Rev Terence Reginald King had twice slashed his wrists, and had also swallowed 50 aspirin and 50 paracetamol in failed bids to end his own life.
But in November, the YEP exclusively revealed that on the day Rev King was found hanged, he had been due to be questioned again about child sex charges.
York Coroner's Court heard that the 69-year-old, who was Vicar of St Mary the Virgin Church in Dewsbury Road, Woodkirk, near Morley, for 22 years, was admitted to a religious retreat after a third suicide attempt at his family home.
But after telling a psychiatrist that he wanted to kill himself to save his family from "any more distress", he walked out of the Quaker-run hospital in York.
Dr Susan Mitchell, the retreat's consultant psychiatrist, told the court: "He (King) said that he felt that if he was to be arrested it would cause his family grave distress.
"He said it was better to kill himself in order to save his family from that distress."
A day later, on October 31, he was found hanging from a length of rope in the garage of his home in Abbey Street, Clifton, York. His wrists had also been slashed.
The Yorkshire Evening Post revealed how Mr King was due to be questioned again by police about allegations of child sex abuse on the day he was discovered.
Steven Rowell, of Hanging Heaton, near Dewsbury, later waived his right to anonymity and told the YEP how he had reported the retired cleric to the police after alleging that he was sexually abused as an 11-year-old boy.
His complaint prompted the police investigation which began in April last year.
Verdict
The YEP also revealed how Mr King had been investigated in the 1980s over allegations of sexual abuse against a young girl while at St Mary's. No charges were brought.
In a statement read out by York coroner Donald Coverdale, Det Sgt Stones from the Leeds Child Protection Unit said that charges were being prepared at the time of Mr King's death.
Recording a verdict of suicide, Mr Coverdale said Mr King had a history of self harm and had made his way from the retreat to his home where he hanged himself.
He said: "These are all deliberate acts and would have taken some planning.
"I am quite satisfied that Mr King intended to take his own life.
"There was no evidence of sufficient mental illness to hamper his judgment, nor was he under the influence of alcohol or any medication."
The parish of Woodkirk, West Ardsley and Tingley is one of the biggest in the diocese.
Earlier this year child protection training sessions were organised in church halls across the Ripon and Leeds diocese to guard against sex abuse.