Christ's Hospital / The Church of England / Child Abuse

This section was setup in August 2018 in order to move the existing related discussions from other sections into this new section to group them together, and separate from the other CH-related topics.

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LHA
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Christ's Hospital / The Church of England / Child Abuse

Post by LHA »

In the deeply moving thread on another topic, it is confirmed that the Chaplain to whom Husband abuse was reported was not Dobbie, although he of course knew of Husband's abuse.

Please edit if inaccurate or at the wishes of the survivor in this case whose wishes should be paramount, but I can only imagine it was Kate Powell [Moderator observation: I gather she gave evidence in the trial. Julian], as it is confirmed elsewhere it is not Sheila Banyard and they were the only two female Chaplains at CH in that era.

This leads to another discussion about the role of the C of E and child abuse at Christ's Hospital.

The monumental failings of the C of E's Safeguarding 'strategy' over the past century or so is a matter of public record.

What hasn't been mentioned in the press are the especially concerning issues around the Diocese of Chichester (in which CH is located) where clerical abuse of children was particularly prevalent.

There is a special strand of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse relating just to Chichester. There is a lot of material about this online.

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/ ... -practices

https://www.iicsa.org.uk/investigations ... can-church

Reads of the forum will know about the Bishop Peter Ball, a lengthy report has been published about this here.

https://www.churchofengland.org/more/sa ... peter-ball

What hasn't, to my known, appeared in the press is any link between the fact that CH is in the Diocese of Chichester, that Chichester Diocese was a location of extreme and sustained child sexual abuse committed by clergy and facilitated by inaction and outright facilitation, that Gary Dobbie was a highly prolific serial paedophile and the school Chaplain, that Peter Ball, as Bishop of Lewes conducted confirmations at CH and had other links with the school which other forum members might usefully comment upon, and indeed that another Chaplain at Christ's Hospital was told that abuse was taking place, but didn't stop it.

I am pulling a document together of questions which clearly require answers, to send to the School and to the Church of Engalnd Safeguarding Team (details below) and may contact IICSA.

IICSA is having a further hearing re Peter Ball VERY SOON ie 23-27 July.

https://www.churchofengland.org/more/sa ... ll-hearing

I will post longer when possible but this seems important information to pool and clarify for the time being
Avon
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Re: Christ's Hospital / The Church of England / Child Abuse

Post by Avon »

This is an excellent initiative. This whole topic is inadequately explored.
bakunin
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Re: Christ's Hospital / The Church of England / Child Abuse

Post by bakunin »

Good work, and good luck. I am very interested to hear what you find out, and if I can help let me know by private message.
GFK
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Re: Christ's Hospital / The Church of England / Child Abuse

Post by GFK »

LHA wrote: Sun Jul 08, 2018 8:12 pm In the deeply moving thread on another topic, it is confirmed that the Chaplain to whom Husband abuse was reported was not Dobbie, although he of course knew of Husband's abuse.

Please edit if inaccurate or at the wishes of the survivor in this case whose wishes should be paramount, but I can only imagine it was Kate Powell, as it is confirmed elsewhere it is not Sheila Banyard and they were the only two female Chaplains at CH in that era.

This leads to another discussion about the role of the C of E and child abuse at Christ's Hospital.

The monumental failings of the C of E's Safeguarding 'strategy' over the past century or so is a matter of public record.

What hasn't been mentioned in the press are the especially concerning issues around the Diocese of Chichester (in which CH is located) where clerical abuse of children was particularly prevalent.

There is a special strand of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse relating just to Chichester. There is a lot of material about this online.

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/ ... -practices

https://www.iicsa.org.uk/investigations ... can-church

Reads of the forum will know about the Bishop Peter Ball, a lengthy report has been published about this here.

https://www.churchofengland.org/more/sa ... peter-ball

What hasn't, to my known, appeared in the press is any link between the fact that CH is in the Diocese of Chichester, that Chichester Diocese was a location of extreme and sustained child sexual abuse committed by clergy and facilitated by inaction and outright facilitation, that Gary Dobbie was a highly prolific serial paedophile and the school Chaplain, that Peter Ball, as Bishop of Lewes conducted confirmations at CH and had other links with the school which other forum members might usefully comment upon, and indeed that another Chaplain at Christ's Hospital was told that abuse was taking place, but didn't stop it.

I am pulling a document together of questions which clearly require answers, to send to the School and to the Church of Engalnd Safeguarding Team (details below) and may contact IICSA.

