Retired British Bishop Arrested in Sex Abuse Probe

AFP
November 13, 2012

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File picture shows police officers in Liverpool, north-west England (AFP/File, Paul Ellis)

A retired Church of England bishop was among two clergymen arrested on Tuesday by police investigating allegations of sex abuse dating back three decades.

Peter Ball, 80, the former bishop of Lewes and Gloucester, is being held on suspicion of abusing eight boys and young men aged from 12 to their early 20s in the late 1980s and 1990s.

A 67-year-old retired priest, named by British media as Vickery House, was also detained at his home on suspicion of separate sex offences against two teenage boys between 1981 and 1983, Sussex Police said.

The abuse is alleged to have taken place in East Sussex in southern England.

The arrests follow a police review and subsequent inquiry into the troubled diocese of Chichester over the past six months following information received from a Church of England official in charge of safeguarding young people.

Police described it as a "very complex inquiry" during which many alleged victims, all of whom are now adults, and witnesses have had to be traced.

Officers said the claims are being treated separately and do not involve the two men allegedly acting together.

None of the allegations concern recent or current offences.

Detective Chief Inspector Carwyn Hughes, of Sussex Police, said: "The Church of England, including the Diocese of Chichester, are co-operating fully with police.

"Although the matters referred to are still the subject of police investigation, Sussex Police make it clear that the force will always take seriously any allegations of historic sexual offending, and every possible step will be taken to investigate whenever appropriate.

The diocese of Chichester is currently subject to a "visitation process" which includes an investigation into its child protection policies.

Under the process, its powers and authority have been taken over by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Anglican Church.

Three former Church of England priests from the diocese have been charged this year with sexual offences against children.