Sussex CofE School Chaplain Admits to involvement in
child pornography ring
"The Chaplain of Hurstpierpoint College Sussex, a top
public school, has been suspended after admitting being involved in an
international child pornography ring. (Source: News of the world
March 10th:
1996) " And yet the Great and the Good in Sussex still did'nt bother to look more closely at what was going on in their midst.
Lambeth Palace Was Made Aware of the existence of Paedophile Priests within the Church of England as long ago as 1987!As early as 1987, Dianne Core of the CHILDWATCH group acknowledged the problem with Christian Clergy Abuse by personally travelling to London to present a confidential 'dossier' to the Archbishop of Canterbury which involved data on 10 Clergy Abuse cases under Childwatch surveillance, five of which were then unresolved. No specific action was taken by Lambeth Palace on this issue in response to the dossier and a year later Ms Core took an entirely different tack and became one of the major players in promoting the idea of Satanic Ritual Abuse. Had Ms Core forgotten about Christian Clergy Abuse? Did Ms Core's surveillance of the child abuse scene fail to catch the HUNDREDS of cases of Christian Clergy Abuse which occurred during the next few years? And what about her parliamentary representative Geoffrey Dickens MP? During 1987 he was claiming that "There had been a significant increase in homosexual clergymen leading to an increase in abuse of young boys" Yet by 1988 Dickens, a ley preacher, had joined forces with Ms Core to become a major player in the promotion of the idea of Satanic Ritual Child Abuse and has not made mention of Priestly Abuse since. Additionally, why is it that, in his scouring of court records on child-abuse to obtain data for his recent book "Children for the Devil - Ritual Abuse and Satanic Crime " in which he attempts, and fails, to prove a connection, the journalist Tim Tate (who also researched the Cook Report's discredited programme The Devil's Work, on this issue) never stumbled across or became alerted to the significant frequency of cases of Christian Ritualised Abuse? If those at the leading edge of social work, child-care and the treatment of sexual abuse offenders are aware of the risk of abusing Clergy, why have they spent so much time, like Mr Tate, flogging the dead horse of Satanic Ritual Abuse and ignoring Christian Clergy Abuse? Our data shows that sentences for NON-clerics who abuse are very much stronger than for clerics whose crimes tend to be looked upon as 'abnormalities' of behaviour. Yet our research shows that their crimes are anything but. They are predictable, repetitive and, unfortunately, far from 'abnormal' in the general way of things. " extracted from The Black Museum of Priestly Abuse - full story here After the court case another female pupil's mother said she would remove her daughter, 12, from the school because she felt the school's leadership team had failed to protect students from the paedophile teacher. The court heard the relationship was known around the school. Healy had groomed both girls on the social networking website Bebo which was popular with teenagers. Other pupils at the school knew what was going on before he was caught. It was reported today that pupils at Bishop Bell were aware of the closeness of Mr Forrest and Miss Stammers, and had told a teacher seven months ago that they had been seen the pair holding hands on an aeroplane following a school trip. The pair are believed to be in France. And earlier this year it emerged that a retired priest had been allowed to remain a governor for more than a year after child sex allegations came to light. But the priest had been allowed to remain on the school’s board of governors despite being suspended by the Church of England when the allegations first came to light last year. At the time the headteacher at the school Terry Boatwright reassured parents that the allegations were historical, dating back more than 40-years in some cases and were not connected with the school. In the case three years ago, Healy took his first victim, a 15-year-old pupil, back to his father's empty house for sex three or four times. After she broke it off, he started a second relationship with another 16-year-old pupil from the Eastbourne school where he worked as a supply teacher. He admitted having sex three times with the younger girl between October and December 2007 and seven times with the older girl between February and April 2008. The younger girl's father said afterwards: "You send your daughter to learn in school. You expect the teachers to protect them, not abuse them." The court heard at least one staff member at his school had cautioned him about his inappropriate behaviour around some of his female pupils. Tracey Elliott, prosecuting, said: "It does appear he had had informal warnings previously about his behaviour in relation to year 11 girls. He was told to be careful." Healy was summoned to the headmaster's office after both girls reported him and he initially denied any inappropriate behaviour. He was sacked by the school for gross misconduct in August 2008, a month before he was charged. A week later the mother of a then 12-year-old girl pupil told her local newspaper she had decided to take her 12-year-old daughter out of Bishop Bell Church of England School after learning about Healy. She accused the school of failing to alert parents to the case and said: "I chose that school because I believed it would take care of of the pupils, especially with its Christian ethos. "I am angry that the school never said anything to us parents. As far as I am concerned, the school has a responsiblity to keep our children safe and, for something as serious as this, the parents should have been told." Loony Sussex Vicar Vents Spleen on New Age Keep Fit ClassesInstead of keeping his eye on child-abusers in his
own ranks this Sussex rector throws Tai Chi class out of his church hall.
A rector threw a Tai Chi class out of his church hall after ruling that the exercise was not compatible with Christianity. The group had been meeting at St Marks Church in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, for four years when Reverend Jonathan Frais suddenly served them a month's notice. He said their sessions were "inappropriate on a Christian premises." Source: Sussex A Satanic Blackspot that wasn't'Sussex has already been named by the RSPCA as one of Britain's worst blackspots for Satanic Animal Killings'.
Really? Do RSPCA supporters realise that their donations are being
squandered on such wild-goose chases?
See here for the truth behind the satanic animal sacrifice
fiascos.
-------------------------------------------- Satanists Hounded man to
his death in Lewes, Sussex... Is Lewes really
a centre of Satanic Activity? Does a Secret Satanic Temple exist there
and have they, as the Guardian reported, actually sacrificed Cats,
Goats, Sheep and Horses to the Devil at local ancient sacred sites ?
This tale sounds like some Hammer-Horror film script. The claims
were made in all seriousness but it was all a fiction from Christians active
in the area! They were too busy tracking down imagined satanists to
bother looking over their shoulder at priests who were repetitively
abusing children. The true story takes
some believing - read it here.
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Latest Revelations: October 2014: Eli Ward Proved correct as John Sentamu eventually acts to order a proper Inquiry about the cover up to protect a child-abusing CofE Archbishop. More here: Eli Ward Says Archbishop of York covered up priestly abuse See here:
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As we predicted in our overview of the Irish Priestly Abuse Scandal (here)the Church of England would soon be swept up in the previously hidden plague of Priestly child abuse. It is ironic that the first salvos in the exposing of child abuse within the ranks of the CofE has occurred in Sussex because it was the heartland of some of the first claims made about Satanic Ritual Child Abuse in the 1990s which swayed public opinion to believe in SRA. Whilst the Great and the Good of Sussex clutched their chests in horror at fictional tales of babies being microwaved and eaten in satanic ceremonies, ordained CofE priests were quietly and continually sexually abusing terrified children in Sussex in what can only be described as a 'network' of priestly abuse.
