UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail
Ex Church of England Bishop, 82, who once described Prince Charles as a ‘loyal friend’ admits sexually abusing 18 teenagers and young men over a thirty-year period
By EUAN MCLELLAND FOR MAILONLINE
A disgraced ex-bishop has admitted sexually assaulting two young men after failing in a bid to get his case thrown out on the word of an Archbishop of Canterbury who was assured the matter was closed 20 years ago.
Former Bishop of Lewes Peter Ball, 83, faced allegations of abusing boys and young men in Litlington, East Sussex, in the 1970s and 1980s after a review by the Church of England in 2012 prompted police action.
Today, weeks before his trial was due to start at the Old Bailey, Ball, who has suffered ill health but was deemed fit to stand trial, dramatically pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office between 1977 and 1992.
He also admitted two counts of indecent assault on two separate males between 1980 and 1983 and between 1990 and 1991.
Two other counts of indecent assault on a boy of 12 or 13 and a 15-year-old youth were denied and will lie on file.
Ball, who entered his plead via video-link from Taunton, which is near his home in Langport, Somerset, was granted bail and will be sentenced on October 7 following a pre-sentence report.
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