Knights’ former sacristan charged with abuse

A former sacristan for the Knights of Malta has been charged with a dozen counts of sexual offences against children dating from 1966 to 2011, writes Christopher Lamb.

Vernon Quaintance, of Upper Norwood, south-east London, has been charged with one count of indecent assault against a 10-year-old boy in 1966, the same offence against an 11-year-old in 1976, and a single count of sexual assault against a boy aged 11.

He is further accused of three counts of inciting a boy aged under 16 to commit an act of gross indecency. Charges against him also include the possession of 1,285 indecent images of children.

A police spokesman said Mr Quaintance appeared at West London Magistrates Court in August and a case management hearing was due at the end of this month.

Mr Quaintance, who was made a companion of the Order of Malta, had been serving at the order’s weekly Mass at the Church of the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth in north London. He was first introduced to the church in 2007 and stopped serving in 2011.

An inquiry this year found that three senior members of the Order of Malta were found to have failed to report alleged concerns about Mr Quaintance. Mr Quaintance has also been a photographer for the Latin Mass Society.