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  Child Abuse Search Clears City Clergy

By David Ottewell
Manchester Evening News
August 31, 2007

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1015/1015111_child_abuse_search_clears_city_clergy.html

A Mass screening of Church of England clergy across Manchester has turned up no record of child abuse allegations.

The Bishop of Manchester, Rt Rev Nigel McCulloch, commissioned an independent lawyer to carry out checks on 767 serving and retired members of the clergy within his diocese.

The move followed two high-profile national paedophile cases in which the church was accused of a cover-up.

Allegations were made against David Smith, a vicar from Somerset, and Hampshire choirmaster Peter Halliday years before they were finally convicted of abusing children.

Manchester was the first diocese in the country to take the radical step of checking files going back up to 40 years.

A total of 572 active clergy members were investigated, plus a further 195 who were retired or redundant.

Eleven members of the Church Army - an evangelical group linked to the Church of England - were included in the sweep.

But choirmasters, organists and youth workers were not scrutinised because they already undergo a full Criminal Records Bureau check.

The Manchester sweep took place during June, July and August.

A spokesman for the bishop said: "All clergy files have now been reviewed and we are confident they contain no outstanding child protection issues concerning our clergy."

Every church in Manchester already operates under child protection policies, with rules designed to provide 'safe supervised spaces' to limit any risk.

The diocese also employs a child protection adviser, who organises training and keeps the clergy up to date on any new legislation.

 
 

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