ENGLAND
Daily Mail
February 7, 2018
By Steve Doughty
– The Church paid out £15,000 in compensation over unproven allegations
– The compensation related to claims against the long-dead bishop George Bell
– It is feared that similar payments could end up costing the church some £50m
The Church of England is facing more than 3,000 complaints over sex abuse. The total number of ‘concerns or allegations’ had reached 3,300 by 2016.
The figures do not distinguish new complaints from longstanding ones, but almost all involved the treatment of children, young people or vulnerable adults. If even a proportion were upheld the Church would have to pay millions in compensation.
One recent compensation payment in an unproven and heavily-disputed case of abuse alleged against long-dead Bishop of Chichester George Bell amounted to £15,000. Matching that sum in every complaint now facing the Church would cost almost £50million.
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