UNITED KINGDOM
Independent
Disgraced former bishop and convicted paedophile Peter Ball tried to used his “status of confidant” with Prince Charles to boost his position, a damming report has revealed.
A major independent review found the Church of England “concealed” evidence of child abuse against Ball for more than 20 years.
He was jailed for 32 months in October 2015 after admitting to a string of historical sex offences against teenage boys and young men between the 1970s and the 1990s.
The report, Abuse of Faith, found that Ball, then bishop of Gloucester, suggested “on many occasions” to the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord George Carey and others that he “enjoys the status of confidant of the Prince of Wales”.
He “sought to exploit his contact with members of the royal family in order to bolster his position, particularly in the eyes of Lord Carey and others from whom he hoped to receive sympathetic treatment,” the report says.
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