On Thursday, a retired priest, who had pleaded guilty last December to various sexual offences, was sentenced to prison, see these news reports:
Chichester Observer BREAKING NEWS: Former priest sentenced for child sex offences
Evening Standard Paedophile priest jailed for 1970s child abuse
BBC Retired priest Robert Coles jailed for sexually abusing boys
This prompted the following official statements:
Statements from the Diocese & Bishop of Chichester
Archbishop of Canterbury: Statement on the sentencing of Robert Coles
Yesterday, the following news report appeared:
BBC Retired Bishop of Lewes denies abuse cover-up
Today Anglican Mainstream has published Press Statement by Bishop Wallace Benn: “No ineptitude on my part and no cover up” originally issued on Friday.
This statement discloses that:
“the Complaint made against me personally under the Clergy Discipline Measure concerning Mr Coles has been dismissed on its merits…”
and the statement gives details of the process by which this happened:
…In March 2012, the Chairman of the Safeguarding Advisory Group, Mr Keith Akerman, and the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor, Mr Colin Perkins, sought to make a complaint against me under the Clergy Discipline Measure, on the basis that it was misconduct for me (1) not to inform the Police directly of what Robert Coles had said, or to direct Mr Reade to do so; and (2) not to inform the Police directly of what I had been told about Robert Coles by the clergyman in another Diocese.
On 18 October 2012, the Archbishop of York concluded, at the preliminary scrutiny stage, that both complaints against me in respect of Robert Coles should be dismissed on the ground that they lacked sufficient substance to proceed.
In reaching that decision in relation to the first complaint, the Archbishop of York emphasised:
The Diocesan Child Protection policy of 1997, which required “any allegation of abuse against a church worker, clerical or lay, or any relevant incident in any way to do with the life of the parish or church organisation, should immediately be referred to the Diocesan Child Protection Advisor.”
The absence of any evidence to show whether Mrs Janet Hind had considered whether the matter should be reported to the Police and, if so, by whom.
The absence of any evidence that I had disregarded advice from Mrs Janet Hind in this matter.
The Diocesan Child Protection policy of 1997 also stated that: “The Diocesan Advisor, if appropriate, will make sure that a referral has been made to the local social services office and will liaise with that department and the police during any child protection investigation.”
I understand that a similar complaint by the same complainants was made against the Right Reverend Nicholas Reade, the recently retired Bishop of Blackburn. I understand that it has also been dismissed.In reaching his decision in relation to the second complaint, the Archbishop of York concluded that he was satisfied that I “had passed or discussed or shared” the letter from the clergyman in another Diocese with the Child Protection Advisor when I received it. He further concluded that there was no evidence that the Child Protection Advisor advised me to report the letter myself to the Police. The Archbishop of York dismissed the complaint against me on the ground that it lacked sufficient substance to proceed.
On 29 January 2013, the Right Honourable Lord Justice Mummery, sitting as President of Tribunals, dismissed an appeal by Mr Akerman and Mr Perkins against the dismissal of these complaints against me by the Archbishop of York…
From Wallace Benn’s statement: ‘It was my understanding at the time, based on the Diocesan Child Protection Policy of 1997, that the Diocesan Child Protection Advisor was the sole point of contact between the Diocese and external agencies, including the Police.’ ‘Mrs Janet Hind did not advise or instruct me to inform the Police of what we had been told by Mr Coles. Nor did the Bishop of Chichester. I fully expected that the matter would be reported to the Police by the Child Protection Advisor in the discharge of her duties and in accordance with the Diocesan Child Protection… Read more »
You may feel enraged and sick to your stomach – but what Bishop Benn has said is true. Having been in the UK at that time, as a Youth Minister, our Diocese based Child Protection policy strictly said that any suspicion of Child abuse was reported directly to the appointed person under the Child Protection policy – no-one else. That was a Church of England Diocese. What Benn did was correct.
Rev. AJ
Episcopal Priest USA
The Bishop may very well be right that procedurally, he is technically in the clear. But if there was ambiguity in the Diocese over whether these pieces of information should be passed to the police or not, that indicates a failure of culture, and where does culture stem from if not the Bishop? Whether as a relatively new Bishop (the first incident) or longer established (the second), it seems likely that he allowed ambiguity to persist as to the right course of action. True leadership – dare I say, particularly true Christian leadership – would look at inner truths not… Read more »
As I read it, the judgement isn’t so much that he was cleared as that there was not sufficient evidence to conclude he was culpable. I recognize that few jurisdictions outside of Scotland have a version of the “not proven” option, but that was what this read like to me. In other words, the charge has been disposed of, but that “cleared” may be overstating it a trifle.
Or am I parsing this a little too closely?
At the very least it seems odd to me that in a case which was so serious the bishop didn’t seem to have had a conversation at any point with the Child Protection Officer along the lines of “I wondered whether anything had come of the report I made to you about X?” She might or might not have been able to tell him anything, but she could have confirmed to him that she had passed it on to the police, and I would have thought that anyone in a position of leadership like this would have wanted to reassure… Read more »
Since few of the contributors on this thread were actually there, it seems a little judgemental to be castigating +Wallace Benn for failures etc. It is easy, with hindsight, to apportion blame, but surely it is for the appropriate authorities to do that, which is what has happened.
We have received several comments noting that Mrs Janet Hind is the wife of the former Bishop of Chichester, John Hind, and commenting adversely on this connection.
She was Child Protection Adviser under his predecessor Eric Kemp, and she did not continue this role during her husband’s period in office (with one very brief exception when she returned temporarily after the untimely death of her successor).
What a sorry mess – nobody emerges with credit from this one.
Churches,Roman or Anglican that allowed abuse to happen to vulnerable children have a lot to answer for. There is a very poignant documentary available via Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC). Its titled “Mea Maxima Culpa”. It documents abuse and cover up right up from parishes to bishops to the Vatican. The abuse scandal in Ireland is included in the subject matter. I have attached a link to the CBC website page where the program can be located. The window on the page as I see it here is on the centre right. The doc is only available for a limited number… Read more »
As Benedict says, I wasn’t there. As a result, my knowledge of the substance of the allegations made in the Safeguarding Advisory Group’s complaint against Bishop Benn came solely from the reports on the BBC and in the Eastbourne Herald. But now I’m confused, because the allegations of which Bishop Benn has been cleared appear to bear no resemblance to the allegations which, according to those sources, were made by the Safeguarding Advisory Group in the first place. Can anyone explain?
From what I hear/read it sounds like +Wallace followed the diocese policies in dealing with this – is this where the fault lies? Question – why is all the blame be aimed at him and not at the diocese CPO or the diocesan bishop (he,afterall, is only the suffragan)?
If anyone believes that Diocesan policies and directives offer the complete package concerning child protection – please, please think again. When reporting concerns all Christians should make it clear to all church authorities that anxieties or evidence will be communicated directly to the Police Child Protection authorities. This also applies to adult protection in my experience. Sadly, it is wise to suppose that something may escape proper notice for all sorts of reasons, witting and unwitting. We answer to Christ first and everything else is secondary. Oh! and expect to suffer for Christ’s sake.
People on this web site may not like Wallace Benn’s theology, but he is a decent and honourable man, and I can’t believe he would do anything to facilitate sin like this.
Robert – you have hit the nail on the head. Thank you.
RIW:
By the word facilitation, I would infer the commission of some act that aids and abets. This has never been suggested.
In contrast to this, the complaint was one of failing to act.
I disagree David… not to intervene is to be complicit. I don’t believe for one minute Bishop Benn knew the full facts or he would have intervened.You obviously do not know the man.