Vicar jailed for sexually abusing three-year-old girl

A vicar has been jailed for more than six years after sexually abusing a three-year-old girl.

Gordon Newton, 40, admitted 12 offences, including six counts of sexually assaulting a girl under 13, at Leeds Crown court.

A judge described his actions as “wicked” and added he was a “hypocrite” because he held himself as a man of God, the BBC reported.

Newton, who assaulted the girl several times, admitted to being sexually interested in children for years, the court heard.

Police discovered 276 indecent images of children on Newton’s mobile phone after his wife handed them the device, prosecutor Julian Jones said.

Detectives said 70 of these images were category A which is the most serious.

Jones added police had found a search on Newton's browsing history which suggested he had looked for images of children under three.

Judge Tom Bayliss said: "You held yourself out as a man of God but you're nothing. You're a hypocrite.

"For a man in your position, what you've done amounts not only to an extremely wicked series of acts, but to a gross abuse of a position of trust.”

Newton, of Huddersfield, was jailed for six years and seven months.

He was also put on the sex offenders'' register for life was made the subject of a sexual prevention order for the same period.

A Diocese of Leeds spokesperson said Newton’s crimes were “deeply shocking” and said he would be removed as a vicar.