UNITED KINGDOM
The Argus
Rachel Millard, Reporter
QUESTIONS still need to be answered about why a bishop was not prosecuted over sexual assault claims 22 years ago, one of his alleged victims has said.
Prosecutors have admitted their predecessors were “wrong” to caution Bishop Peter Ball in 1993, after his admission on Tuesday to 18 charges of historic sex abuse.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it did have sufficient evidence to prosecute in 1993 for one act of gross indecency, and that Ball had not made the admissions normally required for a caution.
Phil Johnson, who said Ball, who was then Bishop of Lewes, sexually assaulted him in the 1970s, said: “It is always positive when people admit their mistakes, but I think this is a very serious mistake that really warrants questions being asked about why it was not pursued when there was, as they say, substantial and reliable evidence.”
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.