Anger over Anglican Church Sex Abuse cover-up
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Anger over Anglican Church Sex Abuse cover-up*
Campaigners have called the Church of England's failure to tell police
about an ex-choirmaster who sexually abused children "totally
irresponsible".
Peter Halliday, 61, from Farnborough, Hants, was jailed for 30 months
after admitting sex offences from the 1980s.
BBC News has learned he admitted the abuse 17 years ago, but left the
Church quietly on condition he had no further contact with children.
Church officials say they now have "robust" child protection policies.
Halliday, who is married, was ordered to pay all three victims £2,000
each, after admitting to 10 counts of abuse at an earlier hearing at
Winchester Crown Court.
He abused the boys who were in his church choir between 1985 and 1990.
Judge Ian Pearson banned Halliday from working with children and said he
would be put on the Sex Offenders Register, both for life.
'Duty of care'
Bishop David Wilcox, who was among those to make the decision not to
inform police of Halliday's behaviour, said it was a common way of
dealing with such cases at the time.
"I believe that we sought to act in the best interests - not only of the
Church, but of the family and of everybody concerned at that time," he said.
The Church can be seen to have done the best it could
The Reverend Mark Rudall
Case divides opinion
"Things were very different then. I think that we make the mistake of
trying to read back what we now know and how we now do things."
But the Churches' Child Protection Advisory Service said the bishop's
argument was a "red herring" and it was "well known even then" that such
cases had to be reported to police.
Anti-abuse campaigner Margaret Kennedy, of the Minister and Clergy
Sexual Abuse Survivors group, said the Church had a "duty of care"
towards children.
"You might have wanted to be pastorally caring for the individual victim
- but that meant that this guy was out there for 16 years and it's
totally irresponsible."
Dormitory abuse
Det Sgt Alison Heydari, of Hampshire Police, said Halliday's actions had
had a "devastating impact on his victims and their families".
In 1990 a young chorister at St Peter's Church in Farnborough told his
parents his choirmaster had abused him repeatedly during a period of
several years, and he was not the only victim.
When your first sexual experience is a 40-year-old man forcing himself
on you it's pretty horrific
One of Halliday's victims
His parents told the vicar, who consulted the bishop - but rather than
call the police the churchmen advised Halliday he should leave quietly
and agree to have no more contact with young children.
One of his victims, who was 10 years old at the time, told BBC News how
Halliday abused him during individual tuition and also on choir trips.
"It even happened when I was in dormitories with other boys," he said.
"I was horrified. When your first sexual experience is a 40-year-old man
forcing himself on you it's pretty horrific."
'Robust policies'
Halliday continued to work with young boys, as a singer with the Royal
School of Church Music, which said the child abuse was "entirely
unconnected" with the school.
It was only when Halliday was charged last year with indecently
assaulting children that he gave up his work with the school.
Church of England national safeguarding adviser, the Reverend Pearl
Luxon, who is responsible for child protection issues, said the Church
had "robust policies in place" to deal with child abuse.
Child abuse lawyer Richard Scorer said the Church had not dealt very
well with child protection until recent times, but that things were
improving.
In a statement, the Church of England said it was committed to the
safeguarding, care and nurture of the children within the Church community.