Ball said : ‘He [Prince Charles] has been wonderfully kind and allowed me to have a Duchy house. The prince is a loyal friend.
‘I have immense admiration for him. He has been through horrific times and is a great person.‘
Dame Alun Roberts @ciabaudo
If he didn’t know, he’s hardly fit to be King …
Richard Scorer: My clients accept the PoW has many interactions with Church of England clergy. However our clients do not accept that he claims he was not aware that a caution means an acceptance of guilt.
Scorer claims senior leaders in the Church knew of Peter Ball’s offending but Lambeth Palace did not hand over letters to police: http://ow.ly/M5yK30l4wJe
Mr William Chapman: There’s a reluctance to trust the secular authorities to handle the matter and a willingness to forgive and reintegrate Peter Ball, no matter what he’d done
Elizabeth Hall, Nat Safeguarding Advisor, recommending a further review of Peter Ball information which should involve trying to find all files/documents
Both Michael Ball and brother Peter Ball were not shy about using the name of the Prince of Wales to seek to influence others. Bishop Michael Ball wrote to Lord Carey in Dec 1992 saying that his brother was receiving support from 2 Cabinet Ministers and Prince Charles Peter Ball often mention their friendship.
On 8 March 1993 Peter Ball received a caution for one count of gross indecency against Neil Todd. He resigned immediately. Peter Ball alleged to the Church of England shortly that he either did not wish to resign, and accepted a caution to avoid a trial.
“This Inquiry has been provided with details of allegations made by a total of 32 individuals. These all relate to an alleged abuse of power by Peter Ball for the purposes of his sexual gratification.”
The former Bishop of Lewes, Peter Ball was convicted of two offences of indecent assault, and an offence of misconduct
Peter Ball admitted when pleading guilty that he received sexual gratification from the deliberate manipulation of vulnerable young men, that the contact was consistent with grooming and that he abused his position as a Bishop in the Church of England
In January 1996, Ball was permitted by Archbishop Carey to preach at a particular public school and, to conduct confirmations at other specific schools later on in that year
(1) Why he was permitted to return to ministry in this fashion? (2) Why did no-one think to carry out some kind of risk assessment? (3) Whether or not senior clergy simply thought that Peter Ball’s pleas of innocence should be believed?
Prince Charles gives evidence to inquiry into Peter Ball
The Prince of Wales says he was aware that Peter Ball, who lived in Aller, near Langport, had been given a police caution, but claims he did not realise it amounted to an admission of guilt.
Details of Prince Charles’s relationship with Ball will be revealed at an inquiry into the case on Friday.
The next in line to the throne had “decades of correspondence” with Ball and occasionally sent him “small gifts of money”, according to the draft copy of his statement to the inquiry, The Times has reported.
The statement will add that Ball confided in him in 2009 that he had been involved in an “indiscretion” years previously, which he blamed on a person with a grudge.
Peter Ball abuse inquiry requests statement from Prince Charles
By Press Association
The Prince of Wales has been asked to give a witness statement to a public inquiry about a paedophile bishop who was jailed after abusing young men.
Peter Ball was sentenced to 32 months in 2015 for a string of offences between the 1970s and 1990s, and the handling of allegations against him is now being examined by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
At a hearing on Wednesday, counsel to the inquiry Fiona Scolding QC said that statements had been requested from the prince and his principal private secretary.
According to a transcript posted on the inquiry website, she said: “We have also requested a witness statement from both His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and his principal private secretary.
“The Prince’s solicitors have indicated their client’s willingness to assist us and have raised a number of important issues for us to consider.
“This has led to lengthy and complex discussions and we are currently considering the latest points they have raised. We hope to be able to provide an update to core participants on this in the next couple of weeks.”
Charles had exchanged a series of letters with Ball, the former Bishop of Gloucester, whose diocese covers Highgrove, the prince’s country home.
A spokesman for the prince told the Daily Mail last year that the correspondence contained nothing of relevance to the clergyman’s offending.
