The Church of England is under renewed scrutiny after a recent tribunal upheld another child sexual abuse complaint against former priest, Barbadian David Tudor.
The tribunal confirmed that Tudor abused a 15-year-old girl in Surrey during the 1980s, adding to a case that has lasted for decades.
The Southwark diocesan tribunal upheld this new complaint after Tudor had already been banned from ministry for life in October 2024. At that time, he admitted to abusing two girls between 1982 and 1989.
However, the case highlighted broader problems, showing how failures in the church allowed Tudor to operate after senior leaders became aware of allegations against him.
In 1988, he was convicted of indecently assaulting three girls, but that conviction was later overturned for technical reasons. The church banned him at the time, but only for a short period. Within five years, he returned to ministry and eventually became a rector, area dean and honorary canon.
This order was issued less than two years after Tudor was first banned for other sexual offences in October 2024. The Southwark Bishop’s Disciplinary Tribunal called Tudor’s actions “egregious and of the utmost seriousness”, and pointed to a “deliberate and damaging failure to comply with the high standards of Christian behaviour”.
The tribunal found that the priest had sex with a girl, known as ‘Z’, when she was 15. After she spoke out, she received hate mail and tried to take her own life.
‘Z’ attended St Bede’s school in Redhill, Surrey, where Tudor was the chaplain. She went to him for guidance, but instead, he groomed and abused her for six months. She told friends and reported the abuse to the Area Bishop of Croydon, Sir Wilfred Wood, and the police became involved in 1987.
Tudor was charged and tried in 1988. He admitted to having sex with ‘Z’ when she was 16 but denied it happened when she was 15. He was acquitted of the charge involving her at 15, but was suspended for five years for misconduct.
Major failures
In December 2024, a BBC investigation featured an interview with ‘Z’ about her abuse by Tudor. It revealed major failures in how the church handled Tudor’s case, showing that he stayed in ministry despite his past misconduct. Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, then Bishop of Chelmsford, allowed Tudor to remain in his role for nine years and called him a “Rolls Royce priest”.
In 2023, ‘Z’ was shocked to learn that Tudor had been working in ministry in Canvey Island, Essex, for many years. The tribunal also noted that after the 1980s trial, she received hate mail at home, which forced her family to move.
Bishop of Southwark, Rev. Christopher Chessun, thanked ‘Z’ for her courage in coming forward and apologised for the pain she suffered. The church is still working with independent assessors to review its safeguarding practices.
When Tudor was made an honorary canon in 2015, senior leaders, including the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, were aware of a safeguarding agreement that prevented Tudor from being alone with children or entering schools. They also knew he had paid compensation to a victim. Despite this, Tudor was promoted to a senior role.
Last year, BBC reporting brought these failures to light and led to major consequences. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey resigned after it was revealed that he had supported Tudor earlier in his career.
The Church of England’s planned safeguarding review, intended to answer these questions, has been delayed until early next year due to “new police information”.
Sir Stephen Males, president of tribunals, has decided that while the Archbishop of York made “some mistakes” in how he handled the Tudor case, there was not enough reason to call for a disciplinary tribunal to review his actions. (Tyrone Roach)
