Documentary record Bound by Fear
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Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Other or denomination not established Chichester and Gloucester, England, United Kingdom · 2015

Bishop Peter Ball: convicted of abusing young men who sought spiritual direction

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

Church of England bishop

Organization

Church of England

Spiritual nexus

The victims were young men who came to Ball, as a bishop, for spiritual direction and discernment of a religious vocation — placing them under his direct pastoral and ecclesiastical authority, which he used to obtain access.

  • Pastoral or clerical authority
  • Institutional obedience or isolation

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. 2015-10-07 · guilty plea and sentence; subsequent statutory inquiry

    Crown Court, England; IICSA investigation. Former Bishop of Lewes and Gloucester Peter Ball pleaded guilty in 2015 to misconduct in public office and indecent assaults spanning decades against young men who came to him for spiritual guidance. IICSA's dedicated investigation found senior Church figures, including a former Archbishop of Canterbury, had protected him for years despite known allegations.

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • spiritual direction and vocational discernment used to obtain access
  • institutional protection by senior church figures

Primary record

Sources

official statutory inquiry report inquiry report IICSA, 'The Anglican Church: Chichester/Peter Ball Investigation Report' (May 2018).

The statutory inquiry records Ball's convictions and the Church hierarchy's protection of him despite known allegations.

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