Lawyer Richard Scorer from Slater and Gordon, who is representing complainants at the IICSA, said: “It is imperative that the inquiry leaves no stone unturned in its efforts to establish how Peter Ball was able to evade justice for two decades.
“If this means calling Prince Charles and other prominent establishment figures as witnesses then the inquiry should do so without fear or favour.”
https://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/Peter-Ball-abuse-inquiry-requests-statement-from-Prince-Charles
Establishment figures who helped disgraced bishop Peter Ball avoid prosecution for sex abuse revealed
December 31, 2015
…they include
David Cameron’s late godfather then Tory MP of Lewes, Tim Rathbone, who gave Mr Cameron his first work experience in the House of Commons.
Mr Rathbone, wrote that he found it “literally inconceivable” that Ball would ever become involved with anyone in the way described.
Anthony John Leslie Lloyd, Baron Lloyd of Berwick, Kt, PC, DL (left)
Anthony Lloyd, who was a Lord Justice at the time, described Ball as a “saint” in one of more than 2,000 letters sent to the Crown Prosecution Service and Gloucestershire Police in his support from acquaintances.
“He is quite simply the most gentle, upright and saintly man I have ever met,” he wrote.
“If there is a latter day St Francis, then Peter Ball is him.”
In 1969 Lloyd was appointed Attorney-General to the Prince of Wales, serving until 1977.
made a Privy Counsellor
He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant (D.L.) of East Sussex in 1983.
Another Deputy Lord-Lieutenant for East Sussex from 1986 until 2000 was:
Lord Hampden, Anthony David Brand
Lord Hampden, Anthony David Brand and Peter Ball, were involved in the Derry Mainwaring Knight Satanist trial
Derry Knight told an astonishing story about his membership in a secret Satanic cult called the Sons of Lucifer
At the conclusion of the trial, Mr. Baker said he remained convinced that Mr. Knight was a genuine Satanist trying to break free, and not a swindler.
The biggest contributor was Mrs. Sainsbury, who wrote checks totaling $116,000. Next came the chief magistrate and former high sheriff of East Sussex, a wealthy farmer named Michael Warren, who is reported to have given nearly $80,000.
The local bishop, the Right Reverend Peter Ball, of Lewes, a monk of whom the judge said, “You may think he is a little unwordly,” also agrees. “Father Peter,”… endorsed Mr Baker’s fund-raising with a note saying it was “a very necessary battle against Satan”.
The parish priest in the village of Newick, the Rev. John Baker, organized a donors’ group to back Mr. Knight in his struggle and mobilized the support, among others, of Viscount Hampden, Viscount Brentford, the Earl of March and Mrs. Susan Sainsbury, the wife of a Conservative Member of Parliament. Their efforts won the support of the Anglican Bishop of Lewes, Peter Ball, a member of a small monastic order who shuns ecclesiastical vestments and worships in a converted pigsty. Group Contributed $313,000
The 35-day trial in Maidstone in neighboring Kent – in which more than 100 witnesses were heard, including the aristocrats who invested in the struggle for Mr. Knight’s soul and the call girls who benefited from their contributions – earned itself a prominent place in the annals of British crime and eccentricity.
http://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/04/world/devil-did-it-a-british-man-nets-313000.html
Elizabeth Butler-Sloss is related to the Sainsbury family – The Hon. Sarah Sainsbury, daughter of John Davan Sainsbury, married to Hon. Robert Butler-Sloss, son of Elizabeth Butler-Sloss,
Tim Renton
Margaret Thatcher’s former Chief Whip Tim Renton MP said any criminal action against Ball was “far too great a punishment”.
Members of the same club – Alf Bates Club 1974
Jonathan Aitken, Tim Renton, Leon Brittan, Peter Morrison, Sir George Young, Alan Clark…
Aitken :
Aitken –
In 2001 the Purdews of Champneys (friends of Sir Jimmy Savile and Keith Vaz) briefly acquired Inglewood health hydro from agents of Saudi prince Mohammed bin Fahd. Inglewood had been the scene of allegations, published in the Guardian six years earlier, that then defence minister Jonathan Aitken, a director of the spa, had tried to arrange girls for a Saudi prince and his entourage.
