A woman who says she was groomed by the priest David Tudor has criticised the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell’s response to a BBC investigation into his handling of Tudor’s case.
Mr Cottrell is just weeks away from taking charge of the Church of England, following the resignation of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby over his management of a separate sex abuse case.
He has strenuously resisted calls to resign after an investigation revealed that as Bishop of Chelmsford he let Tudor remain in his post despite knowing he had been barred by the Church from being alone with children and had paid compensation to a sexual abuse victim.
In response, Mr Cottrell said he was “deeply sorry” that action had not been taken earlier, but that he had “inherited” the situation and there were no legal grounds to take alternative action.
In a statement, he also suggested the framing of the reporting was harming victims.
“It is extremely disappointing that this story is being reported as if it was an abuser being ignored or even protected,” Archbishop Cottrell said.
“Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. And to present it this way only re-traumatises already hurt people.”
A woman who says Tudor groomed her, and the former vicar who first reported the case to the BBC, have expressed disappointment at Mr Cottrell’s reaction.
Rachel Ford, who told the BBC that Tudor was “very touchy-feely” with her at school, said Mr Cottrell’s assertion showed “a complete lack of empathy for his victims”.
“That’s a terrible way of trying to pass the buck onto the victims by saying that actually, it’s more upsetting for us that something’s been done about it than the last 40 years where nothing was being done,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
The Reverend Jenny Penn, who recently retired as vicar in the same post Tudor had held decades earlier, first wrote to the BBC about the disgraced priest.
She also criticised Archbishop Cottrell’s response to the investigation.
“Perhaps he could ask the victims themselves whether they would rather this matter was brought out into the open, or that it was swept under the carpet for fear of re-traumatising them,” Ms Penn told BBC Newsnight on Monday.
Archbishop Cottrell said he acted as soon as he could in the case, suspending David Tudor in 2019 after another alleged victim came forward and a new police investigation was launched.
But Ms Penn said she was upset that the women who had come forward in decades before that, including those who accused Tudor of serious sexual assault, had to watch him remain a priest for so long.
Ms Penn said she did not understand the Archbishop now saying he “inherited an intolerable situation”.
“I couldn’t really understand to whom it was intolerable.
“If it was intolerable to him, then he still managed to tolerate it for another nine years. If it was intolerable to the victims, then why was nothing done?”
Tudor was only banned from the ministry two months ago, after admitting historical sex abuse allegations relating to two girls.
Both Ms Ford and Ms Penn have called for Stephen Cottrell to resign as Archbishop of York.
Ms Ford said his resignation would send a “warning” to people that “the old boys’ club” was over, and that his stepping down was “inevitable”.
The calls for Mr Cottrell’s resignation comes weeks before he is due to fill the role vacated by Justin Welby.
The Church of England has been reeling since Mr Welby resigned as the Archbishop of Canterbury in November after the publication of a damning report that found he “could and should” have done more to intervene in the case of prolific child abuser John Smyth.
“In the case of Archbishop Justin Welby, he took responsibility for a situation and resigned because he was personally involved,” Ms Penn said.
“I can see the same criteria applying here, Stephen Cottrell was personally involved, I wouldn’t think his position was tenable anymore.”
In response to the BBC’s investigation, Mr Cottrell said: “The situation with David Tudor was an awful situation to live with and to manage and has meant many people suffering as a result.”
“I want victims and survivors to know that everything was done to understand, assess and manage the risk.”
Tudor did not reply to the BBC’s questions when he was contacted for comment.
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