UK inquiry: Monks hid sex abuse to protect church reputation

LONDON: A British inquiry concluded Thursday that sexual abuse at two leading Roman Catholic schools in Britain was considerably higher than is reflected by conviction figures, with monks hiding allegations to protect the church’s reputation.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse issued a scathing report saying that monks at Ampleforth in North Yorkshire and Downside in Somerset hid allegations of “appalling sexual abuse” against pupils as young as 7. Ten people linked to the schools have been cautioned over or convicted of sexual activity or pornography offenses involving a “large number of children.”

“The true scale of the abuse however is likely to be considerably higher,” said Professor Alexis Jay, the inquiry chair.

Ampleforth accepted responsibility for past failures and thanked Jay for her work.

“We would also like to once again offer our heartfelt apology to anyone who suffered abuse while in the care of our schools, parishes or other ministries,” it said in a statement.

Downside didn’t immediately comment.

The schools, linked to the English Benedictine Congregation, were run at times by “secretive, evasive and suspicious” officials who avoided reporting misconduct, Jay said. Instead of informing authorities, church leaders confined suspected abusers to the abbey or sent them away to other locations where a history of predatory behavior wasn’t always disclosed — and children were abused as a consequence, the report said.

“For decades Ampleforth and Downside tried to avoid giving any information about child sexual abuse to police and social services,” Jay said. “Instead, monks in both institutions were very often secretive, evasive and suspicious of anyone outside the English Benedictine Congregation. Safeguarding children was less important than the reputation of the church and the wellbeing of the abusive monks.”

Though the allegations stretched back to the 1960s, recent incidents cast doubt on whether church officials had gotten the message about reporting such activity to the police and social services. The report followed several weeks of evidence delivered to the inquiry last year.