BishopAccountability.org

Headmaster of renowned Catholic school is accused of burning evidence into child sex abuse

By Sophie Inge
Daily Mail
December 16, 2017

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5186315/Headmaster-accused-burning-child-sex-abuse-evidence.html

Downside Abbey in Radstock, Somerset, was examined as part of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

Father Leo Maidlow Davis, 63, now the senior monk at Downside Abbey, burned staff files dating back to the early 1980s in a bonfire in 2012

  • Father Leo Maidlow Davis burned staff files from Downside Abbey in 2012
  • However, the monk claimed any destruction of evidence was unintentional
  • The school was investigated in an independent inquiry into child sex abuse 

The headmaster of a renowned Catholic school may have destroyed evidence of child sex abuse, it has been claimed.

Father Leo Maidlow Davis, 63, now the senior monk at Downside Abbey, burned staff files dating back to the early 1980s in a bonfire in 2012.

However, he claimed any destruction of evidence was unintentional, saying his aim had been simply to 'get rid of unnecessary old material'. 

The fee-paying school in Radstock, Somerset, was examined as part of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

When police investigated the alleged offences in 2010, allegations had been raised about 16 of the institution's 23 monks, The Times reported.

Witnesses described being taken into monks' beds and there were reports of a locked room in the school's basement where monks would watch personal videos.

Allegations were allegedly locked away in the abbot's safe.

Letters from the abbey's former abbot, Aidan Bellenger, revealed his fears that 'the issue of child abuse was tolerated by all my predecessors as abbot'. 

In a letter sent last year, he said of two monks who had been imprisoned over abuse: 'Neither was penitent. Both were protected (and implicitly) encouraged by their abbots.'

He said of two other monks: '[They] avoided trial, but their offences (more than allegations) remain on record.'

His letter included a warning that a monk who still lives at Downside had taken part in 'perverse and criminal' activities. 

Two others he said 'were open to allegations of "paedophilia"', adding: 'Small fry perhaps but in outside perceptions they would be in trouble.'

He warned: 'More "historic" cases will emerge', listing five other names, which have been redacted by the inquiry.

Two monks from the Abbey have previously been jailed for child sex offences.

Monk Richard White, 66, was handed a five-year sentence in 2012 after abusing two boys more than two decades ago, including a 12-year-old he paid 50p to hush up.

His court hearing was told that, instead of contacting the police after allegations were raised, the then abbot of the monastery simply stopped White from teaching younger students.

In 2004, Desmond O'Keefe, another former priest from the abbey, was jailed for downloading 12,000 children sex abuse images.

Dr Bellenger, who was abbot for eight years until 2014, has previously apologised to all former pupils affected by abuse.

The inquiry, which examined the prevalence of paedophilia among Benedictine monks and failures to protect young people, also looked at Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire, where about 40 monks and teachers have been accused of abusing children since the 1960s. 

An interim report is set to be released next year.

 




.


Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.