old American was due to be sentenced this week, but the case was adjourned after more allegations came to light.

One alleged victim from the US came forward after Morton’s last court appearance with claims about sexual assaults dating back more than a decade. The information has been passed to Darlington police and the allegations are being investigated.

At Stafford Crown Court, Judge John Wait told Morton a lengthy jail sentence was “inevitable – whether determinate or indefinite.”

Morton has been in jail in the Midlands since July last year, when he was arrested over claims of sexual assault against two boys under 16 while he worked as a lay preacher at a church in Litchfield, Staffordshire, between 2002 and 2004.

He pleaded guilty in November to ten offences, but sentencing was adjourned after a victim from Darlington, where he was based at Elm Ridge Church from September 2006, came forward.

This week, he pleaded guilty to eight new charges, including five of sexually abusing a boy in Darlington between April 2007 and April 2008. The others were for molesting a boy in Litchfield in 2007.

Antonie Muller, prosecuting, said sentencing had to be adjourned so that pre-sentence reports from his last hearing could be updated to take into account the latest charges and to assess the allegations from America.

He said: “The report does not encompass the true extent of Mr Morton’s guilt and the assessment of his dangerousness does not take these pleas into account.

“As a consequence of publicity over the case, the new indictments occurred after complainants came out of the woodwork. That has happened again.”

Morton cannot be tried in the UK for offences that took place overseas, but the claims could influence the length of time he spends in jail.

He could face further prosecution in the US when, or if, he is released from prison.

Morton spoke only to confirm his name and enter pleas. The court heard that a number of his victims had travelled from across the country with their families to see him sentenced.

He pleaded not guilty to a ninth charge of sexual assault against a boy under 16, and the charge was dropped after the Crown Prosecution Service consulted with the complainant, who was watching from the public gallery. That charge will lie on the file.

Morton was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and served in the Army before going on to study at university in Florida and New Jersey.

He moved to the UK to work with the Methodist church in 2000, and spent a year teaching in Tachov, the Czech Republic, before moving to the North-East.

Following his guilty pleas last year, Elm Ridge’s superintendent minister, the Rev Philip Clarke, said the church was “shocked and saddened”

by the case. Morton was sacked and banned from working with children in the church for life.

A statement issued by the church said all staff were subject to Criminal Records Bureau checks to ensure children are protected.

The case has been adjourned to mid-June. Morton was ordered to remain in custody at HMP Birmingham.