The Church of England’s second-most senior bishop is facing calls to resign over his handling of a historic sex abuse case.
Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell is due to temporarily take charge of the Church of England from 6 January following the resignation of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who quit over failures in his handling of a separate sexual abuse case.
But Cottrell’s position has now been called into question after a BBC investigation reported that he – when serving as Bishop of Chelmsford – let a priest stay in post in the diocese despite knowing he had been barred by the Church from being alone with children, and had paid compensation to a sexual abuse victim.
The Church of England said the BBC programme had showed a “catalogue of past safeguarding decisions that allowed someone who was considered a risk in the 1980s to return to ministry in the 1990s”, adding that it “should never have happened”.
Cottrell himself has criticised calls for him to resign, saying he had not been in a position to act prior to suspending him in 2019 when new allegations came forward.
Here, Yahoo News takes a look at the controversy surrounding Stephen Cottrell and explains what happens next.
Who is Stephen Cottrell?
Born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, in 1958, Stephen Cottrell found faith as a teenager through the work of youth organisations in his local church.
He was ordained a deacon at the age of 25 and served at Christ Church and St Paul’s, Forest Hill, south London and St Wilfrid’s Church, Chichester during the eighties and early nineties.
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, would have been briefed on safeguarding concerns surrounding David Tudor. (Alamy)
In 2001, he was called to become Canon Pastor of Peterborough Cathedral and was consecrated as Bishop of Reading three years later.
Cottrell, who has three children, became Bishop of Chelmsford in 2010 and served there until 2020 when he became the 98th Archbishop of York, the second highest ranking clergyman in the Church of England.
What is he accused of?
The BBC’s File on Four investigation reported that Cottrell had let priest David Tudor stay in his post at the Diocese of Chelmsford, despite knowing Tudor had been barred by the Church from being alone with children.
Tudor was an area dean on Canvey Island, Essex, in 2010, when Cottrell became Bishop of Chelmsford, the broadcaster said. During his first week in post, Cottrell was briefed on “longstanding safeguarding concerns” surrounding Tudor, a spokesperson for the Archbishop said.
It was only nine years later “when fresh complaints were made against Tudor that there was an opportunity to remove the risk,” they added.
In October of this year, Tudor was banned from ministry for life after admitting what the Church described as serious sexual abuse involving two girls aged 15 and 16 when he was a priest in the Diocese of Southwark.
Stephen Cottrell and the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby attending a procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022. (Alamy)
A woman who, according to the BBC, was paid £10,000 in compensation by Tudor over claims he sexually abused her as a child said that Cottrell’s failure to act when he was told about the payment means he should “leave the Church”.
During his time in Chelmsford, the BBC says Cottrell would have been told that Tudor had been a defendant in two criminal trials in 1988.
In the first he was acquitted of indecently assaulting a 15-year-old girl, although he admitted having sex with her when she was 16. In the second, he was jailed for six months for indecently assaulting three girls, but the conviction was subsequently quashed on technical grounds.
Cottrell, according to the BBC, also would have been told that Tudor was banned from the ministry in 1989 after a Church tribunal for sexual misconduct – but was allowed to return five years later. He also would have been briefed on Tudor’s suspension in 2005 as police investigated claims he had indecently assaulted a child in the 1970s, for which he was never charged.
Tudor had been working under a safeguarding agreement from January 2008 preventing him from being alone with children, or from entering schools in Essex, but had become an area dean in charge of 12 parishes months later.
Responding to the BBC investigation, a spokesperson for Cottrell said it had been a “highly unsatisfactory and problematic case”, adding that Cottrell had been in “an invidious situation (he) lived with every day that he was Bishop of Chelmsford until he was able to take action in 2019” in suspending the priest “following new information”.
Why did Justin Welby resign?
The latest scandal piles even more pressure on the Church of England, around one month after the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, announced he was resigning over his mishandling of an abuse case.
It followed the publication of an independent review, which concluded that barrister John Smyth, who was thought to have abused as many as 130 boys and young men over decades, might have been brought to justice if Welby had formally alerted authorities in 2013.
The scandal comes one month after Justin Welby announced his resignation as Archbishop of Canterbury. (Getty Images)
Across five decades in three different countries. Smyth is said to have subjected as many as 130 boys and young men to “traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks”, according to the Makin Review.
The archbishop said he had “no idea or suspicion of this abuse” before 2013, but acknowledged that after its wider exposure following the first victim’s report, he had “personally failed to ensure” it was investigated.
What happens next?
Cottrell is due to take on many of Welby’s official functions temporarily from 6 January, and is also expected to deliver a Christmas Day sermon in place of the Archbishop, the York Press reports.
While Cottrell is facing calls to resign, he has shown no indication that he will do so, and has criticised the way events have been reported by the media.
In a statement on Monday, Cottrell has said he is “deeply sorry that we were not able to take action earlier” adding that he “acted immediately” within the authority he had at the time.
He said he faced a “horrible and intolerable” situation when he became Bishop of Chelmsford, having been briefed on the situation. “This morning’s news coverage incorrectly implies that no action was taken until 2024,” Cottrell added.
“That is not the case. In my capacity as Bishop of Chelmsford, I suspended David Tudor from office at the first opportunity, when a new victim came forward to the police in 2019. Up until 2019, there were no legal grounds to take alternative action.
“When I joined the Chelmsford diocese in 2010, I worked closely with its very professional safeguarding team to ensure the risk was managed.
“But it was not possible to remove David Tudor from office until such time as fresh complaints were made, which happened when a victim bravely spoke to the police.
“Once this happened in 2019, I acted immediately. I suspended David Tudor from all ministry pending the investigation and subsequent tribunal hearing in which he was removed from office and prohibited from ministry for life.”
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