Sex Assault Accused Priest Vickery House "Denied Gay Feelings"

BBC News
October 19, 2015

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-34576470

Vickery House is on trial at the Old Bailey

A retired priest accused of indecent assault told a court he spent 40 years "in denial" of his homosexual feelings.

Vickery House, 69, of West Sussex also said he had a sexual relationship with a man while at theological college.

Mr House, of Brighton Road, Handcross kept the relationship secret and married his childhood sweetheart.

At the Old Bailey, the retired Church of England priest denies eight charges of indecent assault against six males aged 15 to 34, between 1970 and 1986.

The court heard that Mr House, who has been married for 47 years and has two children, was aged 18 when he had his first sexual encounter with a male.

He told the jury that this was the first time he had ever told anyone, apart from his legal team, about the relationship he regarded as "a sin".

'Dutch courage'

Years later, in 1977, he "mistakenly" made a sexual advance on a young monk who was visiting him at his family home in Devon.

He recalled how he had taken "Dutch courage" before making his move on the man, thinking their "relationship had developed to such a point that he would be receptive".

Sarah Elliott QC, for the defence, asked: "Would you have made that advance if you thought he would not be receptive?"

Mr House replied: "No, he was too good a friend to lose."

"If by any chance it went drastically wrong, my whole career, my life would have been over so I had to be as clear and careful as possible that my advances would be accepted," he told the court.

He admitted making sexual advances to men over the years, but only if he felt sure they would be reciprocated.

"I spent 40 years in denial, repressing any of these incidents. It is the only way to survive in the Church of England," he said.

"If they had come out I would have lost my job, our friends would have had to know, I would have lost everything."

The trial continues.