Report finds Church of England covered up 'appalling' abuse at summer camps for decades

LONDON (AP) – The Church of England has covered up the “appalling” abuse of a lawyer who volunteered at Christian summer camps in the 1970s and 1980s, and the head of the Anglican Communion failed to report the abuse to authorities. in 2013, according to an independent review released Thursday.

John Smyth, who died in South Africa in 2018 at the age of 75, was abused by 30 boys and young men in the UK and 85 in Africa in fifty-five years, physically, sexually, physically and spiritually. Smyth is believed to be the biggest abuser associated with the church.

“Many of the victims who made the brave decision to speak to us about their experiences have carried this abuse in silence for over 40 years,” said Keith Makin, who led the review. to the authorities, the answers of the Church of England and others were completely ineffective and became a cover-up.”

The church said it was “deeply sorry for the horrific abuse,” adding that “there is no hiding place for abuse.”

Smyth, who was an able lawyer and a good speaker, was a volunteer leader in the Iwerne camps. The camps were held in several places affiliated with the church and developed to prepare young men from leading schools to hold high offices in the church and other parts of society.

Smyth used the cane to punish campers for “sins” including “arrogance,” making sexual comments, masturbating or, in one case, looking at a girl for too long, according to the report. The victims and Smyth were at least partially, if not fully, naked during the brutal beating.

The report noted: “The scale and severity of this practice was appalling.” Recorded 100 lashes for masturbating, 400 for bragging, and 800 for undisclosed 'falling'.

Eight of the victims received 14,000 cane strokes and two reported 8,000 strokes over three years. Eight men said they often bleed as a result of the beatings, while others reported having bruises and scars.

A confidential abuse report was compiled by the pastor in 1982 and other church officials knew about it, but the police were never contacted.

“I thought it would do God's work a lot of damage if this was made public,” the late Reverend David Fletcher told people working on the new report.

Smyth was strongly encouraged to leave and ended up moving to Zimbabwe with his wife and children, the report said. He received financial help from church officials.

“The police knew about the abuse and failed to take the necessary measures to prevent further abuse,” the report said.

Church officials, including Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the church's head of ceremonies, had another chance to report Smyth – and prevent any possible abuse – when they heard about it in 2013, but did not do so, the report said.

Welby, who attended the Iwerne camps and knew Smyth, said he had no knowledge of the abuse before 2013.

“However the review is clear that I personally failed to ensure that after I disclosed in 2013 this terrible tragedy was investigated vigorously,” said Welby.

The report says that if Smyth had been reported to the police at the time, the truth might have come out and led to his conviction.

“In fact, three and a half years were lost, the time when John Smyth could have been convicted and any torture he was doing in South Africa discovered and stopped,” the report said.

Word of her abuse was not made public until a 2017 Channel 4 investigation, which led to Hampshire Police launching an investigation. Police were planning to question Smyth at the time of his death and were determined to bring him home.