IICSA is having a further hearing re Peter Ball VERY SOON ie 23-27 July.

https://www.churchofengland.org/more/sa ... ll-hearing

I will post longer when possible but this seems important information to pool and clarify for the time being
Exactly. I was involved in the recent trial & talked to the Police about this. Great work LHA & it would be good to catch up about this by PM.
Rex
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Re: Christ's Hospital / The Church of England / Child Abuse

Post by Rex »

[deleted by the writer]
Last edited by Rex on Mon Jul 09, 2018 9:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
sejintenej
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Re: Christ's Hospital / The Church of England / Child Abuse

Post by sejintenej »

I have already placed my condemnations elsewhere.
Yes, the C of E has much to answer for but let us not forget (as they would like us to) the actions of other so-called Christian religions. Killings of babies and the near enslavement of their mothers in Ireland, the current trials in Australia, the abduction of young girls in Nigeria as just a few examples.

This is a worldwide problem needing an effective solution for which unfortunately I have no ideas. Yes, there are those who arrange conferences, get up and spout but have minimal effect
What happens if a politician drowns in a river? That is pollution.
What happens if all of them drown? That is solution!!!
Golfer
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Re: Christ's Hospital / The Church of England / Child Abuse

Post by Golfer »

I'm pretty happy - as someone who was brought up in opposition to the CofE - with the Church of England practice document of 2011 in relation to dealing with sexual abuse. Obviously it is also about putting it into practice but they would be mad not to.

https://www.churchofengland.org/more/sa ... e-guidance

I wish it had been in place earlier to give guidance to all our chaplains to give the confidence to take action, especially in relation to their superiors.

I also believe that the CofE is well on the way to amending its practices, not least because of the large numbers of women in its ranks. This makes it much more likely IMHO than the Catholic Church to achieve change.

It is worth pointing out, in the context of the CH experience, that women deacons only emerged in the CofE from 1987 and women priests from 1994. This may have some bearing on the power relationships that existed i the school around 1990.
Jim Rayner
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Re: Christ's Hospital / The Church of England / Child Abuse

Post by Jim Rayner »

Is that worth pointing out?

Part of the school's stated mission is to enable boys and girls to:
"develop first the skills, learning habits, independence of mind and spiritual awareness that will enable and motivate them to continue to educate themselves throughout their lives; and second, a high sense of responsibility towards themselves, their families, their associates and to society at large, such as to form a permanent foundation of their training and character."

Are we really saying that there was a period when the pastoral care of pupils was entrusted to people who did not themselves have the independence of mind, sense of responsibility and character, to know that they had to act on an allegation of sexual assault on a teenager by a staff member? If somebody needed written guidance to know they couldn't ignore that kind of cry for help, they really had no business working with young people.

Even when I was at CH, back in the dark ages of the 1960's and 1970's everybody knew sexual assault was profoundly wrong. It's never been something you could pretend you hadn't seen such as smoking in the car park toilets or flicking pellets of bread.
LHA 67-70; ThA 70-74
Golfer
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Re: Christ's Hospital / The Church of England / Child Abuse

Post by Golfer »

Suit yourself.
As an historian I like to put things into context.
yamaha
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Re: Christ's Hospital / The Church of England / Child Abuse

Post by yamaha »

Tim, you really are stretching for equivalences to excuse the most deplorable dereliction of duty.

In the 1960s the Chaplain chose as our Divinity class textbook “Things that Matter”. It was an broad examination of ethics.

We now learn that 20 years later a successor in the Chaplaincy did not see it as their duty to report to competent authorities a serious crime against a pupil of which the perpetrator has been found guilty; a crime punishable by up 18 years imprisonment.
Golfer
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Re: Christ's Hospital / The Church of England / Child Abuse

Post by Golfer »

I don't excuse that. I am searching for an explanation.
yamaha
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Re: Christ's Hospital / The Church of England / Child Abuse

Post by yamaha »

No. You are advancing a defence which is an ethical inversion similar to the Deputy Commissioner of the Met saying that moped muggers are victims of inequality.
You are suggesting that in not protecting the victims of Husband and Dobbie your pal was herself a victim of a male hierarchical system which is the real culprit behind her decision.
Jim Rayner
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Re: Christ's Hospital / The Church of England / Child Abuse

Post by Jim Rayner »

It's worth pointing out that in 1990 when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, and triggered the First Gulf War, many religious types took this as a sign that the final battle of Armageddon and the end of the world were upon us, which in some cases distracted them from matters closer to hand.

I'm glad we've cleared that up.
LHA 67-70; ThA 70-74
Golfer
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Re: Christ's Hospital / The Church of England / Child Abuse

Post by Golfer »

yamaha wrote: Tue Jul 10, 2018 8:41 pm No. You are advancing a defence which is an ethical inversion similar to the Deputy Commissioner of the Met saying that moped muggers are victims of inequality.
I am advocating no defence.
CodFlabAndMuck
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Re: Christ's Hospital / The Church of England / Child Abuse

Post by CodFlabAndMuck »

The explanation for what its worth is that CH was very hierarchical and you did as you were told.
That in no way excuses or justifies the shameful inaction of anyone, however junior
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