UNITED KINGDOM
Church Times
by TIM WYATT 28 JULY 2017
TWO survivors of sexual abuse in the Church of England have demanded that the Church overhaul its process for handling abuse claims, and have criticised its relationship with its insurer, Ecclesiastical.
The survivors say that they were treated poorly, and that their pastoral care and counselling were cut off, because of an overly defensive approach and legal advice from Ecclesiastical.
The survivors are: Gilo, a man who was sexually assaulted by the late Garth Moore, a former diocesan chancellor (News, 4 December 2015); and Teresa Cooper, who blew the whistle on the decades of abuse at a C of E-run children’s home, Kendall House, in Kent (News, 15 July 2016).
Gilo does not want his surname published, to protect his identity, and was previously known only by the pseudonym “Joe”.
After he made a compensation claim against the Church, having tried for years to report his ordeal, with little response, the pastoral support finally being offered to him was temporarily cut off. An independent review of the case concluded that this was because of incorrect advice from Ecclesiastical (News, 18 March 2016).
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