UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian
Harriet Sherwood
@harrietsherwood
Monday 5 October 2015
The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has ordered an independent review of the Church of England’s handling of the case of Peter Ball, the former bishop of Lewes and Gloucester, amid allegations of a cover-up of sexual abuse.
Ball, 83, admitted last month to indecently assaulting two people between 1980 and 1983 and between 1990 and 1991, and will be sentenced on Wednesday. He also admitted misconduct in public office by “misusing his position in authority to manipulate and prevail upon others for his own sexual gratification” in relation to 16 men between 1977 and 1992.
Claims of Ball’s offences surfaced in 1993, when he was cautioned by police, but he was not brought to trial. He resigned from his position, but continued to officiate in churches until 2010.
The Church of England announced on Monday that Welby had commissioned an independent review to examine whether the church “properly assessed the possible risk that Bishop Ball might pose to others and responded adequately to concerns and representations submitted by survivors”.
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