LONDON (ENGLAND)
Daily Mail
April 29, 2019
By Rory Tingle
Church of England leaders allegedly ‘turned a blind eye’ to child abuse claims against a teacher who was allowed to move to an Anglican school in Papua New Guinea despite facing child sex assault claims, an investigation has revealed.
Roy Griffiths, a deputy head teacher at Lincoln Cathedral School, was accused of indecently assaulting a pupil in 1969, but remained employed until 1970 when another boy made abuse claims against him.
He stayed at the school for at least two further months and was able to move to a job at an Anglican school in Papua New Guinea. The late Rt Revd Kenneth Riches, former Bishop of Lincoln, knew about the case from the first complaint.
Neither Lincoln Cathedral School nor Lincoln Diocese informed the police at the time and they only heard 45 years later, BBC Panorama found.
Griffiths admitted abusing six boys at Lincoln Cathedral School last year, and was sentenced to six years and seven months in prison.
One of Roy Griffiths’ victims, who now lives in Canada, told Panorama: ‘It should have been dealt with right away, and the Church should have instructed the police… and they didn’t. They just turned a blind eye and moved on.’
Lincolnshire Police and Lincoln Diocese investigated 25 people over alleged abuse, from a list of 53 names which were passed to officers, with three cases leading to convictions.
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