A NEW grievance against David Tudor, who last 12 months was prohibited from ministry for all times, has been upheld by a disciplinary tribunal, it was announced on Monday.
A press release on the diocese of Southwark’s website said that the tribunal related to the “serious sexual abuse of a 15-year-old” within the Nineteen Eighties, when he was a priest in Surrey.
The Bishop of Southwark, the Rt Revd Christopher Chessun, said: “The behaviours which were considered by this tribunal hearing — and others earlier admitted by David Tudor — exhibit a serious and damaging breach of his pastoral and skilled obligations and were wholly incompatible along with his status as a priest.”
Safeguarding processes within the Nineteen Eighties and ’90s were “neither sufficiently robust nor survivor-focused”, he said, and “left open” the likelihood that harm could be caused.
“We deeply regret this and we give thanks that things have modified dramatically, each in our Church and in wider society. I’m enormously grateful, too, for individuals who have had the courage to share their experiences and have interaction with this long and difficult process.”
In 1989, Mr Tudor was banned for five years for sexual misconduct, but returned to ministry within the diocese of Southwark in 1993. He subsequently moved to the diocese of Chelmsford, where, from 2008 — the 12 months that he became an area dean — he was subject to safeguarding restrictions on his interactions with children (News, 15 December 2024).
He was suspended again in 2019, while police investigated further allegations regarding non-recent abuse, but no charges were brought. In a subsequent case under the Clergy Discipline Measure, nonetheless, he was prohibited from ministry for all times (News, 15 November).
The Archbishop of York, who was Bishop of Chelmsford from 2010 to 2020, resisted calls to resign over the case, saying that he had been prevented from acting until recent allegations got here to light in 2019 (News, 7 February).
Archbishop Cottrell accepted responsibility for Mr Tudor’s remaining an area dean, despite the concerns about him (News, 23 December 2024)
The current Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, thanking the girl who brought the grievance, said that that she had been grateful for meeting together with her this 12 months.
“She has shown great courage in coming forward to report David Tudor’s abuse and I’m profoundly sorry for the harm he has caused her and the opposite survivors of the abuse he perpetrated,” Dr Francis-Dehqani said in a press release, also thanking others for coming forward.
“There are essential lessons that have to be learned about how the Church of England handled the David Tudor case,” she said.
A safeguarding review of the handling of Mr Tudor’s case (News, 3 April) is predicted to deliver its findings in early 2026. The initial deadline has been prolonged from November, owing to “recent police information”, a press release issued on Monday from Church House, Westminster, says.
