Church can't be trusted to investigate sexual abuse cases, report finds

Church of England can’t be trusted to investigate sex abuse cases – iStockphoto

The Church of England should be stripped of its power to investigate and punish sexual abusers because victims cannot trust it, an independent report has found.

In a damning report, the former chair of the government-ordered Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) said safeguarding within the Church is “flawed” and “cannot be sufficiently improved whilst it remains within Church oversight”.

Prof Alexis Jay CBE concludes in the report, published on Wednesday: “[The Church] needs to fundamentally change in order to restore the confidence of victims, survivors and others, including clergy.

“This can only be achieved by being delivered by a fully independent body.”

She added: “Further tinkering with existing structures will not be sufficient to make safeguarding in the Church consistent, accountable and trusted by those who use its services.”

Prof Jay was appointed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to develop proposals for a fully independent structure to provide scrutiny of safeguarding within the Church of England and how victims of abuse are treated and supported.

Her appointment came after the panel that had been tasked with investigating abuse in the Church were sacked after they claimed they were being obstructed in their work and treated with “hostility”.

Prof Jay’s independent report, entitled The Future of Church Safeguarding, also recommended the Church establish two separate charities: one for independent operational safeguarding and one for independent scrutiny of safeguarding.

These charities should, the report says, be funded by the Church but structurally independent of them.

Meanwhile, the archbishops issued a statement saying that they will “take forward this work as swiftly as possible to give everyone confidence and trust in our structures and processes”.

‘Vital next step’

On Tuesday, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, and the Archbishop of York, the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell, issued a statement thanking Prof Jay for her report, adding that it “will provide a vital next step as we move forward”.

“We recognise her criticism of our safeguarding structures and processes and we welcome this scrutiny and

challenge.

“For the sake of all those who come into contact with the Church, particularly victims and survivors, we welcome the plans that are in place to take forward this work as swiftly as possible to give everyone confidence and trust in our structures and processes.”

However, Andrew Graystone, an advocate for victims and survivors of church abuse, warned: “For over a decade the Church has delivered a stream of apologies for failure that have resulted in no real change.

“My fear is that they will find ways of kicking the can down the road once again. What they forget is that the can they are kicking has real-life victims and survivors in it.”

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