Archbishop ‘regrets’ the handling of a sexual abuse complaint against a pedophile pastor

Justin Welby was the Dean of Liverpool at the time he was made aware of the pedophile pastor’s past

The Archbishop of Canterbury has said he would have handled a sexual abuse case “differently” if he had known the full extent of it. Justin Welby admitted convicted pedophile John Roberts, formerly of Cherry Vale Woltonto continue working at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral despite claims he knew of the 89-year-old’s ailing past.

Canon Roberts ‘used God to hide the monster that he is’ while in the 1970s he abused the power and authority of his position to commit sexual abuse while serving at St. Peter’s Church in Woolton. He was fined £500 for indecently assaulting a boy in 1989, a conviction that it has since emerged the Diocese of Liverpool was aware of.

Instead of being removed from office over the 1989 case, Roberts, a married father of three, was allowed to return to work and was eventually promoted to Canon. You can read the full extent of Roberts’ crimes here.

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The pastor was later jailed in December 2020 for sex crimes against three other people, one of whom allegedly told Mr Welby about what happened in the 2010s, and was further convicted in 2024 for sex crimes against another child, increasing his prison sentence to a total of nine years. The later conviction relates to sexual abuse of a boy between the ages of 10 and 13 in the 1970s.

Mr Welby, then Dean of Liverpool, dismissed the claims of one of Roberts’ victims in 2011 as he believed it was ‘one man’s word against another’. staff.

Rather than informing police, Mr Welby urged Roberts not to “meet people alone at home” and said he needed to be “particularly careful because of his history”.

Lambeth Palace, the official residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury in London, told the ECHO: “The attacks carried out by John Roberts were a terrible breach of trust and damaged the lives of his victims and survivors. The Church must always be accountable and learn lessons from the handling of these cases.

“The Archbishop publicly apologized to abuse survivors at the Church’s IICSA hearing – and he repeated this apology during the trial of John Roberts. Although he followed the cathedral process at the time, he regrets dealing with the specific complaint when he was Dean of Liverpool.

“As he explained at the IICSA hearing, the complainant threatened several members of the Cathedral staff, which affected his judgment and actions. He has apologized for his response and has said publicly that if he had known the full details of John Roberts’ 1989 conviction, he would have handled it differently. At no point did he conceal any information.

“Following the conviction of John Roberts in December 2020, the National Safeguarding Team, following guidance from the House of Bishops, investigated the actions of Justin Welby in relation to this case while he was Dean of Liverpool.

“After reviewing all relevant information, it was concluded that the matter under investigation, including the actions of Justin Welby, had been referred to the relevant authorities and no further action was therefore considered necessary.

“Justin Welby cooperated fully with the National Safeguarding Team throughout this process, as well as with the police investigation. The Diocese of Liverpool also carried out a lessons learned review into the John Roberts case.”

During Roberts’ trial, Mr Welby claimed he reported the initial allegation to a safeguarding adviser. However, he said he had not recommended any disciplinary action and believed it was “one man’s word against another”.

The Diocese of Liverpool Also attached to the ECHO that the issue occurred before many of the current staff were based at the cathedral and therefore could not comment directly. However, a spokesperson added: “We have worked hard, and continue to work hard, to improve security at Liverpool Cathedral and churches within the diocese. If anyone is affected by this, we urge them to report any concerns they may have, which will be thoroughly investigated.”

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Roberts’ incident returned to public attention in recent weeks after Mr Welby announced he would resign from his position after an investigation found the 68-year-old “could and should have reported” another prolific child abuser, John Smyth. .

The independent Makin Review concluded that lawyer John Smyth could have been brought to justice if the archbishop had formally warned authorities in 2013. It said Mr Welby had not followed up closely enough on reports of Smyth’s ‘abhorrent’ abuse of more than 100 boys and young men. .

Despite the review being published on Thursday, November 7, the Archbishop was still allowed to preach Liverpool Cathedral a few days later for a memorial Sunday service.