The Archbishop of York is facing calls to resign over his handling of a sexual abuse case

Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York is facing calls to resign just days before he is due to take temporary charge of the Church of England.

A BBC investigation has revealed that as Bishop of Chelmsford he allowed priest David Tudor to remain in his post in the Diocese despite knowing that he had been banned by the Church from being alone with children and had paid compensation to a survivor of sexual abuse. It has been reported that a woman was paid £10,000 in compensation by Tudor over claims that he sexually abused her as a child.

Tudor, upon admitting historical sex abuse allegations relating to two girls was banned from the ministry two months ago.  The investigation also revealed Mr Welby and Lord Carey, former Archbishops of Canterbury were also involved in the Tudor case, Mr Welby in 2018 and Lord Carey in 1993.

David Tudor worked for the Church of England for over 46 years, in London, Surrey and Essex, rising from the position of Curate to Honorary Canon. In 2010 when Mr Cottrell became Bishop of Chelmsford, he was an Area Dean on Canvey Island.

A spokesperson for the Archbishop has said that Mr Cottrell was fully briefed on the “longstanding safeguarding concerns raised about Tudor” and he would have been told that:

In 1988 David Tudor was a Defendant in two criminal trials. In his first trial he was acquitted of indecently assaulting a 15-year-old school girl, although he did attempt to having sex with her when she was 16. In the second trial he was convicted of indecently assaulting three girls and was jailed for six months. The convicted was quashed on technical grounds because the Judge had misdirected the jury.

In 1989 David Tudor was banned for sexual misconduct by a Church tribunal but was allowed to return to the ministry after five years.

The police investigated an allegation that he had indecently assaulted a child in the 1970’s in 2005. He was not charged and was allowed back to work under conditions.

From January 2008, David Tudor was working under a safeguarding condition. However, months later he became an Area Dean in charge of twelve parishes.

Calls for the Archbishop of York resignation have come from the Bishop of Newcastle, the Rt Rev Helen-Ann Hartley, who has stated that, “Mr Cottrell could have done more and should resign as Archbishop. It completely undermines his credibility that this case was not acted upon. How can you have the moral and ethical authority to lead an institution with that?”

Mr Cottrell has stated that he is “deeply sorry that action could not have been taken earlier, but that was the situation that he inherited. He was unable to take any disciplinary action because there were no complaints that hadn’t already been dealt with. “

In 2019 a new complaint was made against Tudor which led to his suspension. Mr Cottrell has said that he “acted immediately in suspending David Tudor for all ministry pending the subsequent tribunal.”

However, the BBC’s investigation reveals that Mr Cottrell was told in 2012 about the compensation payment. Mr Cottrell’s office maintains that there were no legal grounds to act until 2019, the personal payment made by Tudor did not admit liability and he was “guided by legal advice that no further action could be taken.”

The BBC’s investigation has come at an already difficult time for the Church of England. A recent damming report about how the Church covered up prolific abuse by the Barrister John Smyth led to the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. Mr Cottrell is due to take over his role temporarily in the New Year.

The Church of England must be held accountable for their failings and survivors of abuse must be heard. Concerns that the Church of England are failing to deal with sexual abuse within the Church has led to the development of The Church of England Redress Scheme, which should hopefully be in place in the new year. 

Another call for resignation so soon after Mr Welby’s resignation also illustrates how important it is for mandatory reporting legislation to be implemented as soon as possible.