The most prolific abuser of boys and young men to be associated with the Church of England might have been stopped and brought to justice had the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby formally reported it to police a decade ago, a review has concluded.
Smyth died aged 75 in Cape Town in 2018 while under investigation by Hampshire Police, and never faced trial for the abuse, despite the fact his “appalling” actions had been identified in the 1980s.
The abuse is believed to have involved up to 130 boys and young men in the UK and Africa, with Smyth subjecting his victims to traumatic attacks which caused lasting psychological harm.
Welby “could and should” have gone to the police when he became aware of the allegations in 2013, the report said, but because he was never fully exposed, Smyth was able to continue the abuse and it is not known at what point it stopped.
Welby Considered Resigning
Welby said he had “no idea or suspicion of this abuse” before 2013 but acknowledged the review had found that after its wider exposure that year he had “personally failed to ensure” it was investigated.
He knew Smyth because of his attendance at Iwerne Christian camps in the 1970s, but the review said there was no evidence that Welby had “maintained any significant contact” with the barrister in later years.
Speaking to “Channel 4 News” on Thursday, Welby said he had considered resigning over the matter, saying that nothing over the last 10 years has been as “horrible” for him as dealing with numerous abuse cases.
“I have given it [resigning] a lot of thought and have taken advice as recently as this morning from senior colleagues, and no, I am not going to resign,” he said.
The report found that while Welby knew Smyth and had a reason “to be concerned” about him, this was not the same as suspecting he had committed severe abuses, and concluded it was “not possible to establish” whether Welby knew of the severity of the abuses in the UK before 2013.
‘Personal Failure’
It said, “Had that been done, on the balance of probabilities” Smyth could have been brought to justice “at a much earlier point” than the Hampshire Police investigation in early 2017.It added, “Opportunities to establish whether he continued to pose an abusive threat in South Africa were missed because of these inactions by senior church officers.”
Welby said in a statement that he was “deeply sorry that this abuse happened” and “sorry that concealment by many people who were fully aware of the abuse over many years meant that John Smyth was able to abuse overseas and died before he ever faced justice.”
He condemned Smyth having “manipulated Christian truth to justify his evil acts, whilst exploiting and abusing the power entrusted to him,” and added that he had “no idea or suspicion of this abuse before 2013.”
He said, “Nevertheless the review is clear that I personally failed to ensure that after disclosure in 2013 the awful tragedy was energetically investigated.”
Welby added that since 2013, the way in which the Church of England engages with abuse victims has changed “beyond recognition,” with “checks and balances” introduced to try and ensure such a case could not happen again.
Welby also apologised for failing to meet victims sooner, with the review finding that “promises“ by the archbishop to meet with victims were not ”followed through in any meaningfully helpful period of time.”
The review, commissioned a year after Smyth’s death by the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England, found that an argument had been made that the abuses were “examples of over-enthusiastic corporal punishment.”
But the report said: “The conclusion of the review is that he committed criminal acts of gross abuse.
“Further abuse could and should have been prevented. John Smyth’s victims were not sufficiently supported by the church and their views on escalating his abuse to the police and other authorities were not sought.”
Smyth was able to move to Zimbabwe and South Africa, while “church officers knew of the abuse and failed to take the steps necessary to prevent further abuse occurring.”
While it is known that 30 boys and young men were physically and psychologically abused in the UK, and about 85 boys and young men were physically abused in African countries, including Zimbabwe, the total “likely runs much higher,” the report found.
‘Cover-Up’
Keith Makin, who led the independent review, said, “Despite the efforts of some individuals to bring the abuse to the attention of authorities, the responses by the Church of England and others were wholly ineffective and amounted to a cover-up.”The report described the failure to report Smyth in 2013 as having “represented a further missed opportunity to bring him to justice and may have resulted in an ongoing and avoidable safeguarding threat” in the years before his death in 2018.
In a joint statement, the Church of England’s lead safeguarding bishop, Joanne Grenfell, and the national director of safeguarding, Alexander Kubeyinje, said they are “deeply sorry for the horrific abuse” and its “lifelong effects.”
They added, “We know that no words can undo the damage done to people’s lives both by him and by the failure of individuals in the church and other institutions to respond well.”
They welcomed the report’s 27 recommendations and said they would “consider them now in detail,” adding that work is already underway to implement some of the measures.
They added: “Every member of the church is responsible for a culture in which victims are heard, responded to well, and put first: there is never a place for covering up abuse.”
Among the review’s recommendations are that the church establishes international safeguarding procedures with other Anglican communion institutions where allegations are made against someone in a position of trust who relocates overseas, and ensuring safeguarding measures are at the centre of every church officer’s professional responsibilities.
