Priest “Lied and Lied and Lied and Lied” to Cover Up Blackmail and Abuse as His Complaint Against His Victim is Thrown Out

Pike's Peak News (US)
March 9, 2016

http://goo.gl/sOOuxM

William Campbell-Taylor

A City of London priest who asked a vulnerable male for a lewd act of fellatio and then tried to prosecute his victim for publicly revealing the embarrassing fact has had his complaint thrown out, after the cleric was said to have “lied and lied and lied and lied”.

Rev. William Campbell-Taylor who is also a councilor in the London City Hall had claimed he had been caused “distress and alarm” because of the embarassment of his victim talking publicly in the British Parliament about his abuse experience at the hands of the priest. But after multiple flaws of Campbell-Taylor’s truthfulness came to light before trial, the public prosecution service (equivalent of the DA’s office) decided to “offer no evidence” – and the charges were dismissed by the Court.

In what has been claimed by groups representing victims of clergy abuse as “a victory for the free speech of survivors”, the Court while partially restraining future contact between the parties at the same time positively upheld the right to free debate in public meetings.

Campbell-Taylor, who has an openly bisexual history, denied the abuse with the vulnerable male, and rejected any suggestion that he had any close personal relationship with the victim. But the untruthfulness of the priest was demonstrated when dozens of letters from the cleric to the victim since came to light in which Campbell-Taylor signs off messages with kisses and “love, William” and “W x” or “yr brother Muffin”. The victim writes to Campbell-Taylor challenging him about “your sexuality and past experience that has wreaked havoc in our personal relationship” and asks about the time “you said [to me] ‘How about a b**w job then?’”. In response, the priest evades the question and strangely writes back “you have been on my mind today because I know it is your birthday” and “I would like to be in a position to stand in solidarity in public with you as a friend” and again signs off “love William”. The victim further referred to characteristic phrases used by the priest such as “a stirring in the loins”.

Astonishingly, even after pressing charges, Campbell-Taylor continued to seek out the vulnerable male and make multiple direct personal approaches to him – including as recently as this month. Had the case gone to trial, the heads of Minister and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors and two other national survivors organisations, Christian clergy and parliamentarians had been ready to testify alongside some 20 or so other defence witnesses who had come forward with their own direct experiences of Campbell-Taylor.

This follows further allegations by a former councilor from the same City of London Ward that while both he and Campbell-Taylor were serving officials of the City of London Corporation, “William Campbell-Taylor, by his own admission threatened me” and “was in a position to blackmail me.” A third councilmember who is also a priest described Campbell-Taylor’s conduct as “evil”.

Because of the precedent this sets for whistleblowers of abuse and bullying, abuse campaigner groups reported this case to the UK government’s public inquiry on abuse which is headed by the New Zealand judge, Justice Lowell Goddard. Of particular concern to activists was the influence of Campbell-Taylor as a police chaplain in pressing this legal retribution against one of his victims.