The report led to the notorious libel action brought by Aitken ultimately culminating in his being sentenced to jail for perjury.
Former Tory MP Jonathan Aitken, once a director of Champneys Inglewood. He was accused by former employees of acting as a ‘pimp’ by requesting call girls, once for a sheikh and once for a group of Arabs.
Then he was embroiled in a legal dispute with former brothel keeper Lindi ‘Miss Whiplash’ St Clair, who claimed that she was thrown out of Inglewood partway through a course.
And though Aitken met his future wife Lolicia at Inglewood, he also cheated on her with bondage prostitute Paula Strudwick, telling her to collect the right sort of birch branches from the woods outside the estate for sadomasochistic sex games. You’d have thought someone would have twigged what was going on.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/columnists/article-259644/PS.html
Archbishop of Canterbury Donald Coggan and Peter Ball
Former Archbishop of Canterbury, Donald Coggan had ordained Ball in 1977 and said he held him in the “highest regard and respect”.
Queen Elizabeth II thanks the Archbishop of Canterbury, Donald Coggan, for leading her Silver Jubilee service at St Paul’s Cathedral. June 07, 1977
Headteachers from some of the country’s top private schools, including Lancing College and Radley College, Oxford, also wrote in his support.
James Woodhouse, headmaster of Lancing College and former head of Rugby School;
Ian Beer, former head of Harrow;
Richard Morgan, former head of Cheltenham College;
Reverends AJ Keep and NAT Menon, both chaplains at Cranleigh school
Lancing College – alma mater of the Peter Ball and his brother Michael Ball, Trevor Huddleston & Tom Driberg
Roy Whiting – killer of Sarah Payne – in the evenings he would spend his time doing up old cars at home. The most respectable sounding entry on his otherwise uninspiring CV would have been a spell at Lancing College, a leading independent school whose alumni include Evelyn Waugh and Sir Tim Rice.
But Whiting was never a pupil – all he did there was an out-of-hours paint-spraying course when he was 18.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-89672/A-man-sick-little-girl-do.html#ixzz3vxgCK6Ux
It was also revealed that there had been “two thousand letters of support…including letters from cabinet ministers and Royal Family”.
The member of the Royal family was not named by Ball’s barrister.
Another who wrote in support of Peter Ball:
Peter Nott, Bishop of Norwich,
Sophie Rhys-Jones – One of her mum’s oldest friends- the former Bishop of Norwich Peter Nott Sophie’s father was a master at Sherborne School
The Queen With The Bishop Of Norwich, The Right Reverend Peter Nott For The Maundy Service.
April 04, 1996
“The red-faced wife of Prince Edward quit her own public-relations firm last night after it was revealed her partner hinted they could set up sex tours and gay parties for clients and use the royal family to boost business.
Her partner, Murray Harkin, also quit after a newspaper sting caught him admitting on tape that he enjoyed cocaine and could procure young men and arrange sex tours to the Far East for clients.
The firm can procure “nice boys” for clients. “How young does he like? Does he like Asian boys? . . . And how young?
Referring to Prince Edward’s sexuality, “There’s no smoke without fire.”
Sophie had created a ‘royals for hire’ storm
(She’s not the first of the queen’s daughter-in-laws to be have done this: Prince Andrew’s wife Sarah Ferguson)
Cash for access: Sarah Ferguson is caught on hidden camera during a sting in which she revealed she could organise a meeting with Prince Andrew for £500,000
Fergie took £15,000 from paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein at centre of claims Prince Andrew slept with under-age ‘sex slave’
Prince Edward’s wife was targeted by investigative reporter Mazher Mahmood worked on a tip-off via Max Clifford that her PR company was selling access to the royal family in 2001, the court heard.
In the News of the World ‘s transcripts, the countess appears to betray strong Tory sympathies, describing it as a ‘shame’ if William Hague loses the election.
