UNITED KINGDOM
Church Times
by Madeleine Davies
Posted: 27 Mar 2014
A FORMER Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt Revd Peter Ball, will be prosecuted for indecent assaults on young men, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced on Thursday.
Jaswant Narwal, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS South East, said: “It is alleged that he sexually abused a number of young males between 1977 and 1992. The misconduct alleged is that he misused his position and authority to manipulate and prevail upon others for his own sexual gratification. During this time Mr Ball was serving as a Bishop in the Church of England.”
Bishop Ball, who is 82 years old, and lives in Langport, Somerset, is charged with misconduct in public office between 1977 and 1992, indecent assault on a boy, aged 12 or 13, in 1978, and indecent assault on a man, aged 19 or 20, between 1980 and 1982 .
Between 1977 and 1992 Bishop Ball was Bishop of Lewes. He became Bishop of Gloucester in 1992 but resigned in 1993, after being formally cautioned by Gloucester Police for “one offence of gross indecency, contrary to the Sexual Offences Act of 1956” (News, 12 March 1993). The offence involved a 17-year-old novice from what was described as “an embryo order”. No charges were brought, but a formal caution implies an admission of guilt.
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