A FORMER Bishop of Gloucester,
the Rt Revd Peter Ball, will be prosecuted for indecent assaults on
young men, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced on
Thursday.
Jaswant Narwal, Chief Crown
Prosecutor for CPS South East, said: "It is alleged that he
sexually abused a number of young males between 1977 and 1992. The
misconduct alleged is that he misused his position and authority to
manipulate and prevail upon others for his own sexual
gratification. During this time Mr Ball was serving as a Bishop in
the Church of England."
Bishop Ball, who is 82 years
old, and lives in Langport, Somerset, is charged with misconduct in
public office between 1977 and 1992, indecent assault on a boy,
aged 12 or 13, in 1978, and indecent assault on a man, aged 19 or
20, between 1980 and 1982 .
Between 1977 and 1992 Bishop
Ball was Bishop of Lewes. He became Bishop of Gloucester in 1992
but resigned in 1993, after being formally cautioned by Gloucester
Police for "one offence of gross indecency, contrary to the Sexual
Offences Act of 1956" (News, 12 March 1993). The offence involved a
17-year-old novice from what was described as "an embryo order". No
charges were brought, but a formal caution implies an admission of
guilt.
He was arrested on 13 November
2012 "on suspicion of eight sexual offences in East Sussex and in
one case elsewhere, during the late 1980s and early 1990s" but was
released at his home that afternoon on medical advice, without
being interviewed (News, 16
November, 2012).
On Thursday, a statement from
Sussex Police said that, "with the full co-operation of the Church
of England", the force had been investigating "alleged sexual
offences by Bishop Ball against 19 men and young boys, who were at
time in their late teens or early twenties, at addresses in East
Sussex and elsewhere between the 1970s and the early 1980s, except
for two who were 12 and 13 when the alleged offending occurred in
the late 1970s".
Bishop Ball will appear at
Brighton Magistrates' Court on 10 April 2014.
On Thursday, the Bishop of
Durham, the Rt Revd Paul Butler, who chairs the Churches National
Safeguarding Committee said: "The Church of England takes any
allegations of abuse very seriously and is committed to being a
safe place for all. But we can never be complacent. We would like
to urge any victims or those with information to feel free to come
forward knowing that they will be listened to in confidence."
Safeguarding failures in the
Diocese of Chichester have received large amounts of attention in
recent years. In 2012 the diocese was the subject of the first
archiepiscopal visitation for more than 100 years. A report by the
Commissaries concluded that "dysfunctionality . . . continues to
impinge upon the adequacy of safeguarding within the diocese" (News, 7
September, 2012). The final report, published last year,
suggested that the diocese had taken "enormous steps forward" (News, 10
May).
The Church has worked with the NSPCC to set up a confidential
helpline: 0800 389 5344