Ex-Anglican Vicar Receives Life Sentence for Child Rape in Church Vestry

An ex-Anglican vicar has received a life imprisonment sentence, with a mandatory minimum period of eight years, after confessing to the rape of a child within his parish. Ifor Whittaker, aged 80, pleaded guilty to charges of rape and gross indecency involving a boy. These acts occurred in the vestry of St John the Baptist Church in Sedlescombe, East Sussex, where he was then serving as a priest, known by the name Colin Pritchard. The crimes are understood to have happened in the late 1990s, at which point the victim was a young child. Judge Gary Lucie noted that Whittaker had performed the victim’s baptism and that the child was frequently entrusted to his care. Addressing Whittaker, the judge stated: “You told him… it would be your little secret. Even now he still suffers with mental health issues and had flashbacks.” The judge further commented: “There are, in my opinion, serious concerns that you remain a danger to young children. You are a predatory paedophile, I doubt that you will ever cease to be a danger to young boys.” The sentencing of Whittaker took place on Tuesday at Hove Crown Court. In 2018, Whittaker received a 16-year prison sentence for sexually abusing a boy and for conspiring with a different priest to abuse the same child. During that previous sentencing, the presiding judge remarked that the abuser had “plied the victim with alcohol” and had “emotionally blackmailed the boy by saying ‘no one would believe you over a priest'”. Prior to this, in 2008, he had been incarcerated for five years for abusing two children in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, an abuse that occurred between 1979 and 1983. A representative for the Diocese of Chichester stated that its safeguarding team collaborated closely with Sussex Police regarding the case from the time it was reported. They commented that the imposed sentence mirrored “the terrible nature of his crimes”. They further added: “The victim in this case has shown extraordinary courage in coming forward to report Whittaker’s crimes.” “We apologise unreservedly to him for the appalling abuse he suffered,” they concluded. Detective Constable Nicky Beard of Sussex Police remarked: “Ifor Whittaker is a predator who used his position of trust in the community to rape and sexually abuse young children.” She emphasized: “That level of betrayal must not be underestimated.” “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,” she added.