Sex Abuse Victims of Former Bishop Peter Ball Sue Church of England
The Telegraph
Victims of former bishop Peter Ball are suing the Church for hundreds of thousands of pounds after he admitted abusing his position to groom young aspiring priests for his own sexual pleasure. The former bishop of Lewes and Gloucester will be sentenced at the Old Bailey tomorrow for misconduct in a public office between 1977 and 1992 and two counts of sexual assault on young men in their late teens. In all, the charges relate to 18 victims, excluding two counts of indecent assault on a boy of 12 or 13 and a 15-year-old youth which were denied and will lie on file. Ball, 83, had used religion as a cloak to abuse the young men who had come to his home in Litlington, East Sussex, to religious instruction before he was moved to Gloucester in 1992. Some 22 years after allegations first surfaced against him, Ball was finally brought to account in court, despite repeated bids to get the case thrown out. Today, David Greenwood, of Switalskis Solicitors, who represents four of the victims, said that since his guilty plea, legal action had been lodged against the Diocese of Chichester. He said that given the ''wealth of evidence'' the case was unlikely to reach court and would probably end in a settlement. The solicitor said the amounts could vary between a few thousands of pounds and ''hundreds of thousands of pounds''. He said: ''Obviously no amount of money will compensate for what happened to them and each claimant has different circumstances.
''Some have lost opportunities for careers, some have had lots of anguish and torment personally.'' At least two victims, who have waived their right to anonymity, are expected to attend court to see Ball sentenced. Mr Greenwood said that despite the defendant's advanced years and ill health, it was hoped that Mr Justice Wilkie would jail Ball if he is ''fit and able'' to withstand it. He said: ''I think the decision the judge has to make tomorrow is finely balanced. ''If he is fit and able to withstand prison, he should receive a custodial sentence. But certainly I think the hope is that he will have some severe punishment anyway. ''It has been a difficult course getting to court in the first place this time around.'' He said one of his clients had done a lot of work behind the scenes trying to ''persuade the police to take it on''. Earlier this year, Mr Justice Sweeney refused to dismiss the case on a legal technicality after it emerged Ball and the then Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey had been assured in 1993 that there would be no future action. They both believed the matter was closed when Ball accepted a caution for one act of gross indecency and resigned his post, despite police knowing about more complaints. Giving evidence in court, Ball recalled being told by a police officer ''Bishop, it's all over'' when he asked for a guarantee that his caution would include all other offences ''of the same nature''. And Lord Carey appeared to back up his claim in his recollections of the incident which led to Ball's resignation as Bishop of Gloucester. On making a phone call to the CPS, the court heard he was told: ''He has resigned. He is out of it. The matter is closed. We are not going to take anything any further.'' But in 2012, prompted by a Church of England review, Sussex Police reopened the case and last year charged him with a string of sex offences against teenage boys and young men. Earlier this week, Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, commissioned an independent review of the way the Church responded. It will examine the Church of England's co-operation with the police and other statutory agencies and the extent to which it shared information in a ''timely manner''. The review will also assess the extent to which the Church properly assessed the possible risk that Bishop Ball might pose to others and responded adequately to concerns and representations submitted by survivors. However, Mr Greenwood said: ''The church should no longer be allowed to police itself and the introduction of mandatory reporting is long overdue.'' Cambridge-educated Ball, who now lives in Langport, Somerset, was Bishop of Lewes between 1977 and 1992 and Bishop of Gloucester from 1992 until his resignation the following year. He was said to have many high-profile friends and acquaintances, including the Prince of Wales. The Diocese of Chichester, created in 1075, is a Church of England diocese based in Chichester, covering Sussex.
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