UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail
By STEPHANIE LINNING FOR MAILONLINE
A paedophile bishop is feared to have duped congregations across the country by conducting services while impersonating his identical twin brother.
Peter Ball, 83, the former Bishop of Lewes and Gloucester, was jailed for 32 months last year after he admitted sexually abusing 18 teenagers and young men between 1977 and 1992.
The Old Bailey heard how Ball, of Langport, Somerset, hand-picked vulnerable victims to commit acts of ‘debasement’ in the name of religion, including praying naked at the altar and submitting to beatings.
An investigation has now been launched into claims he might have deceived church-goers by impersonating his identical twin Michael, who was a bishop in Cornwall during the 1990s.
The Diocese of Truro is looking into evidence that Ball conducted services in his brother’s place.An independent review is under way into the way the Church of England responded to the case.
The Right Reverend Tim Thornton said that there was no evidence that the Diocese gave Peter Ball permission to lead any services in Cornwall in the 1990s.
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