Felixstowe: Ex-Priest Jailed For Sex Offences

17 December 2012, 11:38 | Updated: 17 December 2012, 11:54

Father John Haley Dossor pleaded guilty to six counts of indecent assault relating to two boys aged as young as 13.

Norwich Crown Court heard that the offences happened when the 71-year-old, of Kirton, near Felixstowe, Suffolk, was working at St Mary's Church in Hadleigh in the early 1990s. 

He had also worked as a scout leader.

Dossor was jailed for one year and 10 months and put on the sex offenders register.

After his role in Hadleigh, he went on to become priest in charge of St Mary at the Elms between 2001 and 2007, when he retired.

During that time he played a leading role in helping the community come to terms with the murders of five sex workers in the town by Steve Wright and gave media interviews about the killings.

He resigned as a priest when the allegations first came to light in 2009. 

Gavin Stone, assistant diocesan secretary for the St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Diocese, said: "Bishop Nigel Stock continues to offer unreserved regret and apologies to all those whose lives have been damaged by this individual, fully acknowledging the impact that broken trust by someone in a position of responsibility can have on the lives of all those involved.''