Hundreds more sexual abuse cases at the Church of England identified

The recent review of allegations of abuse within the Church of England identified a large number of new cases. The review looked back into 75,000 historic files, some dating back to 1940s.

The review found 383 new cases of abuse, which had not been dealt with previously despite being reported. In 168 of those cases, the victims were children at the time of the abuse and 149 individuals were vulnerable adults. The majority of the alleged perpetrators (242) were clergy, while 53 were Church officers and 41 were volunteers, who had access to children.

In October 2020, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse concluded that the Church had failed to protect children from sexual abuse and instead created a culture where abusers “could hide”.

It is now imperative that the survivors of abuse at the Church of England have access to justice and that they receive adequate compensations for what happened to them in the past.

At Bolt Burdon Kemp we have developed expertise in representing survivors of sexual, physical and emotional abuse committed within the Church of England and other religious institutions. Over the years we have been instructed in many civil claims against the Church of England.

More recently we have been representing a client who was abused by a clergyman in Lancashire when she was a child. The recent review identified that in Lancashire alone 11 more cases of historic abuse needed to be investigated, and six of them have already been referred to the police.

At Bolt Burdon Kemp we understand the difficulties faced by the survivors of abuse committed within religious institutions. We will approach each case with great sensitivity and we will provide excellent client care. We understand that some people may find it very difficult to talk about what happened to them. We will listen to your concerns and we will assist you in making a claim.