Former Vicar Jailed for Sex Attacks on Boys, Evening Telegraph, July 28, 2008

Former Vicar Jailed for Sex Attacks on Boys

Evening Telegraph

July 28, 2008

http://www.northantset.co.uk/news/Former-vicar-jailed-for-sex.4332333.jp

Sexual acts performed on boys aged 12 and 15

A retired parish priest from Wellingborough was jailed for five years today after he admitted sex attacks on two young boys.Collin Pritchard, 64, was in charge of a church in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, in the early 1980s when he committed the offences, Northampton Crown Court was told.

The two victims, now adults, sat in court today to see the ex-clergyman admit four counts of indecent assault and three counts of committing an act of gross indecency.

Six of the seven offences were committed against one boy, who was aged between 12 and 15 at the time.

Jailed for sex offences Colin Pritchard

Sentencing Pritchard, Judge Christopher Metcalf told him: "It was the most appalling breach of trust. I'm afraid it's clear to me from the evidence that you have betrayed your calling.

"You took advantage of young boys who wanted to involve themselves in your church."

The court heard how Pritchard "groomed" one of the victims, inviting him to his home and even taking him on trips away, including a stop-over in London and a camping trip in France.

The child's mother, a church-goer, gave her son permission, trusting the leader of her church, the court was told.

But soon Pritchard was kissing the child when the pair were alone, inviting him into his bed and then involving him in sexual acts.

When the youngster asked the priest about telling others of their relationship, Pritchard told him: "Oh, they wouldn't understand because it's very special. They would stop us seeing each other."

But years later, when the victim was a father himself and about to enrol his son in a Church of England school, he told a member of the clergy about Pritchard and the priest was arrested.

In a victim impact statement, he said: "I hate what he did to me, how it makes me feel and the person it turns me into.

"He was a person in a position of trust who abused that position in the worst way possible. Nothing can make up for the pain I have suffered."

Pritchard's second victim was introduced to him by another member of the clergy, Anglican rector Roy Cotton, who died in September 2006.

This child was abused by both Cotton and Pritchard, the court heard, but prosecutors decided there was not enough evidence to charge Cotton before his death.

However, when the victim was interviewed by police investigating the first victim's complaint there emerged an unholy alliance between Pritchard and Cotton, who knew about each other's "special" relationships with the two children.

He told police of a New Year's Eve when he became drunk in a house with both men and woke up naked with no recollection of how he lost his clothes. In the morning, Pritchard pushed him against a wall in the kitchen and sexually abused him.

"When your first sexual experiences are with over-weight, middle-aged men who are older than you, they stay with you," said the second victim in an impact statement given to police.

Pritchard, now of Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, retired from the church on health grounds in 1989.

Mitigating, Icah Peart QC said his client had allowed his affection for the boys to affect his good sense. "There can be no excuse for allowing himself to behave as he did," the lawyer said.

The Peterborough and Chichester Dioceses issued a statement after today's hearing, which said: "We were dismayed to hear of the charges brought against Mr Pritchard. The Church of England takes child protection very seriously.

"In accordance with established practice, his permission to officiate in Chichester Diocese was suspended pending the outcome of the case.

"Both dioceses have co-operated fully with the police in their inquiries. The crimes were a betrayal of the standards expected of clergy, and we offer our sympathy to the victims of the crimes and their families. Appropriate pastoral support is available to them.

"A full review of this case will be undertaken, as part of the current review of historic reports of abuse that has been commissioned in each diocese by the House of Bishops, and carried out by independent reviewers."