(The marriage of Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones – guest list includes Prime Minister Tony Blair, Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber, William Hague, Billy Connolly and Stephen Fry)
The men discuss places to visit in Thailand, Harkin recommending some ‘really sleazy’ bars in Bangkok. The three then apparently turn to discussing rent boys, with Harkin confiding that ‘in India I gave someone like two weeks’ pay’.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/apr/08/uk.news
Rebekah Brooks decided not to run the story and instead rang Buckingham Palace to make a deal.
An agreement was struck for an interview with Sophie in exchange for dumping the Fake Sheikh story.
Sophie’s family is descendant from King Henry II of France and she is a descendant of Edward III and several peers – according to one expert, she is the 11th cousin of her husband.
Sophie Rhys-Jones
...viewed by the Queen as its safest pair of hands.
The Queen uniquely arranged for the public relations girl (before she was married) to have her own pass to enter Buckingham Palace. This enabled her to stay overnight in the royal apartments whenever she wished.
‘She is trusted and relied on by the Queen in a way I couldn’t say applied to the Duchess of Cambridge or the Duchess of Cornwall,’ says a royal aide. ‘She is like another daughter to Her Majesty, they are that close.’
Most significantly — as the Queen approaches her 90th birthday this spring — the closer she becomes to Sophie, the more she depends on her. ‘She talks to Sophie in the way she used to talk to Princess Margaret,’ says a palace aide.
…making sure that the Countess’s 84-year-old father, Christopher, is included on the invitation list to many Royal Family events — a gesture that doesn’t extend to the Middletons.
The Queen and the Countess also share a fascination with military history. Sophie loves listening to the Queen talk about great historical events, and the pair are sometimes gone for hours, poring over ancient documents in the Royal Archives, which are kept at Windsor Castle.
Peter Ball and his safe pair of hands – Elizabeth Butler-Sloss
Elizabeth Butler-Sloss
The Home Office has backed Baroness Butler-Sloss as the right person to lead an inquiry into allegations of historical child abuse, after claims about her over a previous review.
Phil Johnson, who was abused by Peter Ball at age 13, while a choirboy, claims she wanted to exclude some of his allegations against Peter Ball.
Mr Johnson’s claims add to pressure on Baroness Butler-Sloss, who was appointed by Home Secretary Theresa May to head a review of how allegations of abuse linked to public institutions in the 1970s, 80s and 90s were handled.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .
Reverend Graham Sawyer, the vicar of Briercliffe, in Burnley, was abused by Ball in the 1980s.
He has attacked the Establishment in light of the support received by Ball in 1993.
“It is terribly sad he was not prosecuted in 1993 and it has not served anyone well,” he told the Telegraph.
“There needs to be a full investigation.
“Unfortunately the Establishment in this country is still strong and the relationship between the church and the establishment needs to be looked at.
“We cannot allow the Establishment to collaborate in this way, it is not fit for purpose.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20093876,00.html
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-28274882
http://us.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2005/09/16/sophiewessex/
http://www.thepeerage.com/p10414.htm
Church knew about allegations before Cornish preacher went on to abuse boys, investigation reveals
The diocese failed to investigate the accusations against Jeremy Dowling
25 MAY 2018
Dowling became such an important and valued worker and volunteer during a 40-year association with the diocese that a special service of thanks was given in his honour when he retired in 2009
A leading figure in the Church of England in Cornwall went on to commit child sex offences for several years after allegations about his behaviour with young boys were raised with the diocese and not acted upon, an official investigation has revealed.
The diocese failed to investigate the accusations against Jeremy Dowling, a lay preacher, allowing him to rise to influential positions including communications officer to the bishop, an independent review for the church concludes.
The report, released today, says there were “historic failings” within the diocese in dealing with the allegations, first raised in 1972. There was “ongoing knowledge” of the situation among senior figures in the diocese “well into the 1980s” with references to “a big fat file” on Dowling.
After the first allegations of Dowling abusing boys at a North Cornwall school where he taught were dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions – because of a lack of corroborative evidence – the then Bishop of Truro Maurice Key wrote: “I suppose the problem will now be to find him some other work”.
