Forcing church to report abuse suspicions would be counterproductive

By Helen Hall
Times
July 09, 2018

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/forcing-church-to-report-abuse-suspicions-would-be-counterproductive-7xggdvbds

A regime of mandatory reporting might be attractive at first glance, but prevention would be better than cure

An internal Church of England review into allegations of sexual abuse was flawed, and failed to give a complete picture, concluded Sir Roger Singleton, a former head of Barnados in an independent report.

Although there was no evidence of a deliberate attempt to mislead the public, it appears that the scale of the issue was downplayed to protect the church’s reputation.

As a result, journalists and others have been asking whether it is wise for the church to continue to make its own judgments when it comes to reporting such abuse.