Right hand man of disgraced Bishop of Lewes Vickery House convicted of molesting teenagers

Guilty: Verity House
PA
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A former priest who abused the same young men as the disgraced ex-Bishop of Lewes faces prison at the Old Bailey today.

Vickery House, 69, shared three of the same victims as Peter Ball during years of abuse in their respected Church of England roles.

Three weeks ago Ball was sentenced to 32 months amid allegations that his molesting had been covered up by Establishment figures.

Now House, his friend and right hand man, has been found guilty of five charges of indecent assault on four victims, including one who was just 14 years old.

House was convicted even though the jury was never told of the link between the two Anglican sexual molesters.

He was found not guilty of three other charges on three alleged victims, including two who had been abused by Ball.

In some of these charges House did not deny that he had made contact but denied that it amounted to indecent assalt.

The attacks, starting in 1970, had begun when he was a curate in Devon and continued - in close partnership with Ball - when House was a vicar in Sussex.

His victims were members of a youth church group in House’s parish in Crediton, Devon, or bible studies class in Berwick, East Sussex.

Both House and Ball had groomed their victims who felt powerless to report them.

In 1984, when a complaint was finally made about House, Ball, as head of the diocese, wrote that it “would be looked into” – and predictably no action was taken.

In 2001 House's first and youngest victim went to Devon Police but, again, nothing was done for "reasons that remain unknown to this day", the court heard.

House was finally arrested in 2012 after the outcry over the Jimmy Savile scandal.

The married vicar abused young men and boys as young as 14 over 16 years of “sexual desire, betrayal and power”.

His first victim, then aged 14, had loved the way House had brought out the “theatre of the church” and thought he was “great”.

House even assaulted the boy dressed in school uniform in cleric’s own home when his wife was out until the door bell was rung by an unsuspecting member of the Women’s Institute.

In 1985, House tried to kiss another young man as they had a "deep and meaningful chat about vocation and spiritual life" on a country walk, the court heard.

House later became a vicar in Brighton and worked at different churches in the city.

He will be sentenced on Thursday by Judge Christine Henson QC.

He was granted bail but told a prison sentence was “inevitable.”

Ball, 83, was jailed earlier this month after admitting 15 years of grooming aspiring novice monks for his sexual kicks, mainly at his home in Litlington, East Sussex.

He had pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office and two counts of indecent assault while Bishop of Lewes between 1977 and 1992 and later Bishop of Gloucester in 1993.

Ball had escaped justice in 1993 when seven young men accused him of sex offences after he received support from “Cabinet ministers, the Royal Family, MPs, JPs and a lord”.

He received only a police caution for gross indecency and although he was forced to resign the then Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey allowed him to return to holy duties.

In sentencing Mr Justice Wilkie said all his victims had been “denied justice for many years and that has greatly exacerbated their sense of hurt and damage.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in