The Bishop of Portsmouth has awarded a former Isle of Wight choirboy compensation of £200,000 following years of abuse by a Church of England priest on the Island.
The amount will cover the cost of psychological treatment and loss of earnings, for the man who is now in his 40s.
Five years of abuse
The abuse by Father Maxwell Halahan, who worked at St Faith’s Church in Cowes, started in the 1970s just months after the man joined the church at the age of eight.
The regular sexual abusing, which occurred in the nearby vicarage, ran for five years. Halahan bribed the young lad with extra pocket money to keep him quiet.
Led to a troubled growing up
Following the experience, the man’s life became very unsettled, as he told the BBC:
“As I went through my teenage years, the seriousness of what I had been subjected to hit me more and more and I began to go off the rails, particularly as I had no support from my family,” the man said.
He added he began skipping classes at school, was regularly in trouble with police and was sentenced to three months in a detention centre when he was 15.
When he left he said he could not hold down a job and was forced to sleep rough.
Vicar jailed
Halahan was jailed for three years in 2011, at the age of 81, for the abuse.
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