A former Royal Household priest is under investigation for raping a teenage girl, it can be revealed.
The alleged victim, now in her 40s, told police last month that she was repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted by the Church of England clergyman for more than 18 months. The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, said that she wanted ‘justice’ and that what he had done ‘was beyond despicable’. Her claims will bring further unwanted focus on the embattled Church of England, which has been hit by a series of high-profile scandals in recent years. The monarch appoints a large number of the clergy to royal chapels and Westminster Abbey and they are replaced on a regular basis.
The alleged offences are said to date from after the priest, who cannot be named for legal reasons, completed his duties with the Royal Household. He is accused of grooming the then 16-year-old girl after she had been traumatised by the death of her father.
She said: “I think what he did was beyond despicable. I would like to see him prosecuted and convicted. I don’t think he should get away with it. I would like to see justice done.”
The woman complained last month to the Metropolitan Police, which confirmed that it has now opened an investigation into historic child sexual abuse. She said: “I was raped when I was 13 by a family member. Then my father died when I was 16 and we weren’t offered counselling or anything like that. I found it really difficult.
“I was desperate to talk to someone about what happened when I was 13, because I had never told anyone, and also to talk about my father. He seemed really personable and amiable and said I could come and have a chat any time in his office. I went to see him and see seemed very sympathetic and kind, and I must have lapped that up.
“I just burst out crying because I found it so difficult. So, he came over, put his arms around me and hugged me. It was very comforting. I went to see him a few times and he became more affectionate, stroking my hair.
“It felt nice to have that attention and it was like light relief going to see him. Only with the benefit of hindsight did I begin to realise that this was inappropriate.”
A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: “An allegation of historic child sexual abuse was made to the Metropolitan Police Service last month. The offences are said to have happened…in the 1990s. The victim is being supported by specialist officers and an investigation is ongoing. No arrests have been made.”
The woman said that with her mother still grieving at the loss of her father, her brother being much older, she was particularly vulnerable and isolated when the meetings began to take a sinister turn. She alleged: “He touched my breasts. I was wearing jeans at the time, and he said that he had seen me in a nice long dress and the next time I came to see him, would I wear it.
“The next time I went to see him, he lifted up my skirt, pushed me up against the desk and raped me. He asked me if it was as good an experience as when I was 13. I know this sounds really twisted but I saw him as a father figure but one that gave me affection in that sexual way.”
The woman said that this pattern of abuse developed over 18 months before she discovered that “people would just joke that he was, you know, a bit of pervert” and cut off contact because she wanted to go to university. The woman said that she had since been dogged by mental illness and had watched her peers and friends succeed while she had never been able to “bring myself to have the confidence to think I was good enough.”
She said: “In November I had a bit of a meltdown, and I went into a psychiatric hospital, and I just thought this has been following my around all my life. It wasn’t until I sat down with my therapist at the hospital, and we were going through events I realised it again. I just want to get better.”
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