UNITED KINGDOM
in-cumbria
By Nick Griffiths and Pam McClounie
Last updated at 14:22, Friday, 28 September 2012
Church leaders didn’t tell police about claims of child abuse against a cathedral canon because they thought he wouldn’t do it again.
Instead of alerting authorities to the allegations made against the Rev Ronald Johns they moved him from his post in Carlisle to Caldbeck.
The Diocese of Carlisle has admitted that it “mishandled” the situation surrounding the perverted clergyman after he pleaded guilty to a string of sex crimes.
Johns, now 75, committed the offences against three boys over an eight-year period.
At Carlisle Crown Court, he admitted 10 offences committed between 1983 and 1991. He will be sentenced for them in November.
Speaking after yesterday’s hearing, diocese spokesman Richard Pratt, the Archdeacon of west Cumbria, apologised.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.