je-suis-concerned

I'm concerned by the lack of leadership in the church on this. They seem hopeless. According to the Bishop no victims in ED. Based on his handling so far I have no confidence in that statement. How does he know?

Peckhamside 1) The diocese celebrated his 'life as a vicar'.... This is is a paedophile masquerading as a vicar. Totally nuts given what they knew. Seriously. Who was advising them? 2) The story is only out because of the press. Otherwise they'd still be covering up and presumably pretending he was a saint. My guess is they knew the story was about to break so tried to clumsily brush it under the banner of 'safeguarding' without telling people what he'd actually done. 3) Not sure what your point is on high profile. The police have been slow in dealing with the info. But I hope you aren't suggesting he has been victimised over lower profile perverts? There are many countries involved in this investigation so can't know for sure if they've only targeted 'high profile' only. 4) He was dead. Case closes at this point. They could have mentioned any of this from November 21st when he died. Seriously.... why are people trying to avoid the issue?

double post correction.

Loz - the police sat on this for almost 2 years. That isn't efficient. The church had a memorial service to celebrate his life 2 weeks ago. Are you suggesting that it was the best thing to do given they were aware of the circumstances surrounding him? They also left a tabloid to break the story to us all. It's clueless, misguided and a patronising way to treat people. I'm surprised it needs spelling out. Sometimes before regrouping is an option, you have to allow for peoples anger.

You mentioned the pitch forks first.... and now you are jamming it down my throat because i felt frustrated by an miscomprehension of my points. Putting that aside.... I want the institution of the CoE to be more accountable about this. It's been handled badly and many people have been hurt (directly or indirectly) by this man or by the way it has been dealt with. I feel embarrassed to discover via a tabloid that a man, who has been allowed into my family home and near my kids, had a hidden and abhorrent side to his life. His legacy needs dealing with in a holistic way and people should be allowed to show their pain and discomfort with this subject without fear of being branded or bullied. Nothing has been done to help the community re-group. Everything has been dealt with in a damage limiting way for the benefit of the CoE's reputation. (which has backfired). Is that so shocking?

Ack... more diversion... pitchforks etc... and public intimidation by bullying people into silence by branding them as vigilantes.... It was the police that arrested him and the CoE that suspended him. Not me or any medieval pseudo-vigilantes group with pitch forks. Attitudes like this are exactly why this sort of thing goes unnoticed for years and partly why rotherham council are in the predicament they are in.

Loz... Are you just trying to wind people up or divert away from the issue? You seem in complete denial and show a lack of comprehension of the moral issues up for discussion. Quite worrying that people continue to brush this under the carpet. Pretending it didn't happen and turning blind eyes can only put more kids at risk. Look at Rotherham council. Even the Bishop acknowledges the mess in the letter. He committed at crime at the point he viewed these films..... it doesn't need a legal system to prove this. He was caught with the evidence and the evidence was enough for the diocese to ask that he leaves the vicarage and to also seek out any victims for redress. Pitchforks and waving torches may have been appropriate in this case. The police don't arrest unless there is substantial evidence in these cases. It is a little strange how you seem comfortable with vicars that view abusive pictures of children in our community.

Getting back on topic.... A letter from the Bishop about his management of 'safeguarding-gate'.

More non Christian reporting.... http://www.dover-express.co.uk/Police-slammed-paedo-vicar-threw-Dover-cliffs/story-25956711-detail/story.html

By Loobylou's logic, Jimmy Savile is also innocent. I'm amazed by the way this vicar has blinded his congregation and how they are still defending him.

He certainly wasn't practising what he preached. I can't understand why people feel they still need to protect him.

Jimmy Savile also did much of good in the community. These people suck in those around them. We are all victims.