A former Anglican vicar who admitted raping a child in his parish has been jailed for life with a minimum sentence of eight years.

Ifor Whittaker, 80, admitted raping and grossly indecency with a boy in the vestry of St John the Baptist Church in Sedlescombe, East Sussex, where he served as priest at the time under the name Colin Pritchard.

The offenses are said to have taken place in the late 1990s when the victim was a young child.

Judge Gary Lucie said Whittaker baptized him and the victim was often left in his care.

He told Whittaker: “You told him… it was going to be your little secret. Even now he still suffers from mental health issues and has had flashbacks.

“There are, in my view, serious concerns that you remain a danger to young children,” the judge said.

“You’re a predatory pedophile, I doubt you’ll ever stop being a danger to boys.”

Whittaker was sentenced at Hove Crown Court on Tuesday.

In 2018, Whittaker was sentenced to 16 years in prison for sexually abusing a boy and conspiring with another priest to abuse the child.

At the time of sentencing, the judge said the abuser “plied the victim with alcohol” and “emotionally blackmailed the boy saying ‘no one would believe you because of a priest'”.

He was previously jailed for five years in 2008 for abusing two children in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, between 1979 and 1983.

A spokesman for the Diocese of Chichester said its safeguarding team had been working closely with Sussex Police on the case since it was reported.

They said the sentence reflected the “terrible nature of his crimes”.

“The victim in this case showed extraordinary courage in reporting Whittaker’s crimes,” they added.

“We apologize unreservedly to him for the appalling abuse he suffered.”

Sussex Police, Nicky Beard, said: “Ifor Whittaker is a predator who used his position of trust in the community to rape and sexually abuse young children.

“This level of betrayal should not be underestimated.

“The effects of that abuse lasted a lifetime, but she showed incredible strength and courage to report Whittaker’s crimes to the police and ensure he faced justice.”