UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph
By Nicola Harley 07 Oct 2015
Former bishop of Lewes has been jailed at the Old Bailey for 32 months for abusing his power to exploit young aspiring priests for his own “selfish sexual motive” over 15 years.
A court heard Peter Ball avoided prosecution for sexual abuse in 1993 after the intervention of the royal family.
Ball, 83, was sentenced at the Old Bailey after using religion as a “cloak” to groom aspiring young priests for sex during the 1970s, 80s and 90s.
But he almost escaped justice when his first victim reported allegations and was given a police caution after interventions from establishment figures, the Old Bailey was told on Wednesday.
Prosecutor Bobbie Cheema said the prosecution has investigated the way in which the police and prosecutors dealt with the claims in 1993. He was not prosecuted for two of the three offences he has now admitted at the of the initial investigation.
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