In March 1990, in the midst of the Rochdale
Satanic Abuse Scandal, newspapers across the U.K. reported
that Dr Stephen Hempling a Brighton GP and consultant to Sussex
police, had 'confirmed' the existence of Satanic Ritual Child Abuse in the
Sussex area and said he was involved in 8 claimed satanic ritual
abuse cases. In fact Hempling was referring to 8 supposed cases of
ritualised abuse which he featured in an article "Ritual Abuse or More?" which he wrote for
the journal of the British Association for the
Study and Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect (BASPCAN) a
grand sounding group of leading-edge social workers with barmy claims
about endemic abuse. BASPCAN is sponsored by the NSPCC. The
'Satan Seminar' was held in Swanwick, Derbyshire and organised by
the Christian Association of Social Workers
and BASPCAN. It featured fundamentalist trouble-maker Maureen Davies, and Judith
Dawson and Christine Johnston from Nottinghamshire's 'Team 4' which
claimed, wrongly, to have discovered the U.K.'s first SRA case at Broxtowe
in Nottingham (see here).
Unfortunately for Dr Hempling , the Sussex Police said that the incidents had been investigated thoroughly and there was no evidence to substantiate the eight cases. Their investigations had not lead to any prosecutions but it took until June 1991 to make that fact clear, (see cutting above), leaving the public with the impression that Hempling's cases were real when, ironically, the real child abuse going on in Sussex at the time was hidden in a network of child abusing church of England priests, as we all now know.
Once again, the hysterical, untrue claims of satanic ritual child abuse not only turned out to be false, as they have done in every claimed case over the past 20 years, but drove attention away from real priestly abuse in the ranks of the Church.
LATEST, CHURCH OF ENGLAND SCANDAL - Eli Ward Accuses Anglican hierarchy of covering up for Child Abusing Priests on ITN news Click on the pic above to hear Eli speak of his terrible suffering at the hands of a recidivist Priestly abuser. |
The
insinuation in the CofE's campaign is that children could be preyed upon
by Witches! Such evil words would be a sick joke if it was not so serious. This national campaign was
spearheaded by the Manchester Diocese (see
here)
but was officially condoned by Lambeth palace, the highest level
in the Church of England. It was the Church's political response
to the growing establishment of Neo-Paganism as a proper
religion. How ironic it is then to learn that, Robert Waddington, the man who so badly serially abused Eli Ward from the age of eleven, was the Dean of Manchester Cathedral.
Backpedalling quickly the Manchester Diocese, said it was aware
of Ward's allegations against its former Dean and was
" working cooperatively with the parties
concerned."
This
is in stark contrast to when it refused to answer our complaints of
them making up lies about Halloween and inferring pagans harmed
children because of it! Being completely unable to produce any
evidence to bolster their Halloween claim they avoided the issue by
refusing to answer our correspondence.
It
didn't help their case much when it was revealed that claims of abuse
at the hands of Waddington were previously made by pupils at a
residential school in Queensland, Australia, where he was headmaster
from 1961 to 1970 before he became a member of the Manchester Diocese.
This scandal clearly confirms and underlines existing SAFF research on the cess-pit of hidden child-abuse within the Anglican church which makes the current Celebrity Paedophile (Pedophile) Hunt seem a familiar smokescreen to hide Establishment vice - as was the Satanic Ritual Child Abuse Myth .
These churchmen could apparenty invest resources
and time on slandering the religious festival of another belief but
victims of their priests say they turned a blind eye when complaints of
abusive clergy were made! Cover up or just plain
hypocrisy? You decide from the shocking timeline below.
Damage Limitation and Weasel Words as the Church of England Comes Under Attack for Deception over Priestly AbuseThe
Archbishop of York has ordered an independent inquiry into claims
against a former cathedral dean. Dr John Sentamu said the
Church of England treats child abuse allegations 'with the utmost
seriousness'. [SAFF: except that his
Manchester Diocese spent more time and resources hounding pagans at
Halloween than it did protecting children in it's churches! - see here]
His statement comes after his predecessor, Lord Hope of Thornes, denied
suggestions he covered up allegations against Robert Waddington, a
former Dean of Manchester Cathedral, who died from cancer five years
ago. Lord Hope, who was Archbishop of York between 1995 and
2005, was twice informed about allegations against Mr Waddington,
who is said to have abused chorister Eli Ward in Manchester in the
1980s and a school boy in Australia.
Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu has ordered an independent investigation into claims against Robert Waddington [SAFF: After being dragged kicking and screaming into a position where he could do nothing else ]
Eli Ward said he was first singled out by the Dean of Manchester, the
Very Reverend Robert Waddington, at the age of 11 and was then a close
companion of his over a five-year period. The allegations made in
public by Mr Ward for the first time this week led to suggestions of a cover-up over the Church’s response following complaints to bishops in 2003.
But the former Archbishop of York, Lord Hope of Thornes, who at the time oversaw the Manchester diocese, said he did not tell police and social services because Church rules then did not require it and because the Dean was dying of cancer.
[SAFF: Weasel words. As though the moral compass of Lord Hope was
incapable of over-riding the deficiencies of the rules of the church. ]
The abuse started when Mr Waddington began the grooming process in 1984
and ended after suspicions were raised in the Manchester diocese in
1989, [SAFF:- During the time
when the phantom allegations of Satanic Ritual Abuse which broke in
1989, provided a nice smokescreen for the church to hide behind. We
have some nice quotes from CofE notables during that period demanding
that no efforts should be spared to hunt down Satanic child abusers!
] Mr Ward told the Times newspaper. In 2004,
Dean Waddington, who had by then retired, was stripped of his right to
lead Church services by Lord Hope but no information was passed on to police or social services.
Scandal: Former Archbishop of York Lord Hope, left, was told of child
sex abuse allegations against Dean of Manchester Robert Waddington, but did not report them to the police
Yesterday Lord Hope said in a statement: 'Throughout my time as
bishop and archbishop I always adhered to the statutory practices of
the Church of England concerning safeguarding. 'I
strenuously deny (and am obviously disappointed at) the suggestion that
myself or my team at the time would have acted negligently in this or
any other safeguarding matter.'
He said the Church of England's 1999 Policy on Child Protection, which
was in effect at the time but which has subsequently been reviewed,
stated that there is no automatic legal obligation on the Church to refer allegations by adults to the police or social services.
'Child abuse is a heinous and personally damaging crime... the Church
(will) treat such matters with the utmost seriousness.'
[SAFF: except of course when the scandal is at the highest level and
might cause Anglicans to question self-serving rules which allowed
leaders of the church to turn a blind eye until paedophile predators
die a natural death, whereupon there is no chance of prosecution and
the PR fall-out has been somewhat minimised, as happened here. ]
But he said the policy stated it was essential to consider whether
children may still be at risk from the alleged abuser and, if so,
report the matter to the police or social services. He said: 'In
considering whether children would be at risk from Robert Waddington I
decided under these guidelines that this would not be the case given
his serious ill health following cancer surgery. The following year I
revoked Robert Waddington's permission to officiate. He died two years
later.'
Dr Sentamu's office issued a statement today which said: 'The
Archbishop of York is in the process of setting up an Independent
Inquiry specifically into the issues surrounding the reports relating
to alleged child abuse by the late Robert Waddington.
'When any church related abuse comes to light the Church's first
concern must be for the victim offering support and apologising for the
abuse, acknowledging that the effects can be lifelong.
'When the Inquiry makes its report the Archbishop will make its findings public.
'The Church of England continues to review its Child Protection and
Safeguarding policies regularly to ensure that the Church is a safe
place for all. [SAFF: but he forgot to
mention the 2012 report on networked Sussex priestly abuses done for
the CofE by Dame Butler-Sloss, a report which has since been accused of
being a whitewash here: ]
'I
am deeply aware of the pain caused to any victim of child abuse,
especially at the hands of a trustworthy person within the
church.' 'Child abuse is a heinous and personally damaging
crime, it is therefore incumbent on the Church to treat such matters
with the utmost seriousness.'
