THREE women have come forward with allegations against the Revd David Fletcher, a deceased former Rector of St Ebbe’s, Oxford, and leader at the Iwerne Camps alongside John Smyth.
One of the women, Jeni, told Channel 4 News that Mr Fletcher had sexually assaulted her in a swimming pool in 1980, when she was 16, and that this had left her feeling “ashamed” and “defiled”. His inappropriate behaviour towards her had started when she was 15 or 16, she said, when he would try to kiss her and attempt to put his tongue in her mouth.
Jeni said that she didn’t think she would be believed if she went to the police, and came forward only after the publication of the Makin report last year.
Two sisters, Ali and Caroline, also spoke to Channel 4 News, alleging abusive behaviour by Mr Fletcher, including inappropriate touching and comments, from the time when they were aged eight or nine.
Ali reported her experiences to the police in April 2018, while Mr Fletcher was still alive, but said that she heard nothing more. Hampshire Police said that Ali’s information was considered as part of the investigation into Smyth, which was dropped when he died later that year.
The accounts of the three women were broadcast on Channel 4 News on Thursday evening.
On Friday afternoon, a spokeswoman for the diocese of Oxford confirmed that the current Rector of St Ebbe’s, Canon Vaughan Roberts, had also received complaints that Mr Fletcher, who continued to worship at the church after his retirement, had been “inappropriately tactile”.
The first complaint was made in 2017, after which Canon Roberts told Mr Fletcher to “avoid physical contact that had any possibility of being considered inappropriate”, according to the spokeswoman.
A further report — described by the diocese as “third-hand” — of “inappropriate tactility” was passed to Canon Roberts in 2019, at which point he also informed the diocesan safeguarding team (DST) of the earlier case. The DST advised that he had “taken appropriate action”, and concluded that the reports “did not meet the threshold for further action”.
In a further instance, in 2021, Canon Roberts heard indirectly that a couple had confronted Mr Fletcher about his behaviour “some years previously”. He contacted the complainants to encourage them to make a report to the diocese.
They did so, but Mr Fletcher was seriously ill at this point, and no further action was taken. He died in February 2022 (News, 11 February 2022).
Smyth is known to have abused at least 30 young men and boys in the UK. Mr Fletcher was identified in the Makin review as being at the heart of the cover-up of Smyth’s abuse from 1981 until 2013, when a disclosure to the diocese of Ely led to Smyth’s being reported to the police.
Before he died, Mr Fletcher told the review: “I thought it would do the work of God immense damage if this were public” (News, 7 November 2024).
On Thursday morning, before the Channel 4 News programme was broadcast, Church House released a statement thanking the women who had “bravely come forward” with allegations against Mr Fletcher, and confirmed that they had been reported to the police (News, 6 February).
Channel 4 News reported Mr Fletcher’s widow as saying that she was distraught about the allegations and had no knowledge of abuse or inappropriate behaviour.
Mr Fletcher’s brother, Jonathan Fletcher, is a former Minister of Emmanuel Proprietary Chapel, Ridgway, Wimbledon, in the diocese of Southwark, is currently awaiting trial on charges of indecent assault and grievous bodily harm (News, 11 July 2024).