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Sentamu rejects report findings that he failed to act on child sexual abuse claim


Church of England commissioned review into how it handled disclosures that a vicar raped a 16-year-old boy.

John Sentamu, the former archbishop of York, failed to act on disclosures that a Church of England vicar raped a 16-year-old boy, a report commissioned by the church has found.

Lord Sentamu immediately rejected the conclusions of the report, saying the author, an experienced safeguarding investigator, had a “fundamental misunderstanding” of the responsibilities of bishops and archbishops.

In 2013, Sentamu acknowledged a letter from the victim detailing the sexual abuse with the words: “Please be assured of my prayers and best wishes during this testing time.”

The C of E commissioned the report to examine how it handled allegations by Matthew Ineson that he was repeatedly raped as a teenager in the 1980s by Trevor Devamanikkam, who later killed himself.

The C of E is not expected to impose sanctions on any individual as a result of the review’s findings. Ineson said Sentamu, who retired in 2020 as the C of E’s second most senior official, should be banned from officiating within the church.

Ineson, who was ordained as a priest but no longer serves, refused to cooperate with the review on the grounds that it was not independent.

On Thursday he accused the C of E of hypocrisy. “Yesterday, the archbishop of Canterbury was lecturing on morality, but the church he leads is still covering up rape and abuse and protecting bishops at any cost,” he said.

Read More: Sentamu rejects report findings that he failed to act on child sexual abuse claim

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2,000 Children Sexually Abused by Illinois Catholic Clergy, Report Finds


The Illinois office of Attorney General has released a report on Catholic Clergy engaging in child sex abuse. Its investigation found nearly 2,000 children have been abused by clergy in the state.

“Decades of Catholic leadership decisions and policies have allowed known child sex abusers to hide, often in plain sight. And because the statute of limitations has frequently expired, many survivors of child sex abuse at the hands of Catholic clerics will never see justice in a legal sense,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul wrote in the introduction to the 696-page report.

They may never be held accountable in court, he said, but naming them is meant to “provide a public accountability and a measure of healing to survivors who have long suffered in silence.”

It is not the first time such news has come to light.

Former Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan released a report in 2018 detailing abuse in the church. Raoul continued the investigation.

In April, the Maryland Attorney General’s office released an interim public report about child sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, listing the names of 146 clergy abusers dating back from the 1940s-2002. In this case, over 600 children are known to have been abused.

Read more: 2,000 Children Sexually Abused by Illinois Catholic Clergy, Report Finds