Wilkie Denford

Father Wilkie Denford, aged 77 and residing in Shoreham, West Sussex, faced four charges in 2012 of indecently assaulting a boy under 16 in the late 1980s. As a priest in the Diocese of Chichester, his case was one of three involving former clergy charged that year with child sex offences, amid revelations of systemic failures in the Church of England's safeguarding protocols.

The charges were detailed in a report from the Archbishop of Canterbury's office, which uncovered a 'profoundly negative culture' leading to two decades of inaction on abuse allegations. Denford denied the charges, but the inquiry under Dr Rowan Williams portrayed a diocese that responded 'very slowly' and without 'rigour and expedition' to such matters. This echoed Baroness Butler-Sloss's 2011 report, which lambasted senior clergy for misunderstanding the gravity of historic child abuses.

The broader investigation, the first in over a century for the Church, asserted that blighted lives and court cases like Denford's represented only 'the tip of the iceberg'. Lambeth Palace intervened by overseeing child protection and appointments in Sussex until improved practices were ensured. Public frustration was evident, with East Sussex County Council's Matt Dunkley decrying the diocese's dysfunctional and delayed responses.

Dr Williams condemned the 'appalling' handling of cases, stating that while apologies were sincere, they could not erase the 'wickedness and shamefulness' of the offences. Denford's situation highlighted the urgent need for reform, contributing to heightened accountability within the Church.