A woman, who said she was 11 when a retired vicar sexually assaulted her, gave evidence yesterday to Reading Crown Court.

Brian Spence, 74, faces nine counts of indecent assault involving four girls aged under 16.

All the offences are alleged to have taken place between 1995 and November, 1999 when Spence – known then as Father Brian – was vicar of St John the Baptist Church in Crowthorne.

Former Crowthorne vicar in court on indecent assault charges

He was more recently priest-in-charge at St Mark’s Church in Englefield before he retired.

The jury watched a police interview recorded in 2012, in which the woman, now 30, described the incident as “a burden which I have carried with me since I was 11”.

She continued: “I remember being very fond of him when I first met him, he seemed like a nice vicar.

“He always seemed to be very fond of girls in particular.”

The woman described how on the day of a family member’s birthday Spence was asked to look after her between wedding ceremonies that she was singing in.

The woman explained that between the weddings Spence sexually assaulted her in three separate areas of the church building, including touching her in the area of her vagina in the church kitchen and forcibly kissing her in the vicar’s vestibule.

“I didn’t have an understanding of what was happening,” explained the woman in her interview.

After that the woman said she made sure not to be alone with Spence but never told anyone about the abuse until she was about 23 or 24 when she told an ex-boyfriend.

Alexia Durrin, defending, cross-examined the woman.

She said to the woman that she had said in her interview the abuse was always brought back up in her mind when a stressful situation rears it head.

Miss Durrin said: “Do you make this allegation when you are looking for sympathy?”

To which the woman replied: “Not at all.”

Cross examination of the witness continues today.

Spence denies all the charges.