By Nick Mackenzie
Religious Intelligence [United Kingdom]
May 5, 2007
http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=672
The Church of England has moved to reassure churchgoers that they are safe from paedophiles, following the conviction of a priest on Thursday for molesting six young people.
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The Bishop of Bath and Wells, where the priest – the Rev David Smith — served said that modern practices and policies were as "stringent" as possible, and they were constantly being kept under review.
The case of Smith came following revelations the week before about a church organist who was also convicted on child sex charges. Critics accused the Church of covering up some of the allegations.
But the Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Rt Rev Peter Price, said today: "Before priests and ministers are appointed they are subject to Criminal Record Bureau checks which are repeated every three years, they have to make child protection declarations, they receive regular training and regular reviews.
"Every parish has a child protection officer and all our policies and practices are overseen by a Child Protection Group which includes senior police officers, including some with child protection experience, lawyers and a professional child protection officer."
But a leading independent agency, the Churches Child Protection Advisory Service, issued a series of questions relating to the conviction of Smith, 51, who was jailed for five-and-a-half years on Thursday.
They asked whether the Diocese was aware of concerns when the priest was appointed to the parish of St John's, Clevedon, in 1993, and also why he was allowed to continue working even although a complaint was made against him in 2001 to the previous bishop, the late Jim Thompson.
The current Bishop said: "When Smith came to us from Gloucester diocese there was nothing on his file to indicate there were any concerns about him. No complaint about sex abuse had been made to police during his time there.
"The 2001 complaint was made by a man who came forward after seeing Smith on television following the 9/11 tragedy in which Smith lost a cousin. He made an allegation about abuse which happened in a boarding school in 1976-77 when Smith was teaching before he went for training for the ministry.
"That man met Bishop Jim but made no formal complaint to the police and did not press charges. Bishop Jim informed the police of the allegation. It is a fundamental principle of British law that a man is innocent until proven guilty. Smith vehemently denied any wrongdoing and, again in British law, there was no requirement for him to prove his innocence.
"However, Smith accepted a protocol in which he agreed not to be alone with children, not to have children in his house and to be regularly reviewed by the then Bishop of Taunton, the late Andrew Radford. These measures were put in place to protect children, the parish, the Church and Smith himself."
However, when another complaint was made in 2005, the police were again informed and as the complainant was prepared to go public Smith was suspended from his position.
The Bishop sent a message to those involved: "We have apologised sincerely to Smith's victims, their families, the parish and all involved in this case. We are very sorry that these offences were committed by a man in a position of trust.
Meanwhile a spokesman for the Diocese defended their actions: "During his few years in Gloucester diocese we knew of no child sexual abuse allegations made against him. During the trial the allegation made against Smith relating to his time in Wotton-under-Edge was quashed.
"The diocese of Gloucester has strict and robust child protection policies in place to deal with any allegations of this kind made in the diocese."
A national spokesman for the Church of England said: "Today, when new bishops come into post, they review past and current cases on file with their child protection advisers. If they identify a risk to children they will take action.
"As with any such tragic case, we will be reviewing the details, and seeing what further lessons can be drawn from it to help inform the continuing development of diocesan and national policies on child protection."
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