resignation of the Church\u2019s most senior figure, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby<\/a>. Mr Cottrell will take over his role temporarily for a few months in the New Year.<\/p>\nThe BBC can reveal that Mr Welby and a former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, were also involved in the Tudor case \u2013 Mr Welby in 2018 and Lord Carey in 1993.<\/p>\n
David Tudor did not respond to the BBC\u2019s questions.<\/p>\n
At least seven women say they were abused by Tudor. One received six-figure compensation from the Church in 2019 and others are bringing civil claims.<\/p>\n
Tudor worked for the Church of England for over 46 years, in London, Surrey and Essex, rising from curate to honorary canon. He gained a reputation for filling churches with his charismatic preaching.<\/p>\n
He was an area dean on Canvey Island in Essex in 2010, when Stephen Cottrell became Bishop of Chelmsford \u2013 a position Mr Cottrell held for 10 years before becoming Archbishop of York.<\/p>\n
During his first week in office, Mr Cottrell was fully briefed on the \u201clongstanding safeguarding concerns\u201d raised about Tudor, a spokesperson for the Archbishop said.<\/p>\n
Mr Cottrell\u2019s office told the BBC that for much of his time as Bishop of Chelmsford he had been unable to take any disciplinary action because there were no complaints that hadn\u2019t already been dealt with.<\/p>\n
It was not until 2019, when a fresh complaint was made against Tudor leading to a suspension, that there was \u201can opportunity to remove the risk\u201d, said a spokesperson.<\/p>\n
But the Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, told File on 4 Investigates that had not been an adequate response because \u201cany action that could have been taken\u201d by Mr Cottrell \u201cshould have been vastly stronger than simply to try and manage a risk, particularly if the priest in question is already banned from working with children or entering schools\u201d.<\/p>\n
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While Mr Cottrell\u2019s office maintains there were no grounds to act until 2019, the BBC can reveal that Mr Cottrell was told in 2012 about the \u00a310,000 payout Tudor had made to Jessica, who says she was sexually abused by him, sometimes very violently, from the age of 11 during the 1970s when Tudor was training to be a minister.<\/p>\n
She had brought the claim after police ended an investigation without pressing charges.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody would make a payment if they haven\u2019t got something to hide,\u201d says Jessica.<\/p>\n
Bishop Hartley says the payout was \u201ccompletely against the principles of the institution\u201d that Mr Cottrell is supposed to be part of and should have led to disciplinary proceedings against the priest.<\/p>\n
The personal payment made by Tudor \u201cadmitted no liability\u201d \u2013 Mr Cottrell\u2019s office told the BBC \u2013 adding that the then-Bishop of Chelmsford had been guided by \u201clegal advice\u201d that no further action could be taken.<\/p>\n
To compound the hurt felt by those who say they were abused as children by Tudor, three years after making his compensation payment, Tudor became an honorary canon of Chelmsford Cathedral.<\/p>\n
Such an appointment was \u201cjust horrendous\u201d says Jessica.<\/p>\n
David Tudor\u2019s elevation to honorary canon is something Stephen Cottrell \u201cregrets\u201d, says his office, but it was \u201cnot a promotion and not a personal reward\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt happened because of a change in Church policy during the bishop\u2019s time in office, meaning area deans were automatically made honorary canons.\u201d<\/p>\n
But that is \u201cludicrous\u201d says Bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley and \u201csimply not good enough\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are absolutely uplifting somebody\u2019s ministry as an example and a model of good and best practice, and you\u2019re celebrating that actually by making them an honorary canon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rt Rev Hartley has been a lone voice in the upper echelons of the Church of England, criticising the institution\u2019s failure to deal with abuse and to listen to victims. Last month, she became the only senior serving cleric\u00a0to call for Justin Welby to step down.<\/p>\n
The BBC\u2019s investigation into the David Tudor case also reveals roles played by others at the very top of the Church of England over several decades \u2013 including former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey.<\/p>\n
Debbie (not her real name) says between the ages of 13 and 15 she was sexually abused by Tudor when he was a vicar and school chaplain in Redhill, Surrey. She was one of the three girls in his second trial in 1988. Tudor was found guilty, but the conviction was later quashed.<\/p>\n
It has had \u201ca huge effect\u201d on Debbie\u2019s life, she says, leaving her with complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which she says has been made worse by the Church\u2019s handling of the case since.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely disgusting that they supported him, that they welcomed him back into the Church,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Tudor\u2019s return to the priesthood was assisted by then-Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey.<\/p>\n
