YORK (UNITED KINGDOM)
BBC [London, England]
December 17, 2024
A woman who has told the BBC how she was groomed by priest David Tudor has joined calls for the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell to resign over his handling of a sexual abuse case.
Mr Cottrell is just days away from taking charge of the Church of England, following the resignation of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby over his management of a separate sex abuse case.
But Mr Cottrell has also come under pressure after a BBC investigation revealed that as Bishop of Chelmsford, he let Tudor remain in his post despite knowing he had been barred by the Church from being alone with children and had paid compensation to a sexual abuse victim.
Rachel Ford, who alleged she was groomed by Tudor while at school, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme Mr Cottrell’s resignation would send a “warning” to people that “the old boys’ club” is over.
Mr Cottrell has so far resisted pressure to resign, saying “everything was done to understand, assess and manage the risk” associated with the disgraced priest.
He also said the story was being reported as if “it was an abuser being ignored or even protected”, which he said “re-traumatises already hurt people”.
Ms Ford said that response was “a terrible way of trying to pass the buck onto the victims”.
“How can you re-traumatise traumatised people?”, she added.
Tudor was only banned from the ministry two months ago, after admitting historical sex abuse allegations relating to two girls.
Ms Ford told the Today programme she was a student at a school where Tudor worked, and said he “strutted around” and was able to do whatever he pleased.
She recalled him being “very touchy-feely”, singing love songs to her and inviting her to parties at his home.
It had been difficult to counter “the might of the church” when raising concerns about Tudor’s conduct, she added.
“I was told that things would be looked into. It was very vague. It was a brush-off.”
The Church of England has been reeling since Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby resigned in November after the publication of a damning report that found he “could and should” have done more to intervene in the case of prolific child abuser John Smyth.
The calls for Mr Cottrell’s resignation comes just weeks before he is due to fill the role vacated by Mr Welby.
Ms Ford said she felt Mr Cottrell’s resignation was now “inevitable”.
In response to the BBC investigation, Mr Cottrell said he was “deeply sorry” that action had not been taken earlier, but that he had “inherited” the situation which he could not easily change.
“The situation with David Tudor was an awful situation to live with and to manage and has meant many people suffering as a result. I want victims and survivors to know that everything was done to understand, assess and manage the risk,” Mr Cottrell’s statement said.
Tudor did not reply to the BBC’s questions when he was contacted for comment.