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UK News

Bishop's letter to abuse victim labelled "a joke"

by Aaron James

The woman was giving evidence at Woolwich Crown Court in the trial of Timothy Storey, a former youth pastor in London, who is accused of raping her, another woman, and sexually grooming a teenager online.

Timothy Storey denies all the charges.

The victim, who is now 23, has said Rt Revd Richard Chartres sent her a letter in 2010 over Mr Storey's alleged actions, which said he would pray for her and remove Mr Storey from theological college.

She told the court: "I thought at the time, 'That's a joke. That's not a consequence, that's normal. Vicars should not do this. What else are you going to do?'

"At the end of the letter it said, 'I will pray for you at the end of this week.' I thought it was a joke. After that I never heard anything."

She also said that when she reported Mr Storey's alleged actions at a Crusader camp in 2009, she had to write her statement "behind a tree", saying: "I thought I would have the opportunity to talk to someone and I never got it."

A spokesperson for the Diocese of London said:

"The Diocese of London first received complaints regarding Timothy Storey's alleged conduct in early 2009.

At the time he was training as a Church of England ordinand at Wycliffe Hall. The Diocese's Child Protection Adviser at the time looked into the allegations and spoke with the Metropolitan Police Westminster Child Protection Team, raising concerns that his actions were an offence under the 2003 Sexual Offences Act.

"Whilst the Diocese's Child Protection Adviser said police did not believe any criminal act had been committed, the Diocese nevertheless took the decision to withdraw him from ordination training. The Diocese subsequently submitted a report to the Independent Safeguarding Authority (now known as the Disclosure and Barring Service).

Within the submission, the Diocese stipulated that it deemed Timothy Storey's behaviour to pose a risk to those under the age of 18 and included witness statements that the Diocese gathered from a number of individuals who had made allegations against Mr Storey.

The National Church of England was also notified, to prevent him from applying for ordination elsewhere in the country."

The trial continues.

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