The priest who abused Giles was moved from ‘place to place’ by the church to protect the institution
All names and identifying details have been changed.
Participants have given us permission to share their experiences.
Giles attended a religious boarding school. He was a very good singer and a member of the choir. Giles described himself as a typical ‘cute little choir boy’.
The man who abused him, Arthur, was not a member of the teaching staff but a visiting musician associated with the school.
Arthur began inviting Giles to come to his room and he used to sing, while Arthur played the piano. Giles describes how at first Arthur had ‘non-sexual’ contact with him, but this became more intimate over the course of one or two visits, the contact got more intimate and later, Arthur would make Giles perform sex acts on him.
The abuse happened regularly over three or four years. Arthur would send a written summons when he wanted Giles to go to his room. The abuse stopped one day, and Giles cannot recall why, or whether it was because Arthur left. No one else ever knew.
In later life, Giles relates that he had a major breakdown and received psychiatric treatment. He says the care he received was good. He had bottled everything up for years but felt more at peace.
He decided to contact the local church safeguarding officer, who advised him that they were participating in a police investigation police involving Arthur. Giles agreed to be interviewed by the police.
He believes several people had made accusations about abuse at the school over the years. After he made a statement, a number of other victims and survivors came forward and did the same.
Arthur committed suicide. Giles says he feels very sorry about this, but he knows what Arthur did to him and other victims and survivors.
Giles said that one of the saddest events that he experienced was a visit from a safeguarding officer. The safeguarding officer was aware of Gile’s mental health background but proceeded to tell Giles that they held a duty of care to both Giles and Arthur.
At the conclusion of the meeting the safeguarding officer advised Giles that he should think about getting a lawyer in the event that Arthur wanted to sue him for defamation of character. This greatly concerned Giles, but the police assured him that he should not worry.
After this event, Giles wrote to the safeguarding officer and the archbishop asking for a meeting. He received a response, copied to the church’s lawyer, saying he should ‘put the accusations in writing’ and ‘bring to your meeting the correct people’.
Giles feels that this response showed no compassion or Christian care. He says the police were able to access Arthur's personnel file, which showed clearly that the church knew what was going on. Arthur had been moved from place to place and Giles believes this was the diocese’s solution to his abusive behaviour.
He adds that he does not blame priests in general for what happened. He thinks Arthur was a paedophile who happened to be a priest, rather than being a paedophile because he was a priest.
Giles wants to make sure that this never happens again to anyone. He feels that there is something wrong with an institution that wants to protect itself more than it wants to show love and compassion.