Former Brighton vicar charged with abusing young men

A retired Brighton vicar has been charged with abusing young men over a 16-year period.

Vickery House, 68, the former vicar of St Bartholomew’s Church in Brighton, faces eight charges of indecent assault.

Sussex Police said that the charges relate to “one boy then aged 15, and five men, ranging in age from 17 to 34, between 1970 and 1986 in East Sussex and Devon”.

House, of Brighton Road, Handcross, was charged yesterday (Tuesday 28 January) on the authority of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

The charges were brought after an investigation by detectives from Sussex Police over the past 18 months.

House, who has also officiated at the Church of the Annunciation in Washington Street, Hanover, was arrested in November 2012.

He has been on police bail since that time while further inquiries have been carried out and a report submitted to the CPS.

House is due to appear on bail at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 27 February.