Church Tried to Cover up Our Abuse Say Victims of Ex-bishop Who Was "Friend of Prince Charles" after Clergyman Admits Sexually Assaulting 18 Teenagers and Young Men

By Euan Mclelland
Daily Mail
September 8, 2015

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3226516/Ex-Church-England-Bishop-82-described-Prince-Charles-loyal-friend-admits-sexually-abusing-18-teenagers-young-men-thirty-year-period.html

Peter Ball dramatically pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office between 1977 and 1992

Victims of a former bishop who abused 18 boys and young men over 15 years yesterday accused the Church of a high-level ‘cover-up’.

Peter Ball, 83, used religion as a ‘cloak’ to prey on youngsters who came to his home to explore their spirituality.

He failed to get the case thrown out after claiming he accepted a caution for gross indecency in 1993 on the understanding that he would face no further action.

Even his boss at the time – Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey – called prosecutors for an ‘assurance’ that the matter had ended.

Prosecutors may have approved the caution to avoid publicity after ‘behind closed doors’ talks, judges were told.

As a result no criminal charges were brought despite two other abuse complaints at the time and warnings that there was ‘sufficient admissible, substantial and reliable evidence’ for a trial.

Last night one of his alleged victims said: ‘The Church and the Establishment has colluded in covering-up Bishop Ball’s offending at the highest level over very many years.’

Ball – the former Bishop of Lewes and Gloucester and a friend of Prince Charles – was finally charged last year after police reopened his case following a Church of England review.

Yesterday he appeared at Taunton Crown Court to face a string of sex charges.

Cambridge-educated Ball appeared frail as he spoke via video link, admitting misconduct in a public office between 1977 and 1992 in relation to 16 young men.

He also admitted indecent assaults on two men in their late teens at his former home in Litlington, East Sussex in the 1980s and 1990s.

But launching a last-ditch dismissal hearing at the Old Bailey, Ball claimed he was assured he would not face prosecution when he accepted the caution 22 years ago.

Cambridge-educated Ball (left) was said to have many high-profile friends and acquaintances, including the Prince of Wales. He described Prince Charles as 'a loyal friend'

He said: ‘I asked very clearly, “Does this include all other offences of the same nature?” before the taking of the caution and I was told very clearly that it did.

‘I can remember so clearly I was so glad to get away – to get a guarantee that it was all over. ‘That was the last words of the police officer – “Bishop, it’s all over”.’

ECHOES OF THE CATHOLIC CHILD SEX SCANDALS

The revelation of sexual abuse in the Church of England has echoes of the paedophile secrecy scandal which continues to engulf the Vatican.

The Catholic Church has been repeatedly rocked by abuse cases, in which predatory clerics and monks from all over the world preyed on parishioners, pupils and children in care.

Last year, Pope Francis begged forgiveness from victims and told the church to ‘weep and make reparation’ for its ‘grave crimes’. He admitted the existence of a long-standing culture of secrecy in the church and failure to report abusers to the police.

In Ireland, major inquires revealed widespread abuse involving thousands of victims, as well as hierarchical failings stretching back decades.

The Catholic Church in Scotland publically apologised last month after an inquiry accused it of ‘allowing evil to survive’ and adopting a culture of secrecy.

And in England and Wales, more than 50 priests have been defrocked for clerical sex abuse since 2001.

For years, the Vatican was criticised for failing to punish abusers. In 2009, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi said up to 5 per cent of the global Catholic clergy had been involved in sexual abuse cases over the last 50 years.

Lord Carey appeared to back up the claim in his recollections of the incident which were read out in court.

On hearing the news of Ball’s caution, he wrote: ‘I was troubled.

‘I did not think this was good enough. I wanted some form of assurance.

Ball abused 18 young men, many of them aspiring priests who he came into contact with through a Give A Year For Christ scheme, police said

'I was worried that if any other allegations of past indecency were made it would reignite. I wanted some reassurance that this would not be the case.’

Lord Carey was so concerned he called an official at the Crown Prosecution Service, the court heard. ‘I was told quite categorically that the other allegations would not be taken further as far as we are concerned.

‘He has resigned. He is out of it. The matter is closed. We are not going to take anything any further.’ Lord Carey is not thought to have been involved in the ‘behind closed door’ talks.

‘There is also no suggestion he was covering up any abuse, although his actions contributed to the allegations remaining out of the spotlight. Ball resigned as Bishop of Gloucester following the caution and a short time later Prince Charles invited him to live in a lodge house owned by the Duchy of Cornwall in Aller, Somerset.

He described the Prince of Wales at the time as ‘a loyal friend’.

Ball, who now lives in Langport, Somerset, was Bishop of Lewes between 1977 and 1992 and Bishop of Gloucester from 1992 until he quit the following year.

Last night The Church of England issued an ‘unreserved apology’ to the former Bishop’s victims. Mr Justice Wilkie remanded Ball on bail ahead of his sentencing on October 7.