A paedophile vicar who raped a six-year-old boy in his church has died behind bars, just five months after he was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.
Ifor Whittaker, 80, was condemned as a ‘predatory paedophile’ when he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of eight years in November last year.
The sick former Church of England priest had baptised the little boy who he went on to abuse in the vestry of St John the Baptist Church in Sedlescombe, East Sussex, in the 1990s while working under the name Colin Pritchard.
Whittaker was already serving a 16-year sentence for abusing a boy between 1987 and 1991, and was jailed for five years in 2008 for abusing two children between 1979 and 1983.
He died in prison on March 31 at HMP Littlehey, a Category C prison in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, for men who have been convicted of sexual offences.
One of Whittaker’s victims, Phil Johnson, 59, said that the horrors the vicar inflicted have ‘dominated’ his life, and that he had finally ‘got what he deserved’.
Mr Johnson, who now runs support groups for adult survivors of child sexual abuse, was the first person to report Whittaker to the authorities in the late 1990s, when he was 29.
He told MailOnline: ‘I certainly won’t grieve for him. But I’m not going to celebrate it either. He eventually got what he deserved.
Ifor Whittaker, 80, was condemned as a ‘predatory paedophile’ when he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of eight years in November last year
One of Whittaker’s victims, Phil Johnson, 59, (pictured) said that the horrors the vicar inflicted have ‘dominated’ his life, and that he had finally ‘got what he deserved’
‘I’ve got very mixed feelings about it. It’s the end of a chapter, but it just wasn't a very happy chapter of the book.
‘This has absolutely dominated my life for the last 30 years. The abuse I suffered went on for a decade of my childhood, and then when I reported it, the two major police investigations, who major police operations, three criminal trial, the public inquiry, five reviews into the cases.
‘None of them quite entirely got to the truth.’
Mr Johnson was not informed of the paedophile’s death before MailOnline contacted him. The Diocese has confirmed that it was notified previously, although they have had no further details since.
He believes there is still much to be done to reveal the true extent of Whittaker’s crimes.
He added: ‘I think I should have been notified. If there are going to be media reports I think it’s far better that the church should reach out to victims and survivors than them just stumble across it in the media.’
He continued: ‘So little of what Pritchard – as I knew him – has come out.
‘Myself and my brother were being abused by Roy Cotton, a priest in Eastbourne. I was taken on a trip to Wellingbury, Northamptonshire, where I was abused by Colin Pritchard.
‘I was taken to a party and I believe I was drugged. I don’t know what happened to me, but I know it wasn’t good.
‘I woke up 24 hours later in Colin Pritchard’s bed completely naked. When I eventually got up I felt like someone had put an axe through my head – that bad a headache.
In one case, the sick former Church of England priest had baptised the little boy who he went on to abuse in the vestry of St John the Baptist Church in Sedlescombe, East Sussex (pictured) in the 1990s while working under the name Colin Pritchard
‘And then he very violently sexually assaulted me in his kitchen in the vicarage.
‘There is a huge amount to be done. Even in the most recent trial he denied the charges right up until the sentencing and then changed his plea to guilty. At every turn the victims and survivors have been denied their day in court.
‘Most of what he has done has not been heard in a court of law, has not been tested, the victims and witnesses have not been given the opportunity to tell their story publicly. Some of them would like to have been able to do that, including myself.
‘I think it is a sad and terrible case in that so many mistakes were made over the years.
‘Colin Pritchard was an evil, nasty, predatory, violent offender, and he was effectively protected and allowed to continue doing these things by the system that's supposed to protect people and by an organization that's supposed to be loving and caring.’
The latest victim to come forward revealed his terror in court last year, saying he had tried to bury his horrifying memories but ‘it had come back to him in pieces over the years’.
Sentencing, Juge Gary Lucie said: ‘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.'
He continued: 'You have been responsible for committing serious sexual offences against four young boys over a long period whilst abusing your position as a trusted member of the community as a vicar.
'This offending is of the most serious kind.'
Whittaker’s case was among a series of priests who committed ‘appalling sexual abuse against children’, named in an independent report commissioned by the Diocese of Chichester.
Whittaker died in prison on March 31 at HMP Littlehey, a Category C prison in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, for men who have been convicted of sexual offences
Over a 50-year period 18 members of the clergy were convicted of offences, with the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse saying victims saying parishioners thought priests were ‘above reproach’.
Report authors Professor David Shemmings and his wife Yvonne, child protection experts at the University of Kent, said they had aimed to expose the ‘devious methods of grooming’ and ‘patterns within the organisation itself’.
He continued: ‘They were told that it wasn't the priest abusing them, it was at the insistence of God because they had sinned.’
The extent of his horrifying abuse was revealed by Mr Johnson in an investigation by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
He was taken to stay with Whittaker by Roy Cotton – another priest who had groomed him aged 10 while working at St Andrew’s Church in Eastbourne.
Describing the abuse as ‘the most frightening evening of my life’, he was plied with alcohol before waking the next morning naked in Whittaker’s bed with no memory of the last night.
He was then brutally sexually assaulted by Whittaker in his kitchen, ‘grabbing at my genitals under my dressing gown to such an extent that he cut my penis with his fingernail’.
Both men were arrested in December 1997, 15 months after Mr Johnson reported them to Sussex Police.
Whittaker had permission to officiate until 2007, when it was suspended. In August 2008, the Bishop of Colchester John Hind wrote to victims saying: ‘Abuse is always inexcusable, and I am particularly sad and appalled to hear of incidents involving clergy of this diocese.’ Pictured:St John the Baptist Church in Sedlescombe, East Sussex
The report found that there was no evidence in this time that the force made efforts to prevent them having contact with children and Sussex Police later revealed they did not ‘share any sensitive information’ with the church.
When the Diocesan Child Protection Adviser learnt of the arrests and contacted the investigating officer, they declined to share the victims’ names or any description of the allegations, including their nature and severity.
They told Mr Johnson in 1999 that they were taking no further action against either priest due to a lack of corroborating evidence.
A warrant was executed against Whittaker’s address in 2006, after another young man contacted Northamptonshire Police station alleging abuse when he was a young teenager, including masturbation, oral sex and attempted anal penetration.
In 2007, the force contacted the Diocese for the vicar’s records and requested the files of Mr Johnson after identifying him as a possible victim.
Sussex Police said they were ‘unable to locate it’ and that the officer was ‘unable to remember anything he had investigated previously’. They later confirmed all records of the investigation had been destroyed in 2004, as their police was to dispose of child sexual offences files after five years.
Whittaker was arrested and charged, before pleading guilty to seven counts of indecent assault and gross indecency in July 2008.
He had permission to officiate until 2007, when it was suspended. In August 2008, the Bishop of Colchester John Hind wrote to victims saying: ‘Abuse is always inexcusable, and I am particularly sad and appalled to hear of incidents involving clergy of this diocese.’
He continued: ‘Whilst the Church of England cannot accept responsibility for the personal actions of abusers, it deeply regrets these actions and has compassion for all who have suffered.’
