Jayne Ozanne was raped by a priest? Which bishop told her not to report the attack?
Jayne Ozanne (who claimed to have reported this blog to the police last year for 'hate') claims to have been raped by a priest in the 1990s. She says she…
Child safeguarding
Church U-turn on sex abuse: from the victim ‘must be believed’ to being ‘taken seriously’
This is a guest post by Martin Sewell, a retired Child Protection Lawyer. _____ The recent furore about the Parliamentary 'sex scandals' – which I prefer to think of as principally about bullying and the misuse of power – is…
Child abuse in the Church of England: Justin Welby must either accelerate the change or carry the can
This is a guest post by Martin Sewell, a retired Child Protection Lawyer who takes a special interest in Safeguarding as a member of General Synod. _____ When I was…
Safeguarding in the Church of England: when is a victim of child-abuse not a victim?
This is a guest post by Martin Sewell, a retired Child Protection Lawyer and a member of General Synod. ______ Yesterday I advanced a more sympathetic perspective on why Lord…
Lord Carey’s forced resignation is an injustice: he, too, was a victim of Peter Ball
This is a guest post by Martin Sewell, a retired Child Protection Lawyer and a member of General Synod. He considers here the wiles and manipulations of child-abuser Peter Ball,…
Child abuse in the Church of England: hypocrisy, inconsistency and ongoing cover-up
Child abuse is a seriously distressing matter. The violation, confusion, fear, self-loathing, guilt, depression... suicidal thoughts. It can take years and decades to come to terms with the misery and…
West Midlands Police: FGM parents/cutters only prosecuted “if in the child’s best interests”
It has long been a cause of puzzlement why thousands of recorded cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the UK result in so few prosecutions and zero convictions. Now…
Peace on earth and good will to all men – except the sacked bell-ringers of York Minster
"The bells! The bells!" cried Quasimodo, the hunchbacked bell-ringer of Notre-Dame de Paris in Victor Hugo's quasi-fictional novel. He might have been sounding a prophetic child-safeguarding warning to the Church…
While the Church of England becomes a safe place for children, it is hell for those wrongly accused of abuse
"To address the whole culture of silence in Church is vital," writes the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in the Church of England Newspaper, "it is a form of…
Synod 'No Confidence' motion looms in the secret trial of Bishop George Bell (RIP)
The Church of England has (at last) announced an independent review into its handling of its secret Cadaver Synod posthumous trial of the late Bishop George Bell (see here,…
The "absurd fiction" of the need for secrecy in the trial of Bishop George Bell
The living who are falsely accused of child abuse are slowly destroyed – physically, emotionally and spiritually. "I now have difficulty seeing myself being remotely employed, sociable, and relaxed…
When did child abuse become the unforgivable sin?
The secret trial of Bishop George Bell still tolls. Having been convicted in absentia and post mortem of child abuse, we have since learned that the victim was a…
No more excuses: Bishop Peter Ball's abuse demands more than regret
If we need any evidence of humankind’s fallen sinfulness then we only have to look at our propensity to do things for our own gain that we know to…
Bradford ex-Muslim Christian converts "have given up on the Church of England"
"Muslim family are driven from their home... after they converted to Christianity." "Neighbours vandalise car and call them 'blasphemers'"; "windows are constantly smashed"; "family attacked in the street"; "Bradford…
'Prevent Duty' teacher: "If you say homosexuality is wrong, you might be breaking the law"
Last Friday (18th September) the BBC Radio 4 Today programme discussed the Government's 'Prevent' strategy, which places a statutory obligation upon all schools and children's services to incorporate into…