Dowling became such an important and valued worker and volunteer during a 40-year association with the diocese that a special service of thanks was given in his honour when he retired in 2009.
In 2015 he was jailed for seven years after pleading guilty at Truro Crown Court to 15 charges of sexually abusing boys under 16.
In 2016 he was jailed for an additional eight years after being found guilty of six further charges of indecently assaulting a boy between 1973 and 1977. Those offences happened when he befriended the boy while a lay preacher at a church in Budehaven – and took place after concerns were first raised with the diocese.
The report’s author said the lack of action by the diocese allowed Dowling to gain credibility and authority.
“Because they didn’t take it any further it enabled Jeremy Dowling to reach a position where he made up his own rules, and his position within the church lent him credibility and authority,” said Dr Andy Thompson, an academic, magistrate and member of the Diocesan Council.
The Bishop of St Germans, Rt Revd Dr Chris Goldsmith, apologised for the lack of action and the suffering that resulted.
Bishop who ignored warnings about preacher Jeremy Dowling who went on to abuse boys is identical twin of paedophile ex-bishop
Former Bishop of Truro Michael Ball’s twin Peter Ball, the former Bishop of Lewes and Gloucester, was convicted of abusing young boys
25 May 2018
One of the bishops who ignored warnings about a preacher who went on to sexaully abuse boys is the identical twin of a paedophile ex-bishop.
It emerged this week that a leading figure in the Church of England in Cornwall went on to commit child sex offences for several years after allegations about his behaviour with young boys were raised with the diocese and not acted upon, an official investigation has revealed.
The diocese failed to investigate the accusations against Jeremy Dowling, a lay preacher, allowing him to rise to influential positions including communications officer to the bishop, an independent review for the church concludes.
The report, released on Friday (May 25), says there were “historic failings” within the diocese in dealing with the allegations, first raised in 1972. There was “ongoing knowledge” of the situation among senior figures in the diocese “well into the 1980s” with references to “a big fat file” on Dowling.
Dowling became such an important and valued worker and volunteer during a 40-year association with the diocese that a special service of thanks was given in his honour when he retired in 2009.
Cornwall mum made homeless with Down’s Syndrome son after mouldy flat sees child hospitalised
In 2015 he was jailed for seven years after pleading guilty at Truro Crown Court to 15 charges of sexually abusing boys under 16.
In 2016 he was jailed for an additional eight years after being found guilty of six further charges of indecently assaulting a boy between 1973 and 1977. Those offences happened when he befriended the boy while a lay preacher at a church in Budehaven – and took place after concerns were first raised with the diocese.
One of the leaders who was named in the report was Michael Ball, 86, who was Bishop of Truro from 1990 to 1997. The Right Reverend Ball told the diocese he had been informed of the allegations about Dowling but had not seen any need to take action as there had not been a prosecution.
His identical twin, Peter Ball, the former Bishop of Lewes and Gloucester who boasted of links to royalty, was jailed for 32 months in October 2015 for offences dating back to the 1970s against 18 young men at his home in East Sussex.
His sentence came 22 years after the abuse first surfaced. He eventually admitted misconduct in a public office and two counts of indecent assault. The court heard how Peter Ball had convinced some of his victims to strip naked to pray and even suggested they submit to beatings between 1977 and 1992.
The first of his victims to come forward took his own life in 2012 after hearing Sussex Police had reopened the case.
There were fears Peter Ball may have taken the place of his twin, who was Bishop of Truro in the Nineties, and therefore duped congregations in other parts of the UK.
The Diocese of Truro was understood to be looking into the evidence that Peter Ball conducted services in Cornwall.
Last year the brothers decided they wanted to become Catholics so they could live in anonimity. Peter Ball asked to join the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton in Bristol and both said they wanted to switch faith from the Church of England so they could “live and worship in anonymity” within the Catholic Church.
https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/bishop-who-ignored-warnings-preacher-1608976
Former Bishop of Truro was Michael Ball, twin brother of convicted paedophile/friend of the royal family and Jimmy Savile – Bishop Peter Ball.
