Oxford Bishop Faces Renewed Resignation Demand from Abuse Survivor

A survivor of sexual abuse by a priest during his teenage years has reiterated his demand for the Bishop of Oxford to step down. Matthew Ineson informed the Right Reverend Dr Steven Croft about the abuse he endured in 2012, when Dr Croft served as Bishop of Sheffield. However, an independent investigation conducted last year concluded that senior clergy had “failed to act”. Mr. Ineson labeled Dr. Croft’s stance as hypocritical, given Dr. Croft’s previous assertion that the Archbishop of Canterbury’s resignation due to safeguarding failures was appropriate. Dr. Croft stated that it was among his “deepest regrets” that he did not take further action to ensure the disclosure received proper follow-up. Mr. Ineson, who has chosen to forgo his right to anonymity, experienced rape and sexual assault in the mid-1980s at the age of 16, perpetrated by Reverend Trevor Devamanikkam, then a priest at St Aidan’s Church in Bradford. Approximately three decades subsequent to the abuse, Mr. Ineson reported his experiences to five senior clergy members, including Dr. Croft, on eight distinct occasions between 2012 and 2013; however, no action was taken regarding this information. In 2014, he formally reported the abuse to West Yorkshire Police, prompting an investigation. Trevor Devamanikkam, who had retired and relocated to Witney, Oxfordshire, faced charges for six sex offences. He died by suicide on the day he was scheduled to appear in court in June 2017. The subsequent month, Mr. Ineson publicly demanded the resignations of four active bishops and an archbishop, citing misconduct and claims of a cover-up. Mr. Ineson had filed complaints against Dr. Croft and four other senior clergy members, asserting their failure to act upon his disclosures of rape. Nevertheless, the Church dismissed these complaints on the grounds that the allegations exceeded the one-year time limit. Mr. Ineson expressed his belief that the situation was now reaching a critical point, particularly after the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, declared his intention to resign following a critical report. This report concluded that Welby “could and should” have effectively reported prolific child abuser John Smyth to the police in 2013. “Steven Croft did the same thing and he did it multiple times… in my case a youngster, me, was raped several times by a priest, that priest then kills himself all on Croft’s watch and the diocesan bishop is ultimately responsible for good safeguarding practice,” Mr. Ineson stated. He further asserted, “The Church has protected him for far too long, he’s done wrong, you cannot now say that he is not a safeguarding liability, he must go.” Mr. Ineson conveyed his conviction that Trevor Devamanikkam continued to abuse individuals between 2012 and 2017, the year the former priest died by suicide. The BBC reached out to West Yorkshire Police concerning allegations of additional victims, but the police force could not confirm or deny these claims. Dr. Croft issued an apology in May 2023 for what he termed a “costly” error, following Mr. Ineson’s complaint about being raped by a vicar during his teenage years. An investigation determined that Dr. Croft did not adequately respond to the disclosures made in 2012, and that no protective measures were implemented to safeguard others. In a statement, the Right Reverend Dr. Steven Croft, Bishop of Oxford, declared: “It is one of my deepest regrets that I did not do more to ensure Matthew’s disclosure to me was followed up as it should have been. “At the time of the disclosure, Matthew did not reveal the name of his abuser. This came to light much later. “Following the