Marina Hyde asks why wealthy, powerful men still associated with Jeffrey Epstein despite knowing about his crimes (Never forget Epstein’s little helpers – the powerful men who knew about his crimes, and helped him out anyway, 3 February). As a church minister who has been involved in dealing with a small number of historical allegations of abuse, may I make the following observations. The Methodist church has a robust safeguarding policy, with mandatory training for everyone who works or volunteers in the church, and there is much work being done to help us hear the voices of those abused.
Despite all this, when an allegation of historical abuse is made, congregations find it almost impossible to believe that the elderly man they have known, loved and respected for decades could be guilty of such a crime. The accuser is often younger, female and had left the church decades before, so is a stranger. I have also observed families of the accused, especially wives, absolutely deny that their loved one could be capable of such things, despite evidence, court cases and convictions.
