The criminal conviction of Peter Ball, successively Bishop of Lewes (1977 to 1992) and Bishop of Gloucester (1992 to 1993). A 19 year old man, Neil Todd, first disclosed abuse in 1992; Ball accepted a police caution for gross indecency in 1993 and resigned as Bishop of Gloucester, despite the Crown Prosecution Service having assessed sufficient evidence to prosecute at the time, an assessment the CPS itself later acknowledged was wrong. Sussex Police reopened the case in May 2012 after a church review passed them historic files. Ball pleaded guilty on 8 September 2015 to two counts of indecent assault and one count of misconduct in public office, admitting the abuse of 18 young men between 1977 and 1992; Mr Justice Wilkie sentenced him at the Central Criminal Court on 7 October 2015 to 32 months in prison. He was released on licence in February 2017 and died on 21 June 2019.
Facts
Documented Findings
Accused DocumentedPeter Ball alone; no co-accused is named in any source found for this case. Victim EstimateBall's own guilty plea admitted the abuse of 18 young men over 1977 to 1992; a floor rather than a full count, since the Crown Prosecution Service itself said the evidence supported further allegations that were never charged. Key FindingSourced to the subject's own accountBall pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault and one count of misconduct in public office, admitting the abuse of 18 young men over 1977 to 1992. Mr Justice Wilkie sentenced him to 32 months for the misconduct count and 15 months for the indecent assaults, concurrent. The case turned on a 1993 police caution, accepted instead of prosecution despite what the CPS itself later called sufficient evidence, that allowed Ball to continue in ministry for almost two more decades before Sussex Police reopened the investigation in 2012. 2 Inquiry Profile
Kind of Record JurisdictionEngland (Central Criminal Court, London; offending across the Dioceses of Lewes and Gloucester; investigated by Sussex Police) 1 Commissioned ByCentral Criminal Court (the Old Bailey), Sussex Police investigation, Crown Prosecution Service 1 Publication Year Period Covered, From Cross-Tradition Connections
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