ENGLAND
Press Association
December 17, 2017
A safeguarding expert who wrote a review of sex abuse within the Church of England said his recommendations for better practice to protect survivors have been ignored.
Ian Elliott told BBC Radio 4’s Sunday programme he was “very disturbed” by statements about alleged “factual inaccuracies” in his report, and said those within the Church who could support his findings have failed to back him publicly.
Taking the unusual step of speaking out about the report, Mr Elliott said he was particularly perturbed by senior figures within the Church who wrongly believed pastoral support to victims should be withdrawn the moment legal proceedings begin.
Mr Elliott said withdrawing that care left survivors, particularly those with mental health issues, vulnerable.
He said: “Now that just simply should never happen and I needed to draw attention to that fact in the report, which I did, and I think that’s something which – my impression is – has caused a great deal of upset and concern amongst many who I do not think have the correct attitude or approach to survivors within the Church of England.”
Mr Elliott said one survivor told him he had spoken to two senior and prominent members of the CofE about his “shocking” abuse, but they had not taken “the required actions”.
He said: “(The survivor) spoke to 23 victims, all of whom he identified when and where the conversations took place. Not all of those individuals said they could remember the conversations, but half of them did and confirmed they had not taken the right actions – not known really what do to.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.