The Right Reverend Paul Butler, the head of the Churches National
Safeguarding Committee, said: ‘As a Church we will always apologise for
past systems that let down the vulnerable and offer support to anyone
whose life has been affected. Today we have robust safeguarding
policies in place.’
[SAFF: Except of course in the case of churches which abuse and kill
children in exorcism ceremonies. Then the church's safeguarding
policies require the police to chase phantom Witches instead. See here: Particularly is this the case when you realise that John Sentamu is very enthusiastic about exorcising children himself. See here: ]
Source:
14 Dec 2010
A former senior judge is to investigate how two vicars were allowed to work at East Sussex churches following serious sex abuse allegations. Roy Cotton worked as a priest in Brede, near Rye, in the 1990s despite being convicted of a sexual offence in 1954. Collin Pritchard served as the vicar of St.Barnabas, Bexhill, until 2007 after being arrested over sex abuse claims. Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss has been appointed by the Diocese of Chichester to carry out the review.
"The new review will also though look at how the church has managed or dealt with allegations of abuse and how the victims of Roy Cotton have been supported by the church." Collin Pritchard was sentenced to five years in prison for abusing two boys In 2008 Pritchard pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two boys in the 1970s and 1980s and was jailed for five years. The offences took place while he was parish priest at St Andrew's Church in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. The court heard that Cotton had been involved in the offences but died in 2006, two weeks before Pritchard was arrested. Source:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------1 March 2011
The Bishop of Chichester has issued an apology to two brothers for abuse suffered at the hands of two clergymen. In the letter, the Sussex bishop apologised for "the decisions taken in the past and for mistakes, failures and lack of knowledge on the part of those who held positions of responsibility". Roy Cotton worked as a priest in Brede, near Rye, in the 1990s - despite being convicted of a sexual offence in 1954. Collin Pritchard served as the vicar of St Barnabas, Bexhill, until 2007. 'Errors of judgement' In 2008 Pritchard pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two boys in the 1970s and 1980s and was jailed for five years. "I acknowledge that, in the light of his conviction in 1954, Roy Cotton should not have been ordained priest in 1967. Collin Pritchard was sentenced to five years in prison for abusing two boys "Errors of judgement were made about him and his fitness for ministry, and I accept that, had the diocese taken opportunities to investigate his past, the police might have decided to pursue a prosecution of Cotton prior to his death in 2006."
Pritchard and Cotton first came to the attention of Sussex Police in 1997 after two people came forward to make allegations against them. The victims said they were sexually abused by the pair during foreign holidays and camping trips. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided there was not enough evidence against them but kept its files open. The Diocese of Chichester confirmed the pair were given permission to officiate by different bishops despite their arrests and Cotton's previous conviction, which lay on his Church career file. Cotton continued to serve as a parish priest until 1999 and Pritchard worked at St Barnabas between 2001 and 2007, both apparently without supervision. Source:
----------------------------------------------------------25 March 2011
Church of England senior clergy and Sussex Police have been criticised over how they dealt with claims of historic abuse by two Sussex paedophile priests. Roy Cotton and Colin Pritchard abused children in the 1970s and 1980s. Pritchard admitted the crimes in 2008. Cotton had a conviction from the 1950s.
She said the victims' claims were not taken seriously. The Bishop of Chichester has apologised.
In a statement, the Bishop of Chichester, the Right Reverend John Hind, said: "I feel deep and profound sorrow for the pain caused to all victims and for the institutional failings of the Church in this Diocese."
He added: "The report has now been completed, and her conclusions and recommendations are in line with what we are now doing and will continue to build on." The bishop said the report would provide a strong foundation for good safeguarding practice in the Diocese and he added: "It also enables me to repeat the apology offered for mistakes made in the past."
Baroness Butler-Sloss, a church-going Anglican, said abuse allegations made by victims between 1996 and 2010 were all from male adults reporting historic child abuse, with none of the cases more recent than about 1984. In the report she said that across the diocese "and probably in many other dioceses" there had been "a lack of understanding of the seriousness of historic child abuse".
"The victims were not able to see justice take its course" Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss
Senior clergy, including bishops, were slow to act on information available to them and to assess the potential risk to children in the diocese, she added. She also said there was inadequate communication between senior clergy and child protection advisors in the diocese, and there was "seriously inadequate record keeping".
The retired senior judge also said Sussex Police were slow to recognise the significance of historic child abuse and did not take the disclosures of victims in their area sufficiently seriously. She said officers' record-keeping was deficient and even though at least two victims of thSCRUTINYuser gave similar accounts, there was no connection made by the police. Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss was appointed by the Diocese of Chichester to carry out the review
She added: "I am concerned that the police and it appears, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), took the view that Roy Cotton should not be further investigated after the second victim approached them because of his ill-health and because the CPS would not wish to prosecute.
"There are, I believe, at least 10 victims of this priest and the failure of the police to discover that he had been convicted of a sexual offence on a boy in 1954 led them to treat the disclosures of two of his victims with an unfortunate lack of seriousness. "This had the effect that the victims were not able to see justice take its course."
Pritchard served as the vicar of St Barnabas, Bexhill, until 2007 after being arrested over sex abuse claims. In 2008 he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two boys in the 70s and 80s and was jailed for five years.
The offences took place while he was parish priest at St Andrew's Church in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire.
The court heard that Cotton had been involved in the offences but died in 2006, two weeks before Pritchard was arrested. Roy Cotton worked as a priest in Brede, near Rye, in the 1990s despite being convicted of a sexual offence in 1954.
-------------------------------------------------------------
26 May 2011
A report said it was believed paedophile priest Roy Cotton had at least 10 victims
Letters from 1966 between the then Archbishop of Canterbury and a bishop show the Church agreed that a convicted paedophile should be ordained.
The correspondence emerged in a report into the Church of England's failure to support victims of Roy Cotton that was published online and then removed .
In one letter, Lambeth Palace suggested Cotton should be placed in a "carefully selected parish". Lambeth Palace said robust safeguarding policies had been in place since 1995. The [church's own report] Meekings Report was published online on Wednesday and then taken down. At the same time, another report was released by Baroness Butler-Sloss. A spokeswoman for the Diocese of Chichester told the BBC the Meekings Report was removed because the document had accidentally included some confidential information.
Both studies looked into the behaviour of Cotton and another paedophile priest, Colin Pritchard.
In a letter to the then Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey dated 13 May 1966, the Bishop of Portsmouth outlined Cotton's history, including a criminal offence in 1954, and his repeated requests to be considered for ordination. "You would do right to consider ordaining him to a title in the carefully selected parish" Response from archbishop's secretary, 17 May 1966. It said: "At the time he protested his innocence, and he has done ever since, and in fact from that time has been teaching."
The letter continued: "I am not sure whether having been convicted there would need to be a dispensation from you and I would be most grateful for your guidance in this matter. "Cotton is a man of considerable ability... and I cannot think that having been so free of any trouble for 12 years that there is a likelihood of there being any problem in the future." A response from the archbishop's secretary dated 17 May 1966, said the archbishop was "reassured by what you have said and thinks you would do right to consider ordaining him to a title in the carefully selected parish which you mention".
