UNITED KINGDOM
Church of England
March 2016
Summary and background
A review of the case of Rev A was commissioned in September 2015. This followed the disclosure of alleged sexual abuse committed by Rev A on Survivor B, decades ago, when he was a young person. B also reported that he had disclosed this abuse to a number of different people on separate occasions through the intervening years, both within and outside the Church. On each occasion, B reported that he had not received a response which he felt adequately addressed his needs. B also reported two other allegations of abuse – one by a senior church figure, (Brother C).
The National Safeguarding Adviser, Graham Tilby, along with the diocese of London, formally commissioned CCPAS (Churches Child Protection Advisory Service) to undertake the review to establish what lessons could be drawn from an independent examination of the case.
CCPAS engaged Ian Elliott, Safeguarding Consultant, with whom they have a joint working agreement, to undertake the review to establish what lessons could be drawn from an independent examination of the case.
In December the Church of England issued a statement about the review in response to a newspaper interview with the survivor, offering an unreserved apology and confirming that a settlement had been reached with the survivor. The Church’s response is still ongoing and further details will be released at a later stage.
Response
A senior woman in the Church of England, the Bishop of Crediton, Sarah Mullally, received the report, at the request of Survivor B. Read her response to the report here.
Conclusions:
1. The reports of abuse that B has made are credible. They contain a tragic catalogue of exploitation and harm. The many attempts made by B to secure help from the Church within which he had grown up, resulted in frustration and failure. This increased his sense of anger at what had happened to him. He felt ignored.
2. His loss of faith is another tragic consequence of the experiences that he was subject to. The impact on his health appears to have been significant and continues today. Despite all of this, B retains a desire to see practice in the Church greatly improve. He wants to ensure that others who present in a similar way to himself and who are seeking to be heard, helped, and healed by the Church, will receive a fundamentally different response than he did.
3. The expectation that a survivor of abuse would have in contacting the Church, would be shaped by the policy documents that it has produced. As has already been stated, the reviewer holds the main policy document for the Church in high regard. Unfortunately, practice in this case does not comply with what is contained in this policy. It falls short of it in that it did not place the pastoral needs of the survivor in a position of priority. Financial interests were allowed to impact practice.
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