A RETIRED Suffolk priest has been charged with 12 sex assaults on a child and an adult.

Father Haley Dossor - who retired as priest-in-charge at St Mary at the Elms, in Elm Street, Ipswich, in January 2007 - also faces three further charges of gross indecency with a child.

The 71-year-old, of Kirton, near Felixstowe, is due to appear before Ipswich magistrates for the first hearing of his case on Monday, July 9.

The allegations are said to relate to the period between 1990 and 2004, and involve more than one alleged victim.

The former priest was first ordained in the parish of Shelley, near Hadleigh, before moving to Ipswich.

A spokesman for Suffolk Constabulary said: “John Haley Dossor, a 71-year-old man from Kirton, was charged on Thursday, June 14, with six counts of indecent assault on a child, five counts of indecent assault on an adult, one count of sexual assault on an adult and three counts of gross indecency with a child.”

John Howard, spokesman for the St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Diocese, confirmed it was aware the charges against Dossor.

Mr Howard said: “Haley Dossor currently has no active role within the diocese as a retired clergyman, and we will await the outcome of the court proceedings before making any further comment.”