On Wednesday, the Church-commissioned report by Baroness Butler-Sloss criticised both senior clergy and Sussex Police over how they dealt with historical claims of abuse by Cotton and Pritchard. Baroness Butler-Sloss was appointed by the Diocese of Chichester to carry out the review. In the report, she said across the diocese "and probably in many other dioceses" there had been "a lack of understanding of the seriousness of historic child abuse". She said the victims' claims were not taken seriously.
The Bishop of Chichester later apologised, while Sussex Police issued a statement saying the force had always taken claims of sexual abuse very seriously. The retired senior judge also said she believed Roy Cotton had at least 10 victims.
Pritchard served as the vicar of St Barnabas, Bexhill, until 2007 after being arrested over sex abuse claims. In 2008 he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two boys in the 70s and 80s and was jailed for five years. "Any case of harm that occurs is a source of deep regret and pain" Lambeth Palace
The offences took place while he was parish priest at St Andrew's Church in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. The court heard that Cotton had been involved in the offences but died in 2006, two weeks before Pritchard was arrested. Cotton worked as a priest in Brede, near Rye, in the 1990s. A statement from Lambeth Palace in response to the Meekings Report said: "We would never comment on details of individual cases but always take the line that one safeguarding case in the Churchtroublemakers one too many and since 1995 have robust safeguarding policies in place.
---------------------------------------------------------------------13 July 2011
A review of how the Church of England dealt with two paedophile priests contains significant inaccuracies, a BBC investigation has found. The review carried out by Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss for the Church, looked at how historic claims of abuse by two Sussex priests were handled.
Evidence obtained by BBC South East appears to show a bishop provided incorrect information to the inquiry. The Church said the new information did not undermine the review.
Roy Cotton and Colin Pritchard abused children in the 70s and 80s. Pritchard admitted the crimes in 2008. Cotton had a conviction dating back to the 1950s. Cotton was ordained in 1966, despite having a conviction for indecently assaulting a choir boy. He went on to abuse at least 10 boys from Eastbourne in the 70s and 80s.
In 1999, the year when Cotton retired as a priest, Bishop Wallace Benn gave him permission to continue with his priestly duties. The bishop appears to have told Baroness Butler-Sloss that he was not concerned about granting the permission, because of Cotton's continued ill-health and because he had a lack of contact with children. But the Reverend Val Gibbs told the BBC that Cotton was still active and working in three churches with access to children. She said: "On the two occasions that I met him, actually in the church, he was celebrating the Eucharist, and preaching." Ms Gibbs said there were children present at the time.
'Report discredited'
Bishop Benn also appears to have told Baroness Butler-Sloss that the purpose of the permission to officiate, issued in 1999, was to permit Cotton to celebrate Communion in the nursing home where he was then living. The BBC discovered Cotton was not living in a nursing home in 1999 On Valentine's Day 2002, he conducted a wedding at Sedlescombe Church in East Sussex.
He was not admitted into a nursing home until September 2003, four years later than the report states. Colin Pritchard was sentenced to five years in prison for abusing two boys. The BBC sought clarification from the Diocese of Chichester and was told that Cotton went into the nursing home around 2001.
The Reverend Duncan Lloyd James, who took over from Cotton, spotted the inaccuracies. The former Rector of Brede with Udimore said: "The significance is that the hierarchy in the diocese was saying it doesn't matter that he has his permission to officiate because he's only in the nursing home, only ministering there. "Indeed Baroness Butler-Sloss says that there's no evidence that he was ministering anywhere other than in the nursing home. "But that isn't true, he wasn'tcountry widenursing home for the first three or four years after his retirement."
"I don't even know if I can believe any of the Sloss report now " Victim of Roy Cotton
Evidence uncovered in the BBC probe found Cotton was living in a bungalow in Sedlescombe - in the same village where fellow paedophile priest Pritchard lived and worked. After the inaccuracies came to light, Phil Johnson, one of Cotton's victims said: "I think the Butler-Sloss report is completely discredited. "I mean there are so many errors in it now that have been clearly demonstrated by the BBC's investigation that I think it's lost all credibility."
And another victim of Cotton, who has remained anonymous, said: "I'm not sure what I can believe. "I don't even know if I can believe any of the Sloss report now. "If there's errors, mistakes, cover-ups, whatever you want to call them, just one, do I believe the rest? I really don't know."
A spokeswoman for the Diocese of Chichester said new information had come to light since the publication of the report which drew into question the claim that Cotton was in a nursing home in 2001. She said: "It now appears that Cotton did not formally move to a nursing home until 2003, although he was ill during the years 1999 on and may have spent some time in hospital.
"What is also now clear is that there were periods between 1999 and 2003 where he was sufficiently healthy to be able to minister in parishes, and we have verified a number of dates."
But she added: "This correction does not, in our view, undermine the credibility of the Butler-Sloss report. "Rather, it only underscores one of that report's conclusions, which was that the failure to remove Roy Cotton's permission to officiate in May 2001 when his conviction for indecent assault in 1954 came to light, was a serious error."
She continued: "The diocese has already apologised in full for that error, but wishes to acknowledge that this new information demonstrates even more strongly how important it is to get these matters right." She said the diocese had previously drawn attention to a statement in the Butler-Sloss report about her difficulty in verifying some of the factual information, because of the poor standard of record-keeping at the time, and the consequent need to rely upon memory.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------19 July 2011
The report, by Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss for the Church, looked at how historic claims of abuse by two Sussex priests were handled. Lewes and Hastings Archdeacon, the Ven Philip Jones, denied there had been a cover-up. "The Church has gone to great lengths to make sure that is not the case."
The report followed a review by Baroness Butler-Sloss into the cases of Roy Cotton and Colin Pritchard, who abused children in the 1970s and 1980s. Pritchard served as the vicar of St Barnabas, Bexhill, until 2007 after being arrested over sex abuse claims. In 2008 he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two boys and was jailed for five years. The offences took place while he was parish priest at St Andrew's Church in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. Lewes and Hastings Archdeacon, the Ven Philip Jones, denied there had been a cover-up.
The court heard that Cotton had been involved in the offences but died in 2006, two weeks before Pritchard was arrested. Cotton worked as a priest in Brede, near Rye, in the 1990s. Cotton was ordained in 1966, despite having a conviction for indecently assaulting a choir boy in the 1950s, and went on to abuse at least 10 boys from Eastbourne.
Wallace Benn, Bishop of Lewes, told the baroness that he had given Cotton permission to officiate in 1999 to permit him to celebrate communion in the nursing home where he was then living. But the BBC discovered he was not admitted to the nursing home until September 2003. A spokeswoman for the Diocese of Chichester said last week new information had come to light since its publication of the report, adding Cotton had been ill from 1999 onwards and may have spent some time in hospital.
The archdeacon said Bishop Benn "maintained consistently" that he had understood his information he gave to be accurate. And he said the report was still credible. "The main thrust of the report relates to safeguarding practice and the recommendations she has made are full and entirely to the point," he said. "We have taken the recommendations on board in their entirety. "Ultimately our priority is for the safeguarding of children."
Bishop Benn is away on sabbatical and was not available for comment.
Source: 19 July 2011 Last updated at 19:07
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------25 May 2011
By Anna Roberts
A review into how two priests were allowed to continue working despite being accused of child abuse offences has found serious failings in the police and senior clergy. Collin Pritchard was the vicar of St Barnabas, in Bexhill, until 2007, despite having been first reported to police for sex offences 10 years earlier. He was later jailed for sexually abusing two young boys.
