Archbishop of York twice reappointed priest in sexual abuse case, report says
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Stephen Cottrell admits situation ‘could have been handled differently’ as pressure mounts over David Tudor scandal. The archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, has come under increased pressure after reports that he twice reappointed a priest at the heart of a sexual abuse case.
A BBC investigation found Cottrell renewed David Tudor’s contract as area dean in Essex on two occasions while Cottrell was bishop of Chelmsford. Tudor had previously been barred from ministry for five years for having sex with a 16-year-old girl who was a pupil at a school where he was chaplain. He paid her compensation, and he was banned from being alone with children.
Cottrell admitted that things “could have been handled differently”. The scandal is the second high-profile crisis to envelop the Church of England in recent months. The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, announced his resignation in November in the wake of the Makin report, which found Welby could have brought the serial abuser John Smyth to justice if he had reported him to police in 2013.
Cottrell will take over as the church’s most senior clergyman when Welby steps down next month. A spokesperson for Cottrell said: “Even though David Tudor was already area dean when Stephen Cottrell arrived in the diocese in 2010, as the then diocesan bishop of Chelmsford he accepts responsibility for David Tudor remaining as area dean.
“On reflection, he acknowledges this could have been handled differently, and regrets that it wasn’t, but his focus throughout his time as bishop of Chelmsford was, with the help of safeguarding professionals, to understand, assess and manage the risk of David Tudor.
