Former Bishop Keith Slater to Face Defrocking by the Anglican Church for Mishandling Abuse Claims
By Lucy McNally
The Anglican Church is quietly preparing for a hearing that could see the defrocking of one of its former bishops, five months after the royal commission recommended he face disciplinary action for ignoring complaints from sexual abuse victims. Keith Slater, whose title remains the Right Reverend, was forced to resign as the Grafton Bishop in 2013 for the way he handled abuse claims from a group of 40 people. They were men and women who had been sexually, physically and or psychologically abused at the North Coast Children's Home in Lismore between the 1940s and the 1980s. Bishop Slater gave evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, where he said he was "personally humiliated" by his decision to put the church's finances over the victims in a compensation battle. The battle was settled in 2007 for 38 of the victims, but they told the Royal Commission they were devastated by how the church treated them in the process, with one woman giving evidence that it was "like being abused all over again". They received varying amounts ranging from $5,000 to $20,000. For most victims — many of whom had been unable to hold down a job and spent their lives in and out of psychiatric care — it was significantly less than they were hoping to receive. Since the Royal Commission, the victims have received more money, with the Anglican Church saying it was working hard to right the wrongs of the past. The Anglican Church is also responding to another key finding from the hearing — that disciplinary action be taken against Bishop Slater, who the commission found tried to mislead victims into accepting lower payments. Defrocking in the Anglican Church is rare and involves a hearing where the person who is the subject can attend and bring a lawyer. In the case of Bishop Slater, retired Moreton Rolfe QC has been appointed to preside over the hearing, which will end with recommendations being made to the diocese. In a statement the church said: "Those possible recommendations can range from counselling to loss of employment to, in the case of clergy, being deposed from Holy Orders." More defrocking orders may follow Last year, the Anglican Church defrocked convicted paedophile Allan Kitchingman, a man who was jailed for 18 months in 2002 for sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy in his care at the North Coast Children's Home in the 1970s. The Royal Commission found that Bishop Slater knew Kitchingman was a convicted paedophile as early as 2003, but did nothing to start disciplinary action against him. That meant that Kitchingman was able to retain his title of Reverend after he was released from jail. Now Bishop Slater faces his own potential defrocking, with the church set to make a decision on his "fitness to hold office" by July. "At present, only one matter, that of Bishop Slater, is currently before the Diocesan Professional Standards board; others may follow," the church statement read. That is likely to include the Reverend Pat Comben, another man who apologised to victims at the Royal Commission after admitting he lied about the financial state of the church to minimise payouts. Suspected paedophile the Reverend Campbell Brown is also expected to face a hearing. Now aged in his 80s, Reverend Brown was named as one of the perpetrators of abuse by victims of the home who gave evidence at the Royal Commission. He has been investigated by police several times but has not been convicted.
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