One of the boys was also abused by Roy Cotton, who worked as a parish priest in Brede near Rye, but prosecutors decided there was not enough evidence to charge him before he died in September 2006.
Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, who was appointed by the Church of England to carry out an independent review, said that across the diocese "and probably in many other dioceses" there had been "a lack of understanding of the seriousness of historic child abuse". She said Sussex Police committed a "serious oversight" in missing the fact that Cotton had a previous conviction for indecently assaulting a child in 1954 in their later investigation.
Their approach to historic allegations of sex abuse at the time appeared to have been "superficial", she said. The retired judge also noted that even though at least two victims of the same abuser gave similar accounts, there was no connection made by officers. Meanwhile, senior clergy, including bishops, were slow to act on information available to them and to assess the potential risk to children in the diocese, she said. Baroness Butler-Sloss also found there was inadequate communication between senior clergy and child protection advisors in the diocese.
Responding to the report, the Bishop of Chichester, the Rt Revd John Hind, said: "I feel deep and profound sorrow for the pain caused to all victims and for the institutional failings of the Church in this Diocese. "I am grateful to Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss for her thorough review. "The report has now been completed, and her conclusions and recommendations are in line with what we are now doing and will continue to build on, and it will provide a strong foundation for good safeguarding practice in the Diocese."
"Even in 1997 the 1954 conviction of Cotton would have been accessible to police, although in the absence of the full case papers we cannot prove that officers did check and find it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------26 May 2011
The correspondence emerged in a report into the Church of England's failure to support victims of Roy Cotton that was published online and then removed . In one letter, Lambeth Palace suggested Cotton should be placed in a "carefully selected parish". Lambeth Palace said robust safeguarding policies had been in place since 1995.
The Meekings Report was published online on Wednesday and then taken down. At the same time, another report was released by Baroness Butler-Sloss. A spokeswoman for the Diocese of Chichester told the BBC the Meekings Report was removed because the document had accidentally included some confidential information.
Both studies looked into the behaviour of Cotton and another paedophile priest, Colin Pritchard. In a letter to the then Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey dated 13 May 1966, the Bishop of Portsmouth outlined Cotton's history, including a criminal offence in 1954, and his repeated requests to be considered for ordination. "You would do right to consider ordaining him to a title in the carefully selected parish " Response from archbishop's secretary, 17 May 1966 It said: "At the time he protested his innocence, and he has done ever since, and in fact from that time has been teaching." The letter continued: "I am not sure whether having been convicted there would need to be a dispensation from you and I would be most grateful for your guidance in this matter. "Cotton is a man of considerable ability... and I cannot think that having been so free of any trouble for 12 years that there is a likelihood of ther e being any problem in the future." A response from the archbishop's secretary dated 17 May 1966, said the archbishop was "reassured by what you have said and thinks you would do right to consider ordaining him to a title in the carefully selected parish which you mention".
On Wednesday, the Church-commissioned report by Baroness Butler-Sloss criticised both senior clergy and Sussex Police over how they dealt with historical claims of abuse by Cotton and Pritchard. In the report, she said across the diocese "and probably in many other dioceses" there had been "a lack of understanding of the seriousness of historic child abuse". She said the victims' claims were not taken seriously. The Bishop of Chichester later apologised, while Sussex Police issued a statement saying the force had always taken claims of sexual abuse very seriously. The retired senior judge also said she believed Roy Cotton had at least 10 victims. Pritchard served as the vicar of St Barnabas, Bexhill, until 2007 after being arrested over sex abuse claims. In 2008 he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two boys in the 70s and 80s and was jailed for five years.
: Source:
---------------------------------------------------13 Nov 2011
A bishop is under investigation after a complaint was made by his diocese safeguarding body. The Diocese of Chichester yesterday confirmed the Bishop of Lewes, the Rt. Rev Wallace Benn, is the subject of a complaint made to the Archbishop of Canterbury. The diocese independent Safeguarding Advisory Group has written to Lambeth House about Mr Benn. The Archbishop now has 28 days to decide whether to dismiss the complaint.
A statement from the Diocese of Chichester said: The Diocese of Chichester is aware the diocesan independent Safeguarding Advisory Group has made a complaint to the Archbishop of Canterbury concerning Bishop Wallace Benn, Bishop of Lewes. As we understand it, the matter now rests with the Archbishop's office. A spokeswoman for the diocese said she could not confirm the nature of the complaint as it had come from the independent advisory group a separate body to the diocese.
In June, Bishop Benn, along with the Bishop of Chichester issued an unreserved apology to victims of paedophile priests in Sussex. The statement followed an investigation into priests Roy Cotton and Colin Pritchard, who abused several boys over a number of years. In May, Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss conducted a highly critical review of the way the senior clergy and Sussex Police handled allegations of historic abuse. Roy Cotton already had a conviction for indecently assaulting a choir boy when he was ordained in 1966. He went on to abuse at least ten boys from Eastbourne. Baroness Butler-Sloss's review found that Bishop Benn gave Cotton permission to continue with priestly duties after he retired in 1999. Bishop Benn was unavailable to comment.
----------------------------------------------23 Dec 2011
By Giacomo Galeazzi, Rome.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has placed under investigation a diocese where Anglican priests were allowed to continue to work despite having been accused of pedophilia. The decision to investigate the diocese of Chichester made by Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the Church of England, marks the first time since the eighties that the Archbishop of Canterbury orders an apostolic inspection of a diocese. The paedophilia scandal caused an earthquake in the Catholic Church, particularly in Anglo-Saxon countries, but it had never before appeared so conspicuously in the Protestant world. A few months ago, the Vatican ordered an apostolic visitation of the Ealing Abbey in London after it was discovered that monks had been involved in abuse for years. Two vicars are at the center of the Chichester scandal, Roy Cotton and Colin Pritchard, who have molested children in churches in the Midlands and EastSussex during the seventies and eighties. In May, an investigation uncovered that the two continued serving despite the fact that their superiors were aware of the serious allegations against them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------23 Dec 2011
The Archbishop of Canterbury has set up an inquiry into child protection policies in the Diocese of Chichester in West Sussex, it was announced. Lambeth Palace said the inquiry had been launched "in response to concerns within the diocese" but declined to expand on the background to the fears. Current child protection arrangements within the diocese will be scrutinised during the investigation and recommendations for the future will be made.
Dr Rowan Williams has appointed Bishop John Gladwin and Chancellor Rupert Bursell QC to conduct the inquiry, which Lambeth Palace said had the backing of Bishop of Chichester, the Rt Revd Dr John Hind. In July, it was announced that father-of-three Dr Hind will retire next April after 11 years as the 102nd Bishop of Chichester, having taken over in 2001 from Bishop Eric Kemp.
In a statement, Lambeth Palace said: "The Archbishop of Canterbury today set up an inquiry into the operation of the diocesan child protection policies in the Diocese of Chichester. He has appointed Bishop John Gladwin and Chancellor Rupert Bursell QC to carry out the inquiry. "They will advise the Archbishop on any steps that need to be taken to ensure the highest possible standards of safeguarding in the diocese. This will involve examining current child protection arrangements as well as making recommendations for the future. They will make a preliminary report to the Archbishop by the end of February 2012."
