and then again from 1968 to November 1971. He died in 1987, aged 71. Allegations of sexual abuse In 2016–17 Cheshire Constabulary conducted a 13-month investigation called Operation Coverage to investigate allegations that Victor Whitsey had sexually abused persons who were under the age of consent. In October 2017 the force announced that five male and eight female witnesses had alleged they were victims, and that were Whitsey still alive he would have been interviewed in connection with 10 of those 13 allegations. Slater and Gordon Lawyers represented four of Whitsey's alleged victims. Through Slater and Gordon, one alleged victim stated: I longed for [Whitsey]'s blessing to achieve my wish of a future as a vicar, serving God and the community. He told me he agreed I had a calling from God. He also told me he had the power to give me everything I wanted in life and the power to take it all away. He then proceeded to abuse me sexually and psychologically. I was powerless to stop him. The alleged victim, who was a teenage boy at the time, added that as a result he lost his religious faith, started self-harming, and later had a mental breakdown and as a result had attempted suicide. The ex-Bishop of Chester (retired 2019), Peter Forster, and the ex-Archbishop of the Province of York (retired 2020), John Sentamu, accepted the allegations and issued an apology. A report into the conduct of Whitsey has since been published. See also Anglican Communion sexual abuse cases Peter Ball (bishop) – who was convicted in 2015 for sexually abusing boys when he was Bishop of Gloucester in the 1970s and 80s References 1916 births 1987 deaths 20th-century Church of England bishops Alumni of St Edmund Hall, Oxford Bishops of Chester Bishops of Hertford Child sexual abuse in England Christian hymnwriters People educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn