UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian
Harriet Sherwood Religion correspondent
@harrietsherwood
Wednesday 16 March 2016
The independent inquiry into child sex abuse is to hold a preliminary hearing on Wednesday in an investigation into the track record of Anglican churches in England and Wales in preventing exploitation, dealing with perpetrators and helping survivors to overcome trauma and obtain justice.
Scrutiny of the Church of England’s policies and practices on child sex abuse comes a day after a damning review of the church’s failures to respond to a survivor over a period of almost 40 years called for far-reaching cultural and structural change.
One strand of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA), headed by Lowell Goddard, will focus on the diocese of Chichester, which has been at the centre of allegations of child protection failures.
Last year Peter Ball, the former bishop of Lewes, which falls within the diocese, was jailed for 32 months for the abuse of 18 vulnerable young men and boys dating back to the 1970s. After a police investigation in the 1990s resulted in a caution, Ball resigned as a bishop but continued to officiate within the church.
Also last year, the C of E issued an apology and paid compensation to an alleged victim of George Bell, the former bishop of Chichester who died in 1958. The survivor first reported being abused as a small child by Bell 20 years ago, but the matter was not investigated or referred to police at the time.
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