A spokeswoman for Lambeth Palace - the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury since the 13th Century - refused to say whether the concerns related to current or historic child protection issues. In May, a review found serious failings in the senior clergy after two priests were allowed to continue working despite being accused of serious child abuse offences. Collin Pritchard was the vicar of St Barnabas, in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, until 2007, despite having been first reported to police for sex offences 10 years earlier. He was later jailed for sexually abusing two young boys. One of the boys was also abused by Roy Cotton, who worked as a parish priest in Brede near Rye, but prosecutors decided there was not enough evidence to charge him before he died in September 2006.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------17 Jan 2012
Paedophile priest Roy Cotton abused at least 10 boys from Eastbourne
A public inquiry should be held into church child abuse, a solicitor representing victims of an East Sussex priest has said. Tracey Emmott, one of eight lawyers appealing for the inquiry into abuse within the church in England and Wales, made the call in a letter to The Times. Her seven clients are among victims of paedophile priest Roy Cotton, who worked for the Diocese of Chichester.
A Church of England spokeswoman said it would co-operate with a public inquiry. Cotton was ordained in 1966, despite having a conviction for indecently assaulting a choirboy in the 1950s, and went on to abuse at least 10 boys from Eastbourne. A church-commissioned report by Baroness Butler-Sloss, released in May 2011, criticised both senior clergy and Sussex Police over how they dealt with historical claims of abuse. "There is limited acceptance of the inquiries thus far in the Diocese of Chichester" said solicitor Tracey Emmott
The Bishop of Chichester and the Bishop of Lewes later issued a joint apology for abuse in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s by Cotton, who died in 2006, and another priest, Colin Pritchard. In 2008, Pritchard, former vicar of St Barnabas, Bexhill, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two boys and was jailed for five years. An inquiry into child protection policies in the Diocese of Chichester has been set up by the Archbishop of Canterbury's office. "There is limited acceptance of the inquiries thus far in the Diocese of Chichester because they have been commissioned within the Anglican church," said Ms Emmott. "Therefore I think both the public and the victims would be more satisfied if the matter had been scrutinised by an independent body. Phil Johnson, one of Cotton's victims, backs the call for a public inquiry "That is why I think it would be necessary to something have more objective ordered by the government." Ms Emmott's client, Phil Johnson, backs the call for a public inquiry. He and his brother, Gary, were both abused by Cotton and have waived their right to anonymity to criticise the Church of England's failure to protect them. "It needs somebody from outside to investigate, to look at all of the facts and for their findings to be reported publicly," said Mr Johnson. The Church of England said it recognised the "pain and hurt caused by abuses within a church context". "We continue both to promote the safest possible arrangements now and to try to respond well to people who come forward from the past," it said in a statement. "This involves working closely with the statutory authorities involved and with organisations that support the victims. "We recognise this is an ongoing process and the Church would of course co-operate with any public inquiry and work closely with those setting it up."
----------------------------------------------------------------24 Jan 2012
Fr Wilkie Denford has been released on bail until 1 March A Church of England priest has been arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing two young boys in the late 1980s. Father Wilkie Denford, 76, who is semi-retired and lives in Lewes, and a 68 year-old-man, also from the Lewes area, were arrested in November. The pair are accused of abusing the boys at a number of locations in West Sussex in 1988. Both men have been questioned by Sussex Police and bailed until 1 March. Details of the arrests have just emerged. The Diocese of Chicester said Fr.Denford and the other man had been suspended from church-related duties. The abuse is alleged to have taken place while Fr Denford was a vicar at St. John the Evangelist in Burgess Hill. The 68-year-old worked as an organist in the Lewes area. He previously worked in Brighton and at Canterbury Cathedral and continued to officiate until he was arrested in November 2011. In a statement, Sussex Police said a 76-year-old and another man aged 68 were "arrested on suspicion of sexual abuse of two young boys at various locations in West Sussex during 1988". [Ed: FYI 1988 was the year that Christian activists floated false allegations of Satanic Ritual Child Abuse] A spokeswoman for the Diocese of Chichester said: "We can confirm that a retired priest and another man, who has worked as an organist in the Lewes area, were arrested in November 2011 and are currently on bail. "Both were immediately suspended from any church-related duties. The Diocese of Chichester is working in full co-operation with the police and other public authorities. "We cannot comment further whilst this investigation is under way."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------6 March 2012
Canon Gordon Rideout and Father Robert Coles were arrested separately at their homes. Two retired Church of England priests have been arrested in the Eastbourne area on suspicion of sexually abusing children and young men. Canon Gordon Rideout, 73, is suspected of sexually assaulting nine young people between 1965 and 1972. Former parish priest Robert Coles, 70, is suspected of sexually assaulting three young men in West Sussex in the late 1970s and mid-1980s. Detectives in East Sussex say they are not linking the cases at this stage. They emphasised there was nothing to suggest that any children were currently at risk.
"The offences were allegedly committed at different times and in different places from each other" Sussex Police said the arrests, made at the homes of the two men, are the result of a complex and ongoing reinvestigation. Canon Rideout, a former rural dean, is suspected of abusing children in Crawley, West Sussex; Barkingside in north-east London and Middle Wallop in Hampshire. The arrests follow an investigation over the past six months by a team of specialist child protection detectives from Sussex Police. It follows receipt last year by the Diocese of Chichester and Sussex Police of a confidential review by Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss into historic allegations of sexual abuse by Church of England priests against young people in Sussex and elsewhere.
The arrests follow on-going church inquiries into Bishop Wallace Benn, the Bishop of Lewes, who is facing disciplinary action for alleged safeguarding mistakes. It coincides with an investigation ordered by the Archbishop of Canterbury into child protection failings in churches in Sussex.
The force said several allegations against Canon Rideout were made to police in 1972 but no criminal proceedings resulted. Another related allegation was made to police in 2001 and an arrest was made then but there was not sufficient evidence to justify criminal proceedings. Canon Rideout conducted services at All Saints Church, Eastbourne until 2010. In the 1960s he was a chaplain at two Barnado's homes in London. He was also chaplain at Moira House Girls School in Eastbourne until 2003 and chair of governors at St Mary's special school in Bexhill and Bishop Bell school in Eastbourne. One of the allegations against against Robert Coles was investigated in 1997, and an arrest was made, but there was insufficient evidence to justify criminal proceedings at that time. The other allegations have only recently emerged as a result of the current inquiry.
The Rt Rev Mark Sowerby, Acting Bishop of Chichester, said: I can assure the public that the two people who have been arrested were not in licensed ministry recently and the cases are of a historic nature." Det Chief Insp Carwyn Hughes said: "Although they have been arrested on the same day the cases against the two men are being treated as separate inquiries at this stage. "The offences were allegedly committed at different times and in different places from each other. "There are no allegations of recent or current offending and police emphasise that there is nothing to suggest that any children are currently at risk.""
