Jeremy Dowling was jailed in 2015 over abuse carried out in the 1960s and 70sFour former Church of England bishops failed to act over sexual abuse carried out by a former member of the church’s ruling body, the General Synod, in a catalogue of missed opportunities, a review has found. The review examined the church’s response to disclosures of abuse against Jeremy Dowling, who was jailed in 2015 for indecently assaulting boys while a teacher at a school in Cornwall in the 1960s and 70s. A review by the diocese published on Friday found that four bishops were told about the abuse but took no action. The priest referred to the 1972 allegations of sexual abuse and to Dowling’s “sadistic behaviour”. It was with a sense of disappointment, sorrow and shame that we read of a failure to act and make any independent investigation of Jeremy Dowling after the initial allegations were made.”

Source: The Guardian May 25, 2018 15:11 UTC