Church sex abuse victims angered by ‘woolly’ review
Draft safeguarding report sets a ‘risible’ six-month time limit on cases and is full of ‘meaningless jargon’
SEX abuse victims are “outraged” at a draft Church of England document suggesting that investigations should last just six months and “should not seek to establish blame”.
The report, seen by The Sunday Telegraph, aims to reform the process for publishing Lessons Learned Case Reviews – the religious equivalent to Serious Case Reviews into major failings carried out by local authorities.
However, survivors of abuse within the Church of England as well as members of the General Synod have spoken out against the new safeguarding proposals, claiming they are “woolly” and “normalise abuse”.
One victim said: “If I were a perpetrator, I’d be reading this thinking, ‘Whoopee, they’re never going to look at what happened properly nor do anything about it’.”
Among the suggested draft reforms include: all reviews taking “no more than six months from the decision to undertake the review until publication”, and for a reviewer “to be limited to no more than six recommendations”.
The draft document, written this month by the Church’s National Safeguarding Team (NST) adds that reviews should not seek “to establish blame or guilt and/or recommend sanctions” and instead should remain as a “planned process of reflective learning designed to improve the quality and impact of a Church body’s safeguarding activity”.
An investigation into the Church’s handling of allegations of abuse carried out by the late John Smyth, a sadomasochistic QC who beat dozens of young boys, was announced in 2019. However, the Makin Review has still not been published, with victims claiming it has been “kicked into the long grass”. Furthermore, The Telegraph unmasked the Rev Jonathan Fletcher, one of the Church of England’s leading evangelical figures, as an abuser in June 2019.
An independent review concluded that he had subjected almost 30 victims to ice baths, naked beatings and sex acts, because his church created a culture where he was “untouchable”. The Church has not conducted a review and no one has been held to account.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a victim of Smyth’s abuse described the Church’s new draft proposals as “outrageous” and full of “meaningless jargon”.
He added: “The Makin Review is almost 900 days late, and the consultation is suggesting that all reviews should be published within six months – it’s risible. They also suggest that reviews should have no more than six recommendations; this is a completely random number which would restrict any serious reviewer.”
Peter Adams, a lay member of the General Synod, added: “The fundamental mistake in this report is that it uses the language of reflective practice, which is positive in normal situations, but abuse is not a normal situation.
“We need something far stronger – not language and structures which will normalise abuse.”
The draft proposals, dated Oct 3 2022, have been circulating within official Church circles since at least 2020.
However, an NST spokesman said: “This is a consultation document seeking the views of a range of stakeholders including survivors and victims; their voice is key to developing the guidance.
“As the draft document states, victims and survivors must receive the support they need and are entitled to, which is set out in a separate policy published last year.
“This document is about the Church learning lessons from how it handled a particular case to improve its safeguarding and will replace and develop the two pages on Lessons Learnt Reviews in the current 2017 guidance.”