-------------------------------------------------8 May 2012
Police today charged a priest who lives in Shoreham and worked in Tarring. Keith Willkie Denford, 72, a priest, of Broad Reach Mews, Shoreham, and Michael Mytton, 68, of South Road, East Chiltington, will appear on bail at Mid-Sussex Magistrates court on Tuesday, May 22. Denford has been charged with three indecent assaults on boys under 16. Two of these allegedly took place in or near Shoreham and one took place in or near Cuckfield between June, 1987, and January, 1990. [Ed: The Church of England were obviously too busy accusing pagans and satanits of abusing children to bother with real child abuse committed by their own colleagues - 1988 was the year that Christian activists floated false allegations of Satanic Ritual Child Abuse and the SAFF has plenty of cuttings and evidence to show how quickly the CofE jumped on the bandwagon] Denford, who was previously based at a church in Tarring, has also been charged with one indecent assault on another boy, aged under 16, in or near Cuckfield January, 1987 and December, 1990. Mytton has been charged with one offence of aiding and abetting Denford in the first mentioned alleged Cuckfield assault. The two men were originally arrested on Thursday, November 3, last year on suspicion of sexual offences and were released on police bail later the same day. They were charged on the authority of the Crown Prosecution Service when they answered to their bail at Crawley police station today.
-------------------------------------------------------------16 April 2012:
Canon Gordon Rideout rearrested after new child abuse allegations Canon Gordon Rideout was rearrested over four separate allegations of sexual assault A retired Anglican priest who was bailed on suspicion of child sex abuse has been rearrested over four fresh allegations. Canon Gordon Rideout, 73, of Eastbourne, was arrested and bailed in March on suspicion of abusing nine young people between 1965 and 1972. He has been rearrested over a further four alleged sexual assaults in the same period. The alleged assaults took place in Sussex, Hampshire and London. A Sussex Police spokeswoman said: "A 73-year-old man from Eastbourne is being interviewed on suspicion of four sexual assaults on young people during the late 1960s and early 1970s in Ifield, West Sussex and Middle Wallop, in Hampshire." She added that Mr Rideout had already been arrested in March on suspicion of assaults on nine young people in Crawley, Barkingside in north-east London, and Middle Wallop.
----------------------------------------------------------23 May 2012
A Church of England priest and an organist have appeared in court over the sexual abuse of two young boys in West Sussex in the late 1980s. Father Wilkie Denford, 77, who is semi-retired and from Shoreham, and Michael Mytton, a 68-year-old organist from near Lewes, were arrested in November. The pair are accused of abusing the boys between 1987 and 1990. Both men were given bail at Mid Sussex Magistrates' court and are due to appear again on 3 July. The abuse is alleged to have taken place while Mr Denford was a vicar at St. John the Evangelist, in Burgess Hill. Mr Denford, of Broad Reach Mews, Shoreham, has been charged with three indecent assaults on a boy then aged under 16. Mr Mytton, of South Road in East Chiltington, East Sussex, has been charged with aiding and abetting Mr Denford in the alleged assault on a boy in Cuckfield between June 1987 and January 1990.
---------------------------------------------------29 May 2012
SUSSEX Police are reviewing a dossier of information into disgraced former Sussex bishop, the Right Reverend Bishop Peter Ball. The former Bishop of Lewes resigned in 1993 after being cautioned for an act of gross indecency against a teenager. Now BBC Sussex is reporting that Sussex Police is reviewing files dating back 20 years to consider whether any future prosecution might be made. Sussex Police confirmed: Over the past 10 days we have received from Lambeth Palace two reports from a church safeguarding consultant, which contain reviews of church safeguarding files relating to historic issues in the Chichester Diocese. We have also received the files themselves. The reports and files relate to matters more than 20 years ago and we will review the contents in order to establish whether any police investigation of possible criminal offences would be merited. "This review is likely to take several weeks. We are not prepared to expand on this statement at this time." The Church of England employed a former police officer to take on the role of a safeguarding advisor to review all files relating to the Right Reverend Bishop Ball. These were then forwarded to Sussex Police.
This latest development comes in the wake of a series of investigations into the conduct of priests working in the Church of England. Earlier this year two retired Church of England priests were arrested in the Eastbourne area on suspicion of sexually abusing children and young men. Canon Gordon Rideout, 73, are both suspected of sexually assaulting young people between the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s. At the time, police said they were not linking the cases and both men have been bailed until next month. Their arrests follow an investigation over the past six months by a team of specialist child protection detectives from Sussex Police. Last year, Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss conducted an inquiry into allegation of sexual abuse by Church of England priests against young people in Sussex and elsewhere. Meanwhile, Bishop Wallace Benn, the Bishop of Lewes, is facing disciplinary action for alleged safeguarding mistakes, while the Archbishop of Canterbury has ordered an investigation into child protection failings at churches in Sussex.
--------------------------------------------------------28 May 2012
By Colin Campbell BBC South East Home Affairs Correspondent
The bishop resigned in 1993 after receiving a police caution The Church of England has carried out a investigation into a former Sussex bishop, the BBC has learnt. The Right Reverend Bishop Peter Ball resigned in 1993 after receiving a police caution for committing an act of gross indecency against a teenager. Files kept at Lambeth Palace about the former Bishop of Lewes are being scrutinised by police. A Church of England spokesman said the church had instigated a review of the files and could not comment further. "It is an investigation which to be honest is well overdue"
A church spokesman said: "At our instigation a former police officer, now a safeguarding adviser, has undertaken a review of all files relating to a retired bishop. "On the basis of the findings this review has now been forwarded to Sussex Police. We cannot comment further at this stage while the police are conducting their enquiries and processing the information." A spokesman for Sussex Police said: "Over the past 10 days we have received from Lambeth Palace two reports from a Church safeguarding consultant, which contain reviews of Church safeguarding files relating to historic issues in the Chichester Diocese. We have also received the files themselves. "The reports and files relate to matters more than 20 years ago and we will review the contents in order to establish whether any police investigation of possible criminal offences would be merited. "This review is likely to take several weeks. We are not prepared to expand on this statement at this time."
Ann Lawrence, from the sexual abuse survivors group Minister and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors, said it was "a major first step" for the Church of England. Neil Todd, a victim of the bishop who waived his anonymity to give an interview to the BBC, said: "It is an investigation which to be honest is well overdue." Mr Todd, who was abused while he was a trainee monk, said his ordeal was sexual, mental and physical. After his resignation, Bishop Ball, who is now 80, was given permission to officiate by the church and he continued working in churches until 2010.
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28 June 2012
BARKINGSIDE: 11:19am Thursday 28th June 2012 in News By Dominic Sutton A RETIRED priest has been charged with 38 sexual offences against 18 children. Canon Gordon Rideout, 73, of Filching Close, Wannock, Polegate, East Sussex has been on bail since his arrest on March 6, but was charged with the offences yesterday (June 27). A total of 36 of the offences are of indecent assault alleged to have been committed on boys and girls in their early teens between 1962 and 1973. One of those charges relates to an alleged offence which took place in Barkingside in the 1960s. The other charges relate to addresses in Crawley and Hampshire. The other two alleged offences are of attempted unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl in Crawley between 1962 and 1966. Rideout has been released on conditional police bail and is due to appear at Mid Sussex Magistrates Court on Monday 16 July. A 24-hour NSPCC helpline for anyone who feels they need support is available. Calls are handled confidentially and, where appropriate, callers are referred to specially trained police officers and local counselling services. The helpline number is 0800 389 5344.
-------------------------------------------------------
14 August 2012
By Colin Campbell BBC South East Home Affairs Correspondent
A bishop attempted to prevent a priest's Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check - which detailed allegations of child sex abuse - being dealt with properly, it has been alleged. The allegation forms part of an official complaint against Bishop of Lewes, Rt Rev Wallace Benn, according to sources outside the Diocese of Chichester. A CRB check against a retired priest who has since been charged with 38 sex offences against children and young adults, was not passed on for more than three weeks, it is claimed. The official complaint by the Diocese's independent Safeguarding Advisory Group is being investigated by the Archbishop of Canterbury's office.
It is understood the CRB check carried out on Canon Gordon Rideout in 2010 showed allegations of child sex abuse made against him in the 1970s. It also gave details of his arrest by Sussex Police on 2002 in connection with the allegations. "It suggests yet again that he has failed to understand the importance of taking instant action" Roy Cotton abuse victim Phil Johnson The check was sent to Bishop Benn's office in August 2010 but it is understood the safeguarding adviser to the diocese only found out about it in September - from a third party.
Canon Rideout was immediately suspended from serving as a priest. Child protection expert Chris Mills said: "I cannot see any reason why a CRB check should be delayed - I can only see reasons why it should be acted upon immediately. Bishop Benn declined to comment. A letter from his solicitors said he was unable to comment because the matters raised were sub judice. It also said that there were "factual inaccuracies" with the allegations put to him by the BBC. "Legal obligations prevent the Bishop from using confidential information in his possession from correcting the significant factual inaccuracies," they said. Bishop Benn is fighting the formal complaint against him with the help of his legal team.
The Archbishop of Canterbury's office at Lambeth Palace said it was unable to comment because the disciplinary process was ongoing. Canon Gordon Rideout has been charged with 38 sex offences against children and young adults Bishop Benn was among senior clergy criticised last year in a report by Baroness Butler-Sloss, commissioned by the Diocese of Chichester. The report looked into the way historical claims of abuse by paedophile priests Roy Cotton and Colin Pritchard were dealt with. Roy Cotton worked as a priest in Brede, near Rye, in the 1990s despite being convicted of a sexual offence in 1954. Collin Pritchard served as the vicar of St Barnabas, Bexhill, until 2007 after being arrested over sex abuse claims. In 2008 he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two boys in the 1970s and 1980s and was jailed for five years. The court heard Cotton had been involved in the offences but died in 2006, two weeks before Pritchard was arrested. Phil Johnson, from Eastbourne, one of the victims abused by Cotton and Pritchard, said he was concerned by the latest allegations against Bishop Benn. "It is quite shocking because it comes off back of huge catalogue of mistakes. "It demonstrates that Bishop Wallace just doesn't seem to understand the importance of immediate action in safeguarding matters," he said.
-------------------------------------------17th August 2012
A former parish priest has been charged with historic sexual offences against three young boys. Robert Coles, 71, is charged with 13 counts of sexual assault on a boy aged between 15 and 16 in Chichester, West Sussex between 1982 and 1984; eight offences of indecent assault on another boy aged between 10 and 13 in Broadbridge Heath in West Sussex, Devon, Cornwall and the Isle of White between 1978 and 1981; and eight offences of indecent assault on another boy aged between 10 and 13 in Broadbridge Heath, Somerset and Devon between 1978 and 1982. Coles, of Upperton Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, was arrested on March 6 and was on conditional bail since then, a Sussex Police spokeswoman said. He was charged following further police interviews after he answered bail. The police spokeswoman said: "He was released on conditional police bail today and is due to appear at an initial hearing at Chichester Magistrates' Court at 9.15am on Wednesday September 5." The retired priest was arrested following a six-month investigation by Sussex Police child protection detectives who re-examined several historic allegations referred to in a confidential report provided by Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss last year. Several of those allegations were reported to police but there was insufficient evidence to justify prosecution at the time, a police spokesman said. None of the charges relate to allegations of recent or current offending and Sussex Police emphasised that nothing suggests that any children are presently at risk. Last year the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, set up an official inquiry into the Diocese of Chichester's child protection policies. He appointed Bishop John Gladwin and Chancellor Rupert Bursell QC to conduct the inquiry, launched "in response to concerns within the diocese", according to Lambeth Palace. The Diocese of Chichester said in a statement in March that it fully co-operated with the police and other statutory agencies throughout the investigation.
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21 POINTS OF SHAMEThis is What Dame Elizabeth Butler-sloss's Report Concluded About the Cof E Cover Up:
The Church of England appointed Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss to carry out the review DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT FROM HERE: . |
Seven men claim they were victims of Rt Rev Peter Ball who was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of sexual offences
Sussex police are investigating the claims against the retired bishop as well as wider allegations of historic abuse by clergy in the diocese of Chichester.
Police investigating allegations of sexual abuse, including child abuse, against the retired bishop Rt Rev Peter Ball have received complaints from a further seven men who claim they were victims, it emerged on Thursday.
A man who was 12 when he alleges he was abused by the former bishop of Lewes was among those who came forward, according to a spokesman for Sussex police's Operation Dunhill. Ball was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of sex offences. Detectives said they had received "a substantial amount of new information from members of the public" in the 48 hours since his arrest at his home near Langport in Somerset.
He was due to be questioned on suspicion of a further eight sexual offences against boys and young men ranging in age from 12 to early 20s but was released at his home that afternoon on medical advice. Police now intend to interview him at a later date.
All the suspected offences took place from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, during which period Ball, now 80, was the bishop of Lewes in East Sussex. The latest accusations made bring the number of suspected victims to 15. Detectives investigating the case and wider allegations of historic abuse by clergy in the diocese of Chichester on Thursday night called for any other people who claim they were attacked by Ball to come forward and promised to treat their claims with sensitivity.
Ball has connections with Prince Charles whom he has described as "a loyal friend". He established a monastic order of the Glorious Ascension with his brother Rt Rev Michael Ball, the former bishop of Truro. The prince attended Peter Ball's enthronement as bishop of Gloucester in 2001, and the latter reportedly visited Highgrove, the former's Gloucestershire home on several occasions.
A second retired priest who was also arrested on Tuesday at his home address near Haywards Heath on suspicion of separate sexual offences against two teenage boys in East Sussex between 1981 and 1983, is also facing further allegations. Three more men have now come forward claiming the 67-year old committed sexual offences against them.
Police added that a number of other people have also come forward since both arrests, offering other potentially useful information although not alleging offences against the clergymen.
"We are very interested to see that so many people have contacted us since Tuesday, and every report is being followed up," said Detective Chief Inspector Carwyn Hughes, who is leading the investigation.
"The investigation has taken six months so far and is continuing," Sussex police said in a statement. "This is a very complex enquiry, in the course of which many people, all now adults, have had to be traced, together with other witnesses and records from a wide variety of sources, and there has been consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service."
Source: guardian.co.uk, Thursday 15 November 2012
| ALL WELL AND GOOD BUT WE RESPECTFULLY POINT OUT THAT THE SCANDAL OF PRIESTLY CHILD ABUSE WAS FIRST HIGHLIGHTED BY US IN OUR OWN REPORT 'The Black Museum of Priestly Abuse' in JULY 1991,. Our warning was concurrent with the very abuses that are now coming to light in Sussex and elsewhere. Therefore helpful recommendations for tackling priestly abuse in the Church of England today are too little far too late. The Anglican Church has swept this problem under the carpet for years in favour of accusing innocent pagans of harming children in both the Satan Myth and more recently in the disgusting campaign, officially set up by the Church of England with the knowledge of Lambeth Palace, to accuse pagans of harming children at Halloween ( See here: ) A pity they didn't expend the same energy on fereting out child abusing priests in their own ranks eh? |
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Sussex Altar Boy Kills and Dis- members Anglican
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