Former Brighton priest arrested over child sex abuse claim

A priest who has worked in Brighton and Hove has been arrested on suspicion of child sexual abuse.

Father Wilkie Denford, 76, has been questioned by Sussex Police and released on bail until Thursday 1 March.

The semi-retired Church of England minister lives in Lewes, having moved there from Shoreham.

He was arrested in November along with a 68-year-old church organist from the Lewes area.

The men are accused of sexually abusing two boys at a number of locations in West Sussex in 1988 when Mr Denford was the vicar of St John the Evangelist in Burgess Hill.

Earlier Mr Denford worked in Brighton and, since retiring as a parish priest, he has officiated and preached at numerous churches in Brighton and Hove.

The Diocese of Chichester suspended both men after they were arrested and said that it was co-operating with the official investigation.