Jeremy Dowling
The Right Reverend Michael Ball – Bishop of Truro from 1990-97 – told the diocese he had been informed of the allegations but had not seen any need to take action as there had not been a prosecution.
His identical twin, former bishop Peter Ball, was jailed in 2015 for a string of indecent assaults on teenagers and young men.
A file found “in an unusual place” at the Bishop of Truro’s residence in 2013 was passed to police and led to Dowling’s prosecution.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-44240688
A RECENT service at Truro Cathedral paid tribute to the work of Jeremy Dowling, the Diocese of Truro’s Communications Officer, who steps down at the end of December after more than 25 years in post. He has lived in the Bude area for more than 40 years.
On a wet and windswept evening, a congregation made up from clergy and people from across the diocese enjoyed a service that included readings, hymns and a sermon given by the former Bishop of Truro, Bishop Bill Ind. Also present were the current Bishop of Truro, The Rt Rev Tim Thornton, the Dean of Truro, The Very Rev Dr Christopher Hardwick, both Archdeacons and Mr Martin Follett, the Diocesan Registrar.
During his sermon, Bishop Bill paid tribute not only to the work that Jeremy undertook as Communications Officer but also his very substantial other work for the Diocese including nearly 40 years as a Reader,
seventeen years as Chairman of the House of Laity of the Diocesan Synod, one of the first people to be made Lay Canons of the Cathedral, a member of the General Synod for 27 years, as well as sitting at one time or another on virtually every Board and Committee of the Diocese.
He said, “Jeremy’s media and broadcasting skills are second to none.”
His experience and expertise in the television broadcast area was particularly noted, especially the background work he was able to do which led to programmes such as the very successful and popular BBC series ’Seaside Parish’ featuring Boscastle and the surrounding parishes, which enjoyed weekly audiences if over three million, ’Island Parish’ featuring the Isles of Scilly and ’The Monastery.’
Summing up, Bishop Bill said: “He has been a critical friend, someone who has told me the truth as he sees it. He has made me and indeed others both laugh and think and for both these things and much else I remain profoundly grateful. The Diocese owes him an enormous amount and so indeed do I and a host of others.”
Jeremy Dowling has lived in the Bude area of North Cornwall for more than forty years, with thirty years spent in the parish of St Gennys, and he is Chair of Governors of Budehaven Community School.
In his thanks and response to Bishop Bill, Jeremy noted how the communications role had changed greatly with much more emphasis today on electronic media. He acknowledged with gratitude the work of the local press and media, recognising its essential vitality and the key role it played in championing issues which were important for the church and for society.
“We have enjoyed excellent relations with the westcountry media” he said “and it has been a privilege to work with local journalists and broadcasters.”
He concluded by saying: “In my view, the strength of the Church remains in the local community. There is a lot going on. And the thread which runs through most of the stories is undeniably positive. They chronicle a vigorous, interesting, dynamic, eccentric and imaginative life in the church in Cornwall. Long may it
continue.”
After refreshments, a large bouquet was presented by Bishop Tim to Daphne Dowling in recognition of her support for her husband, and Jeremy was presented with a substantial cheque from parishes and individuals in the Diocese
Former Bishop of Truro Michael Ball and his paedophile ex-bishop twin Peter want to become Catholics so they can live in anonymity
8 DEC 2017
Peter Ball, the former Bishop of Lewes and Gloucester who boasted of links to royalty, has asked to join the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton in Bristol, a spokesman for the Church confirmed.
His identical twin brother Michael Ball, who was Bishop of Truro from 1990 to 1997, also sent an email to friends telling them of the idea.
From the email…”The events of the last years and rightly or wrongly the battering by the Church have totally wearied and reduced us.
“We will probably be joining the Roman Catholic Church soon.
…Michael Ball’s complaint of taking a “battering” from the Church was “flippant” and it was “disgusting” the pair were acting as though they were the victims.
A spokesman for the Roman Catholic diocese of Arundel and Brighton said: “We confirm that Peter Ball has been in contact with the Roman Catholic diocese of Clifton, in which diocese he now lives, expressing an interest in becoming a member of the Catholic Church.
