Retired Anglican priest accused of sexual assault on teenager is found dead

By Harriet Sherwood
Guardian
June 7, 2017

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/07/retired-anglican-priest-accused-of-sexual-assault-on-teenager-is-found-dead

A priest reads the Bible. A retired Church of England vicar accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy has been found dead. Photo by Alamy Stock

A retired Church of England vicar accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy more than three decades ago has been found dead after failing to appear in court on Tuesday.

Police discovered the body of Trevor Devamanikkam, 70, when they went to his home in Witney, Oxfordshire, to arrest him.

He had been due to appear before Bradford and Keighley magistrates charged with three counts of buggery and three counts of indecent assault in the 1980s. The charges were brought under the Sexual Offences Act 1956 and related to a time when the homosexual age of consent was 21.

The survivor of the alleged abuse, known as “Michael”, lodged complaints of misconduct last year against the archbishop of York, John Sentamu, and four serving bishops, claiming they had failed to act on his disclosures of rape.

The complaints, made under the C of E’s clergy disciplinary measure, were dismissed because they were filed outside a one-year limit.

According to Michael, he disclosed the allegations of rape to Peter Burrows, the bishop of Doncaster, and Steven Croft, the then bishop of Sheffield and now bishop of Oxford, in 2012. The following year he disclosed to Martyn Snow, the then archdeacon of Sheffield and Rotherham, now bishop of Leicester.

A letter Michael wrote to Croft in 2013 about the rapes and the church’s alleged failure to act was copied to copied to Sentamu and Glyn Webster, the bishop of Beverley. Sentamu acknowledged receipt with a four-line response, saying he had read the letter. “Please be assured I will keep you in my prayers through this testing time for you,” Sentamu wrote.

No action was taken to offer Michael support, nor was Michael advised to report an alleged crime, he told the Guardian last year. “Not one of them did anything to support me. Not one of them even said they were sorry it happened.”

In 2014, Michael formally reported the alleged rapes to the West Yorkshire police, which launched an investigation. Last year, he instructed a lawyer specialising in child abuse to make a claim against the C of E.

Devamanikkam continued to work as a C of E priest for at least a decade after the alleged offences.

In a statement following the retired vicar’s death, Michael said: “I just wanted Mr Devamanikkam to be accountable for his actions and thereby give me some peace.” His thoughts were with the family, he added.

Michael, who was ordained as a C of E priest but resigned his post four years ago, went on: “Regarding the Church of England, I have nothing but criticism. Their handling of the case of sexual abuse has been quite simply appalling, as it has been and continues to be for so many victims of sexual abuse …

“The Church of England has put every obstacle possible in the way of helping me or to actually dealing with the abuse. Even now the bishops refuse to answer any questions why they did not act on my disclosure and the church is protecting them.”

Last year, he told the Guardian that the church’s efforts “to cover up abuse and discredit survivors” made him feel “like I’ve been abused all over again”. He said he had been repeatedly raped as an “immature and naive” teenager who was placed in the care of a vicar following family difficulties. He said he had suffered both physical injuries and long-term psychological damage.

“I feel extremely ill, exhausted all the time, physically in pain, I can’t sit still, I can’t sleep. I’m very cautious about who I trust,” he said. “I’ve never had a proper relationship in my life.”

David Greenwood, Michael’s solicitor, said on Wednesday it was “deeply frustrating that Michael will be unable to see his abuser stand trial and face secular justice”.

Peter Hancock, the bishop of Bath and Wells and the C of E’s lead bishop on safeguarding, said: “We have been alerted by police that Trevor Devamanikkam has been found dead at his home. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by this sad news and we have offered Michael pastoral care and support.”

Michael met Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, at the end of last year in a private pastoral meeting, and the church offered support through its national safeguarding team once the case came to light last summer. The church is expected to review its response to Michael’s disclosures.