March 1987 ‘He stole my childhood and my innocence’  A teenage girl told last night how a village church verger and former choirmaster used her as a sex slave for 11 years The girl now 18 and a civil servant, said that from the age of six to 17 she stayed silent because she was too afraid to speak out. She could not even confide in her family and closet friends But yesterday, after 49 year-old Gary Wenham of Hornhurst, Rotherfield, East Sussex, admitted in court that he indecently assaulted her, she told of her ordeal She said: ‘That man took away all my innocence – he robbed me of my childhood. He has always been there, it has been going on for as far back as I can remember. I feel so angry and there is nothing more I can do.’ Wiping away tears she went on: ‘He used to ask us to go round after church for a glass of orange. That was how it started out. He would start by fondling and touching., and it ended with him sexually assaulting me on many, many occasions. When I got older he would say that if I didnt do what I was told he would beat me up. He said he had been in the army.’ The girl said her parents split up when she was young and she did not know what a male role was in a family. ‘He was stepping in and I looked up to him,’ she said. ‘I thought I should do anything he wanted to keep him happy, and he played on that. He always told me not to tell anybody and, at that age, you do what you are told. I didnt know any better.’ The girl who met Wenham through St Denys C. of E church in Rotherfield (pictured below), said: ‘I used to look around at school and wonder “Who the hell does it happen to here?” ‘I began to realise that I was alone. But I was terrified to say anything because I was afraid of him, of what he might do. He was always at my church.’ The girl who had a nervous breakdown and is still seeing a psychiatrist said a friend eventually persuaded her to go to the police Yesterday Wenham pleaded guilty to two specimen charges of indecently assaulting the girl when she was aged under 15 years old Magistrates at Mark Cross, East Sussex heard that Wenham subjected his young victim to a series of assaults that included sexual intercourse. Magistrates adjourned the hearing until April 14 for social inquiry reports and remanded Wenham on bail. It is not the first time Wenham has appeared on a sex charge. In 1960 he was put on probation by magistrates at Uckfield for indecently assaulting a nine year old boy Last night the vicar of St Denys, the Rev Bruce Hayllor, refused to say whether Wenham would be allowed to continue his duties. He said: ;That is my business. You will have to come to church on Sunday to find out.’