“This matter is subject to discussions between Clifton diocese and the statutory authorities, who are the lead with regards to Peter Ball’s risk management in the community.
Disgraced paedophile former bishop Peter Ball with close friend Prince Charles
Peter Ball’s sentence came 22 years after the abuse first surfaced. He eventually admitted misconduct in a public office and two counts of indecent assault.
The court heard how Peter Ball had convinced some of his victims to strip naked to pray and even suggested they submit to beatings between 1977 and 1992.
The first of his victims to come forward took his own life in 2012 after hearing Sussex Police had reopened the case.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey resigned as honorary assistant bishop in the Diocese of Oxford after the public inquiry into child sex abuse last year heard he delayed a “proper investigation” into Peter Ball’s crimes for two decades by failing to pass information to police.
There were fears Peter Ball may have taken the place of his twin, who was Bishop of Truro in the Nineties, and therefore duped congregations in other parts of the UK.
The Diocese of Truro was understood to be looking into the evidence that Peter Ball conducted services in Cornwall.
Now it has emerged the Archbishop of Canterbury’s headquarters received at least six letters from other alleged victims detailing “potentially criminal” and “totally inappropriate behaviour” by Peter Ball in the early 1990s but did not pass them on to police until years later.
“The Church appears to have resorted to staggering levels of deceit in order to prevent the true extent of Ball’s offending coming to light,” said Richard Scorer, a solicitor who is representing victims of Peter Ball.
Details of the letters, all sent to the Church between December 1992 and February 1993, reveal that Peter Ball encouraged victims to pray naked, perform sex acts in front of him and share his bed.
Anglican officials who reviewed the letters in 2009 suggested that, had such evidence been given to detectives in 1993, Peter Ball may have been convicted of serious sexual offences rather than merely cautioned.
But instead of being made public, the letters were kept in confidential files at Lambeth Palace.
It was not until 2012, after several internal inquiries, that the Church finally released documents to police.
An independent review is also currently under way into the way the Church of England responded to the case involving Peter Ball.
Prime Minister lauds accomplishments of Bude organisation as he presents Big Society Award
–
BIG SOCIETY: Pictured above, with Prime Minister David Cameron and North Cornwall MP Dan Rogerson, are Co-founder of Community Action Through Sport (CATS) and volunteer Denise Jane May, CATS trustee and volunteer Jeremy Dowling, CATS Project Development Manager Karen Hemmings, CATS Project Development Assistant Louise Anne Harris and CATS trustee and volunteer Sharon Caroline Marshall.
Ex Truro Diocese worker Jeremy Dowling sexually abused boys
5 June 2015
An ex-Diocese of Truro press officer has admitted sexually abusing boys over a period of more than 10 years.
Jeremy Dowling, 76, carried out the assaults on five children, aged between 12 and 15, from 1959 to 1971.
Truro Crown Court heard Dowling abused the boys at sporting events and in toilets while working as a teacher in Devon.
The Bishop of Truro described Dowling’s offences as “deeply shocking” and said his thoughts were with the victims.
Sentencing was adjourned until July 10 for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.
Dowling, of Church Path, Bude, retired from the Diocese of Truro in 2009 after 25 years of service.
‘Damaging impact’
He pleaded guilty to 13 counts of indecent assault on boys aged 12 to 15 and two counts of indecency with a child.
The court heard one assault was carried out on a boy at a cricket match. Others took place in an attic, in storage rooms at a sporting pavilion and in outside toilets.
The Right Reverend Tim Thornton, Bishop of Truro, said many people would have known Dowling as a reader at St Michael’s Church and St Genny’s Church in Bude and as a member of the Diocesan and General Synods.
Bishop Thornton said: “Offences like this will have a damaging and lasting impact on people’s lives.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-33025742
Former Cornwall preacher Jeremy Dowling ‘assaulted boy’
The assaults happened when Jeremy Dowling was a lay preacher at two churches in the Bude area of Cornwall, Truro Crown Court was told.
