Church of England Bishop Charged with Indecently Assaulting Two Young Males

By Sandra Laville
The Guardian
March 27, 2014

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/mar/27/church-of-england-bishop-peter-ball

Peter Ball, 82, is accused of the indecent assault of a number of young boys between 1977 and 1992. Photograph: David Jones/PA Archive/Press Association Images

A former bishop in the Church of England has been charged with indecently assaulting two young males and abusing his position for his own sexual gratification over a 15-year period.

An investigation by Sussex police into allegations of assault by Peter Ball, the former bishop of Gloucester and of Lewes, resulted on Thursday in the Crown Prosecution Service announcing he was being charged.

Ball, 82, is accused of the sexual abuse of a number of young males between 1977 and 1992. Jaswant Narwal, chief crown prosecutor for CPS south-east, said: "After a thorough and careful review I have decided that Peter Ball should be prosecuted for misconduct in public office and two indecent assaults.

"It is alleged that he sexually abused a number of young males between 1977 and 1992. The misconduct alleged is that he misused his position and authority to manipulate and prevail upon others for his own sexual gratification. During this time Mr Ball was a bishop in the Church of England."

Ball is charged with misconduct in a public office between 1977 and 1992, indecent assault on a boy aged 13 or 12 in 1978 and indecent assault on a man aged 19 or 20 between 1980 and 1982.

He is due to appear before Brighton magistrates on 10 April.

Sussex police carried out a six-month investigation into historic abuse allegations in the diocese of Chichester and in November 2012 Ball was arrested at his home address in Landport, Somerset. He is thought to be the most senior figure in the Church of England to be charged in connection with a sexual abuse investigation.

As part of their investigation detectives carried out what they said was a "comprehensive and painstaking" three-month analysis of two reports from Lambeth Palace, "which contain reviews of church files relating to certain child safeguarding issues within the Chichester diocese from between 20 and 25 years ago". They also reviewed internal church files containing details of clergymen's careers in the diocese.

The handling of allegations of abuse in the Chichester diocese was subject to an inquiry in 2012 commissioned by the outgoing archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.

In May 2011 Lady Butler-Sloss produced a report, commissioned by the church, reviewing the cases of two separate priests serving in the diocese who between 1996 and 2010 were the subject of allegations of child abuse that took place before 1984. She concluded that across the diocese there was "a lack of understanding of the seriousness of historic child abuse". There was, in the early stages, "a failure to respond appropriately to disclosures of abuse by victims and to give them adequate and timely support", the report said.

Ball was a senior figure in the diocese before he was enthroned as the bishop of Gloucester in 1991, a ceremony attended by Prince Charles. When Ball resigned in 1993 he moved to Manor Lodge, in the Somerset village of Aller. The wisteria-clad property is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, the private estate headed by Charles.

Sussex police said their detectives had worked with the full co-operation of the church to investigate allegations of sexual offences by Ball against 19 young men and boys, who were at time in their late teens or early 20s, at addresses in East Sussex and elsewhere between the 1970s and the early 1980s, except for two who were 12 and 13 when the alleged offending occurred in the late 1970s.

Ball was arrested on 13 November 2012 but was released at his home that afternoon on medical advice, without being interviewed, the police said.

A spokesman for the force said: "It was subsequently established, following medical advice, that he was not medically fit to be further arrested, or interviewed by police. However in March 2013 he was supplied by police with details in writing of the allegations against him, and supplied a written response."

The written response was submitted to the CPS in May 2013, along with other evidence obtained during the investigation. Since that date Sussex police have continued to provide the CPS with all the further information they requested to assist in their decision-making process, Sussex police said.