The son of the late John Smyth—a barrister named the Church of England’s “most prolific abuser”—has opened up about the abuse he endured at the hands of his father.
In a Channel 4 interview, PJ Smyth, himself a pastor based in the US, described his father as a “master manipulator” whose control and violence shaped much of his early life.
The Makin Review revealed that John Smyth abused as many as 130 boys and young men he met through private schools and Christian summer camps. It also criticised Church of England leaders, including Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, for failing to report Smyth’s abuse to the police in 2013. The review contributed to Archbishop Welby’s recent resignation, a decision PJ said he “respects".
Recalling his childhood, PJ described how his “wrongdoings” were recorded in a black book, with each entry resulting in brutal beatings in the garden shed.
“He had a selection of canes... he didn’t hold back,” PJ said, adding that the most severe incident involved 36 lashes—six for each poor school report. After the beatings, PJ said his mother, Josephine, would treat his wounds with creams and bandages. PJ described her as “at the epicentre of this magnetic field of my father's control" and "the closest victim to him for all her life".
PJ said the abuse stopped when he was 11 after whistleblowers reported his father’s actions, for which he is “very grateful".
At this point, the Smyth family moved to Zimbabwe in what John had framed as a “call from God” to missionary work.
"That was his big lie, and I swallowed it hook, line, and sinker,” PJ said.
PJ expressed anger and disappointment at the Church of England’s failure to act, saying that “countless lives could have been saved".
He also reflected on his own struggle to confront the truth about his father, explaining that denial and fear kept him under his father’s influence.
“The shed broke me to his will -it was a cocktail of physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual abuse,” he said.
As an adult, PJ recalled a shocking incident when his father visited him in hospital while he was battling cancer.
John Smyth claimed PJ’s illness was punishment for “dishonouring” him and that he would recover if he repented. PJ admitted he lacked the strength to reject his father’s manipulation at the time but now regrets not standing up to him.
After previously describing his father’s behaviour as “excessive physical discipline”, PJ apologised for his mistake and stepped down from ministry while the extent of his knowledge of his father’s abuse was investigated.
Reflecting on those remarks, he said he now “shudders” at the words, acknowledging that he should have used the words "crime" and "torture".
PJ Smyth continues to process the trauma of his father’s actions, expressing regret for not doing more to protect others, including his wife and sisters. “I excused what he did, feared him, and wanted to stay in his good books. I couldn’t admit that my father was a monster.”