Mr Dowling met the boy when he was 10 through church activities and “took him under his wing”.
He has denied six counts of indecent assault on a child and two counts of gross indecency with a child.
The assaults happened in the 1970s before Mr Dowling became a press spokesman for the Diocese of Truro, the court heard.
‘Long time ago’
Jo Martin, prosecuting, said some of the assaults took place at Mr Dowling’s house after the boy had been invited for dinner and on one occasion he was taken to a church on the north coast.
She said Mr Dowling took him up a tower and showed him the view, then took him to a room and assaulted him.
The alleged victim did not tell anyone when he was a child but later, when he was married, told his wife about the assaults.
He said when his wife rang up Mr Dowling, accusing him of being a paedophile, Mr Dowling replied “that was a long time ago”.
He said he eventually went to the police after reading in news reports that Mr Dowling had admitted abusing five boys when he was a teacher at a private school in the 1960s.
Mr Dowling is currently serving a jail term for those offences.
Tributes paid as Bude man retires as diocesan communications officer after 25 years
–
A RECENT service at Truro Cathedral paid tribute to the work of Jeremy Dowling, the Diocese of Truro’s Communications Officer, who steps down at the end of December after more than 25 years in post. He has lived in the Bude area for more than 40 years.
On a wet and windswept evening, a congregation made up from clergy and people from across the diocese enjoyed a service that included readings, hymns and a sermon given by the former Bishop of Truro, Bishop Bill Ind. Also present were the current Bishop of Truro, The Rt Rev Tim Thornton, the Dean of Truro, The Very Rev Dr Christopher Hardwick, both Archdeacons and Mr Martin Follett, the Diocesan Registrar.
During his sermon, Bishop Bill paid tribute not only to the work that Jeremy undertook as Communications Officer but also his very substantial other work for the Diocese including nearly 40 years as a Reader,
seventeen years as Chairman of the House of Laity of the Diocesan Synod, one of the first people to be made Lay Canons of the Cathedral, a member of the General Synod for 27 years, as well as sitting at one time or another on virtually every Board and Committee of the Diocese.
He said, “Jeremy’s media and broadcasting skills are second to none.”
His experience and expertise in the television broadcast area was particularly noted, especially the background work he was able to do which led to programmes such as the very successful and popular BBC series ’Seaside Parish’ featuring Boscastle and the surrounding parishes, which enjoyed weekly audiences if over three million, ’Island Parish’ featuring the Isles of Scilly and ’The Monastery.’
Summing up, Bishop Bill said: “He has been a critical friend, someone who has told me the truth as he sees it. He has made me and indeed others both laugh and think and for both these things and much else I remain profoundly grateful. The Diocese owes him an enormous amount and so indeed do I and a host of others.”
Jeremy Dowling has lived in the Bude area of North Cornwall for more than forty years, with thirty years spent in the parish of St Gennys, and he is Chair of Governors of Budehaven Community School.
In his thanks and response to Bishop Bill, Jeremy noted how the communications role had changed greatly with much more emphasis today on electronic media. He acknowledged with gratitude the work of the local press and media, recognising its essential vitality and the key role it played in championing issues which were important for the church and for society.
“We have enjoyed excellent relations with the westcountry media” he said “and it has been a privilege to work with local journalists and broadcasters.”
He concluded by saying: “In my view, the strength of the Church remains in the local community. There is a lot going on. And the thread which runs through most of the stories is undeniably positive. They chronicle a vigorous, interesting, dynamic, eccentric and imaginative life in the church in Cornwall. Long may it
continue.”
After refreshments, a large bouquet was presented by Bishop Tim to Daphne Dowling in recognition of her support for her husband, and Jeremy was presented with a substantial cheque from parishes and individuals in the Diocese
Anonymous said…
a pal of mine was studying at cheltenham college a few doors along from fred west, he said everyone knew
about the sex parties, and when the music was going he could not sleep and would watch out the window, he saw
social workers police all sorts going in, homosexual thursdays was packed out, taxis would bring young boys, from whre he could never find out
bobby dobson
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goodnessandharmony 
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