Female vicar, 58, goes on trial accused of five child sex offences against two young girls in the 1970s when she was teenager - including telling one to perform a sex act on her

 A vicar has gone on trial accused of historical sexual assaults against two young girls in the 1970s when she was a teenager.

Veronica Green, 58, has been charged with five counts of indecency with a child and one charge of indecent assault relating to alleged incidents against two girls who were aged between six and 11 at the time.

She denies the charges and is currently on trial at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court. 

Green, the reverend for Marbury, Tushingham and Whitewell in Cheshire, was suspended by the Diocese of Chester in January 2020 after the allegations were reported to the police, the jury was told.  

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Veronica Green, 58, was the reverend for Marbury, Tushingham and Whitewell in Cheshire before she was suspended in January 2020. She is facing five counts of indecency with a child and one charge of indecent assault relating to alleged incidents said to have been committed when she was a teenager growing up in North Staffordshire. Pictured: Church of St Michael, in Marbury

The prosecution told the jury that Green had said to one of the girls that she 'had something she needed to teach her'.

Prosecutor Ben Lawrence said Green had told her 'a man would normally teach it to girls, but (the girl’s mum) had said she wanted (Green) to teach it'.

The court heard that on another occasion Green had told one of the girls to perform a sex act on her.

One of the victims reported the alleged abuse to police in January 2020.

When police spoke to the second child - now an adult - she alleged she too had been abused by Green, the court heard.The court heard she had told senior members of the diocese, including Archdeacon of Chester Michael Gilbertson, that something had happened.

Mr Lawrence added: 'The defendant said something had happened when she was a teenager.

'She had not realised the seriousness of what she had done at the time but had always thought it might catch up with her.'

Green is said to have committed the offences when she was a teenager growing up in North Staffordshire. 

She was interviewed by police twice and answered ‘No comment’ to the questions put to her, the court was told.

The court heard that Green, of Marbury, denies the five counts of indecency with a child and one charge of indecent assault.

But she was said to have accepted there was one incident during which she was naked and one of the girls was made to feel uncomfortable, and others that had involved the second girl touching her breasts.

The court was told, however, that although Green was said to acknowledge that what she was feeling was sexual, she did not realise that was the case at the time.

Mr Lawrence added: 'The prosecution say the defendant is dishonest about what went on. 

'The defendant has gone on to become a very different person. She has gone on to lead a blameless life as an adult. She is of positive good character and has no doubt done good for others.'

He told the jury: 'You are judging the acts of when she was a teenager, and the way she behaved then.'

The trial continues.