Stanley Wood, 66, admitted that he had sexually assaulted a six year old girl to the clergyman while he was in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham for hip surgery.
Prosecutor Robert Price told Wolverhampton Crown Court: "He asked for God's forgiveness and said he had had sex with a six year old girl.
Wood expected the admission to be kept secret but the cleric told the safeguarding nurse on the ward who according to the Express and Star, notified the defendant that the police would be informed.
Wood from Stourbridge, West Midlands, pleaded guilty yesterday to three counts of sexual activity with a child under 13.
The court heard the pensioner groomed the victim with presents and then assaulted the child on a number of occasions. The assaults tended to happen when she was wearing her school uniform.
Judge Barry Berlin read a victim impact statement made by the mother of the child in which she said her daughter was 'on edge' all the time and sometimes woke up shouting 'get off me'.
Sentencing Wood, Judge Berlin said: "The chaplain was right in reporting the matter. This was extremely serious abuse conducted over a relatively lengthy period. This sort of sickening, perverted behaviour causes lasting damage to the child victim."
