Ealing Abbey Public Hearing 4-8 February 2019

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Summary for the Ealing Abbey public hearing 4-8 February 2019 The monastery at Ealing was founded in 1897 from Downside Abbey, originally as a parish in the Archdiocese of Westminster. St Benedict’s School was founded in 1902, initially called the Ealing Priory School. Pupils at St Benedict’s School have made complaints of sexual abuse against teachers and monks since the 1980s. There have been a number of convictions. In particular: ● David Pearce, former headmaster of the Junior School, whose last offence occurred after a civil judgment had been made against him, and despite him being subject to restrictions imposed by the Abbot. ● Laurence Soper, former head of the middle school and later Abbot of Ealing Abbey, who is currently serving an 18-year prison sentence for rape and other sexual offences against 10 pupils. In 2011, an independent review conducted by Lord Carlile found that the monastic community had failed to deal with behaviour that put children at risk, and that the governance of the school lacked “independence, transparency, accountability and diversity, and is drawn from too narrow a group of people”. One of Lord Carlile’s conclusions was that “There should be a separate educational charity established for St Benedict’s school. It should reflect the current mission statement, importantly the provision of education founded on Benedictine principles.” Some of the cases this hearing will examine include: ● David Pearce (convicted 2009) ● Laurence Soper (convicted 2017) ● John Maestri (convictions 2003, 2005, 2009) ● Stephen Skelton (convicted 2011) Some of the issues that this hearing will examine include: ● What was known about allegations of child sexual abuse and what done about it? ● How were some allegations handled by the Metropolitan Police, and why on occasion did the Crown Prosecution Service consider that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute? ● What steps were taken by other external agencies? ● Why were the restrictions upon David Pearce put in place in 2005 ineffective in preventing subsequent abuse? ● What steps have been taken by the English Benedictine Congregation to address safeguarding and child protection concerns? .

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