UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian
Sally Weale Education correspondent
The Charity Commission has launched an investigation into safeguarding and the handling of sexual abuse allegations at a prestigious independent Catholic boarding school in North Yorkshire.
Police have been investigating allegations of historical sexual abuse at Ampleforth College, which has educated cultural luminaries such as the Downton Abbey creator, Julian Fellowes, the sculptor Antony Gormley and the actor Rupert Everett.
Announcing its inquiry on Tuesday, the commission – which is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales – stressed that its role was not to investigate allegations or actual incidents of abuse, whether historical or recent.
Its remit is solely to look into the trustees’ approach to safeguarding and their handling of allegations of sexual abuse.
Ampleforth Abbey, a registered charity, is the home of a Catholic religious community which is based on the same site. The St Laurence Education Trust is the registered charity which runs Ampleforth College and a second independent school, St Martin’s Ampleforth.
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