In 1993, the archbishop \u2013 now Lord Carey \u2013 agreed that Tudor could come back under supervision the following year. This was done \u201cwith some trepidation\u201d, the Church of England told the BBC.<\/p>\n
Leaked documents seen by File on 4 Investigates also show that Lord Carey agreed, in 1996, to remove the priest\u2019s name from a centrally-held record of clergy who had been subject to disciplinary proceedings.<\/p>\n
Lord Carey said he does not remember David Tudor\u2019s name. The Church of England said the request was made by the then-Bishop of Southwark Roy Williamson, who died in 2019, and Lord Carey had agreed to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognise these procedures were neither sufficient nor survivor-focussed, and that very different decisions would have been made today,\u201d Southwark diocese told the BBC.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision not to impose a lifetime ban on David Tudor seems absolutely inexcusable in today\u2019s context and would not have been made today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Tudor case also came across the desk of the current Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in 2018, when Rev Jenny Penn wrote to his office questioning why the priest was still in post.<\/p>\n
She had been a member of a \u201ccore group\u201d of Church safeguarding advisers, and national and local clergy, asked to look into Tudor because another of his alleged victims involved in the 1988 trials had issued a claim for compensation \u2013 this time from the Church, rather than Tudor personally.<\/p>\n
The woman would later win a six-figure Church payout and an apology.<\/p>\n
Archbishop Welby had recently told all clergy that it wasn\u2019t enough to say sorry about past abuse \u2013 and that they should \u201ctake action that demonstrates clearly that we have learnt the lessons\u201d.<\/p>\n
In her letter to him, Rev Penn said she was \u201cstruggling with the disconnect between the words and the practice\u201d.<\/p>\n
She received a response saying the matter had been reviewed. Rev Penn wrote again, and was again told \u201cthe matters raised have been dealt with\u201d.<\/p>\n
She says she was \u201cfobbed off\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo me it was quite clear cut that this person shouldn\u2019t be in post but [Mr Welby\u2019s office] couldn\u2019t provide a satisfactory answer as to why he was.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Church of England told the BBC Archbishop Welby \u201ctook seriously the correspondence from this cleric about David Tudor\u2019s permission to officiate\u201d and referred her concerns to the Bishop at Lambeth who was responsible for safeguarding.<\/p>\n
A reply to a third letter from Rev Penn to Mr Welby\u2019s office came from the Bishop of Lambeth\u2019s provincial safeguarding adviser and suggested matters raised had been dealt with.<\/p>\n
Rev Penn alerted the BBC to the Tudor case\u00a0after reading our story\u00a0about the Church paying off a Blackburn Cathedral priest assessed as a potential risk to children.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was shocked once more, and angry, that similar things had happened in another place. Old sins cast very long shadows,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Stephen Cottrell\u2019s spokesperson said the Archbishop of York \u201ccompletely shares and understands the hurt and frustrations that surround this case, which were frustrations and anxieties that he lived with every day he was in office\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Church of England said the BBC File on 4 investigation \u201creveals a catalogue of past safeguarding decisions, that allowed someone considered a risk in the 1980s to return to ministry in the 1990s\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis should never have happened,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
Among Tudor\u2019s victims, there is relief that he is no longer in a position of power after he admitted sexual misconduct at a Church tribunal in October this year and was banned for life from ministry.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe should never have been let back into the Church in the first place,\u201d says Jessica.<\/p>\n
Debbie had to move away from her hometown \u201cto a life where nobody knew anything about my past\u201d. Holding back tears, she says she has \u201clived with shame for 40 years\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt like he was protected. It was just so wrong.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell is facing calls to resign over his handling of a sexual abuse case, days before he takes temporary charge of the Church of England. As Bishop of Chelmsford, Mr Cottrell let priest David Tudor remain in post in the diocese despite knowing he had been barred by the Church […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105409\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}