The Church of England covered up the actions of its worst and most brutal serial abuser, who subjected his victims to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks, an independent review has concluded.
John Smyth, a powerful and charismatic barrister, sadistically abused private schoolboys who attended evangelical Christian holiday camps in the late 1970s and early 80s. When the abuse was discovered, Smyth was allowed to move abroad with the full knowledge of church officials, where he continued to act with impunity.
Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, volunteered at the holiday camps in the 1970s but has denied any knowledge of concerns about Smyth. However, the report says this was “unlikely”.
It adds: “[Welby] may not have known of the extreme seriousness of the abuse, but it is most probable that he would have had at least a level of knowledge that John Smyth was of some concern … It is not possible to establish whether Welby knew of the severity of the abuses in the UK prior to 2013.”
In 2013, a victim reported abuse by Smyth to the C of E. Senior figures in the church, including Welby, were made aware of the allegations.
In a personal statement, Welby said he had “no idea or suspicion of this abuse before 2013. Nevertheless the review is clear that I personally failed to ensure that after disclosure in 2013 the awful tragedy was energetically investigated.”
He apologised “not only for my own failures and omissions but for the wickedness, concealment and abuse by the church more widely, as set out in the report”.
The review, led by Keith Makin and commissioned in 2019, said: “John Smyth was an appalling abuser of children and young men. His abuse was prolific, brutal and horrific. His victims were subjected to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks. The impact of that abuse is impossible to overstate and has permanently marked the lives of his victims.”
Smyth, who died in 2018, was chair of the Iwerne Trust, which funded the Christian camps in Dorset. A secret review carried out by the trust in 1982 described “horrific” beatings of teenage boys, mostly carried out in Smyth’s shed at his Winchester home.
One of his victims was Andrew Watson, now the bishop of Guildford, who said he was subjected to a “violent, excruciating and shocking” beating and that a friend of his had tried to kill themself before an alleged beating.
The recipients of the 1982 review “participated in an active cover-up to prevent that report and its findings – including crimes that had been committed – coming to light”, said the Makin report, published on Thursday.
Winchester college, one of the UK’s leading private schools, whose pupils were among the alleged victims, was informed of the allegations but neither the college nor the trust reported Smyth to the police. Instead, the headteacher asked Smyth never again to enter the college or contact its pupils.
Smyth moved to Zimbabwe, where in 1992 he faced charges of killing a 16-year-old boy who was found dead in a swimming pool at a holiday camp in 1992. The case was dismissed and he later moved to Cape Town.
From July 2013, “the Church of England knew at the highest level about the abuse that took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s. John Smyth should have been properly and effectively reported to the police in the UK and to relevant authorities in South Africa,” the report said.
It identified several “thematic concerns”, including abuse of positions of trust and power, excessive deference to senior clergy, failures of leadership and a cover-up over an extended period.
Makin said: “Many of the victims who took the brave decision to speak to us about what they experienced have carried this abuse silently for more than 40 years.
“Despite the efforts of some individuals to bring the abuse to the attention of authorities, the responses by the Church of England and others were wholly ineffective and amounted to a cover-up.
“This has been a long process but a necessary one to uncover the extent of John Smyth’s despicable behaviour and how the church reacted to it.”
Welby said: “The pain experienced by the victims in this case is unimaginable. They have lived with the trauma inflicted by Smyth’s horrendous abuse for more than 40 years.”
In a statement, Joanne Grenfell, the C of E’s lead safeguarding bishop, and Alexander Kubeyinje, its national director of safeguarding, said: “We are deeply sorry for the horrific abuse inflicted by the late John Smyth and its lifelong effects, already spanning more than 40 years.
“The review concludes that Smyth is arguably the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the C of E. We know that no words can undo the damage done to people’s lives both by him and by the failure of individuals in the church and other institutions to respond well.
“We highlight the comment in the review from a deceased cleric (David Fletcher) who was aware in the 1980s, along with others, of the extent of the abuse: ‘I thought it would do the work of God immense damage if this were public.’
“We are appalled that any clergy person could believe that covering up abuse was justified in the name of the gospel … There is never a place for covering up abuse.”
