The church of England’s second-most senior bishop, Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, has apologised for not acting sooner in the case of sexual abuse by a Church of England priest.
Mr Cottrell said he was “deeply sorry” as he faced growing calls to resign over his handling of the case of David Tudor, who was banned from ministry for life after admitting what the Church described as serious sexual abuse involving two girls aged 15 and 16.
The archbishop said he “acted immediately” within the authority he had regarding the case, and that it was “not possible” to remove the priest from office until fresh complaints were made against him.
It is the latest incident facing the Church and comes as Mr Cottrell is due to take on many of the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby’s duties – who is officially stepping down in January over failures in the handling of a separate sex abuse case in the Church.
Calls for Mr Cottrell’s own resignation have mounted following reports that during his time as the Bishop of Chelmsford, he let Mr Tudor stay in post in the diocese despite knowing he had both been barred by the Church from being alone with children and paid compensation to a sexual abuse victim.
The Church of England said the BBC programme had shown a “catalogue of past safeguarding decisions that allowed someone who was considered a risk in the 1980s to return to ministry in the 1990s”.
It added: “This should never have happened.”
Responding to the BBC investigation, Mr Cottrell said: “I am deeply sorry that we were not able to take action earlier, but that was the situation I inherited,” he said. “It is extremely disappointing that this story is being reported as if it was an abuser being ignored or even protected.
“Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. And to present it this way only retraumatises already hurt people.
“The situation with David Tudor was an awful situation to live with and to manage – and has meant many people suffering as a result.”
A woman who was paid compensation by Mr Tudor over claims he sexually abused her as a child told the BBC that Mr Cottrell’s failure to act when he was told about the payment means he should “leave the Church”.
Bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley said she feels it is “impossible” for Mr Cottrell to remain Archbishop of York or for him to lead the Church of England.
Appearing to reject calls to resign over the case, Mr Cottrell pledged that he would “do what I can” to bring about independent scrutiny of safeguarding in the Church and said processes had changed and the Tudor case would be handled differently now.
He said: “Following David Tudor’s five years of suspension from ministry in 1988, the process at that time did not prevent him from returning to ministry in the Diocese of Southwark in 1994.
“Changes to the way safeguarding is now managed and scrutinised would mean the decision taken in 1988 would not take place now. But it did then.”
He added: “I have publicly supported this for many years. I pledge myself to do what I can to achieve it.”
The latest allegations are likely to add to soul-searching and anger about a lack of accountability at the highest reaches of the church.
Mr Welby resigned last month after an investigation found that he failed to tell police about serial physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps as soon as he became aware of it.
An independent investigation concluded that abuse by the late John Smyth – the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church – could have been stopped sooner if Mr Welby had reported it promptly to authorities in 2013.
