A 68-YEAR-old Suffolk man is due to be sentenced this month after admitting six child sex offences dating back 36 years

Michael Hazelwood, of Bromelands, Brome, near Eye, admitted the charges when he appeared before Ipswich Crown Court for his plea hearing.

Hazelwood, who previously lived near Capel St Mary, pleaded guilty to indecent assault on a girl in the 1970s.

He also pleaded guilty to five counts of gross indecency with a girl under 14 years of age.

One offence is said to have taken place in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Police arrested and interviewed Hazelwood about the allegations on September 23, 2011.

He was then bailed, pending further inquiries.

After a nine-month investigation, Hazelwood answered his bail at the police investigation centre in Bury St Edmunds where he was charged on June 13 this year.

He was then rebailed to appear before West Suffolk Magistrates’ Court for the first hearing of his case on July 2.

The case was then committed to Ipswich Crown Court where Hazelwood entered his pleas.

He was released on bail for the compilation of a pre-sentence report.

Hazelwood’s sentencing is due to take place before the same court on December 21.

Meanwhile in another case involving historic child sex abuse, retired priest Father John Haley Dossor is scheduled to be sentenced today at Norwich Crown Court.

He was previously due to be sentenced last month.

However, the case was adjourned for administrative reasons.

Dossor, of Kirton, near Felixstowe, abused two males, who were aged between 13 and 17, during assaults dating back 20 years, when he was based at St Mary’s Church in Hadleigh.

After leaving the parish of Hadleigh, Shelley, and Layham in 2001, Dossor became one of Ipswich’s most prominent clergymen when he moved to St Mary at the Elms, in the town’s Elm Street.

He officially retired as priest-in-charge in January 2007.

The 71-year-old’s guilty pleas to six indecent assaults were accepted by the prosecution at a hearing before Ipswich Crown Court in October.

The High Church Anglican priest denied a further eight indecent assaults – one of which was allegedly on a third male, and another charge of sexual assault by touching.

These will not be pursued, but will stay on file.