Over £7.7million has been paid out to victims of abuse within the Jesus Army (JA) - a now-defunct religious cult, following the Redress Scheme’s final report, which highlights “widespread and systematic” failures by the organisation to address abuse allegations.

The scheme, established to compensate survivors of the Jesus Fellowship Church, processed 890 applications from 601 individuals before its closure in December 2023.

The report identifies 539 alleged abusers, with the Jesus Fellowship Community Trust acknowledging responsibility for 264, including 61 per cent who were former church leaders.

The findings also reveal that one in six children were estimated to have been sexually abused within the community.

Just over £7.761 million has been paid directly to applicants of the scheme as compensation, covering incidents of abuse from the 1970s to the 2010s.

Before launching the Redress Scheme, trustees were aware of 291 allegations of abuse involving 125 individuals from various levels of the Jesus Fellowship Church.

Additionally, the report has revealed 31 incidents of abuse against children and adults perpetrated by JFC founder Noel Stanton, who led the organisation until his death in 2009.

To date, approximately 12 former members of the Jesus Fellowship Church have been convicted for indecent assaults and other offences.

“Harm and abuse in the Jesus Fellowship were not limited to a handful of leaders, a particular period of time, or geographical locations,” the report’s foreword reads. “It was widespread and systemic.”

“The redress scheme found significant failures in the handling of abuse allegations and of alleged perpetrators in community, including Jesus Fellowship leaders’ lack of care and support for victims and survivors.”

The Trust has thanked victims for their bravery in coming forward to ensure the Jesus Fellowship “confronts its failures.”