UNITED KINGDOM
The Argus
By Neil Vowles
Sexual abuse victims say a decision to publish a report into the crimes of a Cathedral steward ten years after it was compiled is “too little, too late”.
Support groups claim victims were denied justice because recommendations in the 2004 report, produced by the Diocese of Chichester in the wake of the conviction of serial offender Terence Banks, were not followed up.
Banks, who became head steward at Chichester Cathedral, was convicted in 2001 for 32 sexual offences over 29 years against 12 boys as young as 11.
The Bishop of Chichester Martin Warner said the report was published to “shed light on past events, to aid learning, build trust and foster openness”.
The report followed an investigation by Sussex Police and was commissioned by the former Bishop of Chichester, The Rt Rev Dr John Hind.
It reveals that, despite being banned from the Prebendal cathedral school in Chichester in the 1970s, Banks still had contact with pupils.
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