Higgins, now with the name Edmund Black, was sentenced to 31 months in jail in June last year after he pleaded guilty to charges involving child abuse images. The court heard that the former priest would watch and share child abuse videos, including one that involved a baby.
The Mail on Sunday reports that it was during the National Crime Agency investigation into online chatrooms that Higgins and his links to Hannigan were discovered and No 10 was alerted. Hannigan reportedly offered to resign to avoid dragging GCHQ into a scandal and did so with Theresa May’s blessing.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/feb/24/ex-gchq-head-robert-hannigan-quit-paedophile-priest-edmund-higgins-reference