A vicar has been jailed for life for raping a six-year-old boy in the vestry of his church in what a judge described as “an egregious breach of trust”.
Ifor Whittaker, 80, was known as the Reverend Colin Pritchard when he twice raped the boy who cannot be named by law.
At Hove Crown Court this afternoon (Tuesday 19 November) Judge Gary Lucie jailed Whittaker for life, with a minimum term of eight years.
He was also given a sentence of six years and eight months, to be served concurrently, for the second count.
Whittaker admitted raping the child in the vestry of St John the Baptist Church, in Sedlescombe, near Hastings, in the late 1990s. It was the church where he baptised the boy.
Judge Lucie imposed a discretionary life sentence and told Whittaker, who appeared by video link: “You are a predatory paedophile and have been for many years.
“I doubt that you will ever cease to be a serious danger to young boys but that risk cannot be reliably estimated at this time.”
The judge said: “This was an egregious abuse of trust.”
He said that the former vicar was trusted so implicitly that the boy was left in his care. Family members were “entitled to assume that you would protect him from harm not expose him to it in the most depraved way”.
Judge Lucie added: “In my judgment, the combination of offences is so serious that only custody can be justified, and … the appropriate sentence in this case, on count 1 (rape), is a sentence of life imprisonment.”
Whittaker, a former Church of England priest, has been jailed twice before for similar offences.
He was sentenced to 16 years in 2018 for sexually abusing a boy from 1987 to 1991 and he was jailed for five years in 2008 for offences against two children in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, from 1979 to 1983.
Judge Lucie told Whittaker: “You have been responsible for committing serious sexual offences against four young boys over a long period while abusing your position as a trusted member of the community as a vicar. This offending is of the most serious kind.”
The judge also said: “Your offending has obviously had a very serious and long-lasting impact on (the victim’s) life.”
A man who was abused by Whittaker more than 40 years ago, Phil Johnson, watched and listened as the former priest was sentenced this afternoon.
Mr Johnson said: “This is a really powerful message because, in nearly 30 years of being involved in cases like this, I’ve never heard of a life sentence being handed down in this way before.”
A life sentence represented “moral justice”, he said, because the harm and damage caused by Whittaker’s abuse was lifelong for those he targeted.
Mr Johnson, 59, from Eastbourne, who has waived his right to life-long anonymity, runs support groups for adult survivors of child sexual abuse.
He said that the life sentence also sent a powerful signal to other victims that there was hope – and to abusers that they too could face a similar stretch.
He first reported Whittaker and a fellow priest Roy Cotton to the police and the church several years before the six-year-old boy was raped. Cotton died before he could be brought to justice.
Mr Johnson said: “Had the police and the church taken these allegations more seriously, this offence wouldn’t have happened. Whittaker wasn’t even suspended from his job while he was on police bail.
“That’s just utterly appalling. Thankfully, things have changed and improved since then but it’s been a long and hard battle.
“I would encourage other victims and survivors to come forward and speak about their abuse because it’s only by doing that that we can prevent these things happening in the future.
“I would encourage people to get support. Talk about it. The more you talk about it, the easier it gets.”
Sussex Police said that the initial investigation into Whittaker did not result in a conviction and the force recognised the effect that this had on the victims of that investigation.
The force said: “We have made significant improvements to how sex offences are understood and investigated in the intervening years and remain fully committed to bringing offenders to justice.”
Sussex Police investigator Nicky Beard also urged other victims of sexual offending to report it to the police, adding: “We will listen to you.”
Outside court, she said: “Ifor Whittaker is a predator who used his position of trust in the community to rape and sexually abuse young children.
“That level of betrayal must not be underestimated. Whittaker christened the victim in this investigation as a baby. He had earned the trust of his family – but he went on to abuse him in the most appalling way.
“The effects of that abuse have lasted a lifetime but he has shown incredible strength and courage to report Whittaker’s crimes to police and ensure he has faced justice.
“I hope this outcome can provide some level of closure as he continues to come to terms with the trauma while Whittaker spends most, if not all, of the rest of his life behind bars.
“If you are a victim of sexual offending, no matter how long ago, please report it to the police. Don’t suffer in silence. Sometimes just reporting an incident can make a huge difference.
“We will listen to you. We will support you. And we will do everything we can to get you the justice you deserve.”
The Diocese of Chichester apologised unreservedly for the “appalling abuse” suffered by the victim.
The way that the church handled Whittaker’s offending has been detailed in a number of reports including in a case study for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
The diocese said: “That history makes clear that there were a number of serious safeguarding errors made prior to his 2008 conviction, for which this diocese has offered unreserved apologies and from which we continue to draw lessons for our current safeguarding practice.
“This case should remind us of the vital importance of prioritising the safety of children above any other consideration, listening to survivors of abuse and ensuring that every concern is reported to the statutory authorities without delay.”
