The Daily Telegraph

Prince’s regret over support for abuser bishop

- By Olivia Rudgard and Francesca Marshall

THE Prince of Wales described action taken against a paedophile bishop as “monstrous wrongs”, the independen­t inquiry into child sexual abuse heard yesterday.

Extracts from letters published by the inquiry showed that the Prince also put Peter Ball, the former Bishop of Gloucester, and his brother Michael, in touch with staff on the Duchy of Cornwall estate, who arranged a house for them after Ball lost his job.

Ball, now 86, resigned his post in 1993 after receiving a caution for abusing a young man.

The Prince’s statement, read out at the inquiry yesterday, expressed “deep personal regret”, adding that the Prince had been “misled” by Ball.

Extracts further showed that in 1995, two years after Ball had been cautioned, the Prince wrote to him to say he felt “desperatel­y strongly about the monstrous wrongs that have been done to you”.

He went on to criticise Lord Carey, then Archbishop of Canterbury, for being “frightened of the press” and for failing to restore Ball’s permission to hold services in the Church of England, describing the public perception as “based entirely on lies, invention, speculatio­n and invention”.

In another letter sent the following year he said he was “glad” that a member of staff from the Duchy had been in touch “as I requested”. He wrote: “I pray the Duchy will be able to find something suitable for you both in due

course”, adding: “I long to see you both settled somewhere that suits you and gives you peace and tranquilli­ty – and not too far from here so you can come over more easily.”

The brothers lived on the estate between 1997 and 2011.

In a third letter, sent in 1997, the Prince said he thought the Balls’ new house was “rather nice”, before referring to a “frightful, terrifying man”, who was “on the loose again and doing his worst”.

He said a vicar he had visited had told him that “this ghastly man was up to his dastardly tricks again”.

In his statement, the Prince of Wales said he could not remember to whom he had been referring, but said he had been aware that Ball “felt that individual­s including critics in the media were doing all in their power to disadvanta­ge him unfairly”.

He said that at the time he wrote the letter he had believed that Ball had been “falsely accused of a single offence – the nature of which was unknown to me – by an individual whom the relevant judicial authoritie­s had themselves not believed”.

The bishop had been reported to the police in 1992 by Neil Todd, an 18-yearold who had attended Ball’s scheme for young men considerin­g a monastic life.

Mr Todd alleged that Ball had kissed and caressed him while naked on two separate occasions.

Ball received a caution for gross in- decency the following March, a measure which should involve an admission of guilt, though on Thursday the inquiry heard that there was no record that this had ever formally been done.

In his witness statement the Prince said he was “not aware until recently that a caution in fact carries an acceptance of guilt”.

He added that he “occasional­ly sent the brothers small gifts of money as I do for many people in need and Peter Ball’s interest in becoming a tenant of a Duchy of Cornwall property then arose”. The Prince said he had “men- tioned the situation of the Ball brothers to the Duchy”, which arranged a house for them to rent.

Ball was convicted in 2015 of misconduct in public office after admitting abusing 18 young men.

“I ceased contact with Mr Ball once the judicial process had concluded and he was found guilty of serious offences against young people.

“My heart goes out to the victims of abuse and I applaud their courage as they rebuild their lives and so often offer invaluable support to others who have suffered,” he said.

Ball was jailed for 32 months in 2015, and served 18 months, for sex offences against 18 teenagers and young men.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom