ENGLAND
The Tablet
December 5, 2017
By Rose Gamble
Ampleforth did not have means, understanding or the ‘basic willingness’ to deal with child protection matters up until 2006, former social worker says
The national inquiry into child abuse has heard that police raised concerns that a former headmaster of Ampleforth college was “trying to control” an investigation into child sex abuse.
A north Yorkshire police detective asked if Father Leo Chamberlain, headmaster of the Catholic boarding school between 1992-2004, “interfered with the police investigation” by speaking to a victim of alleged abuse before informing the police.
These concerns were raised at the start of the second week of a hearing on the English Benedictine Congregation as part of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). The Catholic Church is one of 13 organisations being examined by the inquiry, which is led by Prof Alexis Jay.
The inquiry heard details of a report from a Detective Sergeant Harnett, who was involved in investigating allegations at Ampleforth in the 1990s. In the report, he said that Fr Chamberlain had had a telephone conversation with the parents of the alleged victim, after which it was confirmed that the child would not give an account when questioned.
Giving evidence via video link on Monday 4 December, Fr Chamberlain, who worked at the school for over 30 years, told the inquiry: “There was no skulduggery before I put him on the telephone.”
“My responsibility is precisely to tell the parents, he added. “It made no obstruction to any police investigation.”
Police concerns that he had attempted to control the investigation were “completely subjective,” he told the inquiry.
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