UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail
By MARK DUELL FOR MAILONLINE
The Bishop of Guildford revealed today that he was a victim of a QC accused of sadomasochistic beatings of boys at Christian summer camps in the 1980s.
Andrew Watson said he had endured a ‘violent, excruciating and shocking’ beating at the hands of John Smyth QC.
Mr Smyth is being investigated by Hampshire Constabulary over claims he forced a string of boys to strip naked before beating them while at church camps he ran, which were also attended by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Mr Watson said: ‘I am one of the survivors of John Smyth’s appalling activities in the late 1970s and early 80s.
‘I am also one of the Bishops in the Church of England. This has placed me in a unique and challenging position when it comes to the events of the past few days.
‘My own story is certainly less traumatic than that of some others. I was drawn into the Smyth circle, as they were, and the beating I endured in the infamous garden shed was violent, excruciating and shocking; but it was thankfully a one-off experience never to be repeated.
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