This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-22599017

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Retired Anglican priest Gordon Rideout guilty of sex abuse Retired Anglican priest Gordon Rideout guilty of sex abuse
(35 minutes later)
A retired Anglican priest has been found guilty of sex attacks on children in Sussex and Hampshire. An Anglican priest who abused children in the 1960s and 70s has been convicted of 36 separate sex offences.
Canon Gordon Rideout, 74, of Polegate, East Sussex, was convicted at Lewes Crown Court of 34 indecent assaults and two attempted rapes. Canon Gordon Rideout, 74, from East Sussex, who is now retired, was found guilty by a jury at Lewes Crown Court.
The attacks between 1962 and 1973 mostly took place at Ifield Hall children's home in Crawley, where he was an assistant curate. The attacks took place between 1962 and 1973 in Hampshire and Sussex, although most of them were carried out at Ifield Hall children's home in Crawley, when Rideout was an assistant curate.
Some offences happened when he was a padre at Middle Wallop military base. The charges related to 16 different children. He will be sentenced later.
Rideout had denied the charges, which involved 16 different children. Rideout, from Polegate, had denied 34 indecent assaults and two attempted rapes.
He was acquitted of one charge of indecent assault. He was acquitted of one charge of indecent assault against a five-year-old child.
'Position of trust'
Rideout was the assistant curate at St Mary's Church in Southgate, Crawley, from September 1962 to September 1965.
During that time he regularly visited the Barnardo's children's home, Ifield Hall, which has since been demolished.
The majority of the offences took place there, although he was also convicted of four charges of indecent assault on two girls at the Middle Wallop army base, where he was a padre.
Nigel Pilkington, head of the CPS South East complex casework unit, said: "As an assistant curate and then chaplain, Gordon Rideout was in a position of trust which he systemically abused, indecently assaulting the vulnerable youngsters that he met over a number of years.
'Brutal beatings'
"He was able to wander through Ifield Hall and the gardens, even visiting children when they were sick and alone in bed.
"One victim recalled how the children would hide under their covers when he came into their dormitories."
Mr Pilkington said a number of his victims attempted to speak out about the abuse, but were subjected to "brutal beatings" when they did.
"Some of his victims told police in interviews that it simply 'wasn't worth complaining' because of the punishment they would receive in return.
"Instead the victims hid what happened to them for many years and none of us can begin to imagine the impact that has had on their lives."