The Church of England covered up "horrific" abuse by a lawyer who volunteered at Christian summer camps in the 1970s and 1980s, and the ceremonial head of the Anglican Communion failed to report him to authorities when he learned of the abuse in 2013, according to an independent review.
John Smyth, who died in South Africa in 2018 at age 75, physically, sexually, psychologically and spiritually abused about 30 boys and young men in the UK and 85 in Africa over five decades, the report commissioned by the church found.
"Many of the victims who took the brave decision to speak to us about what they experienced have carried this abuse silently for more than 40 years," said Keith Makin, who led the review released on Thursday.
"Despite the efforts of some individuals to bring the abuse to the attention of authorities, the responses by the Church of England and others were wholly ineffective and amounted to a cover-up."
The church said it was "deeply sorry for the horrific abuse", adding "there is never a place for covering up abuse".
"There is never a place for covering up abuse," the Church of England said in a statement. (AP PHOTO)
Smyth, an accomplished lawyer and charismatic speaker, was a volunteer leader at the church-linked Iwerne summer camps.
Smyth used a cane to punish campers for "sins" that included "pride", making sexual remarks, masturbation or, in one case, looking at a girl too long, the report says.
The campers and Smyth were at least partly naked during the savage beatings.
"The scale and severity of the practice was horrific," the report notes.
"Beatings of 100 strokes for masturbation, 400 for pride, and one of 800 strokes for some undisclosed 'fall' are recorded."
Eight victims received about 14,000 strokes of the cane and two reported 8000 lashes over three years.
Some men said they often bled from the whippings.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said he wasn't aware of the abuse until 2013. (AP PHOTO)
A secret report of the abuse was compiled by a minister in 1982 but police were never contacted.
"I thought it would do the work of God immense damage if this were public," the now-dead reverend David Fletcher told people who worked on the new report.
Smyth was strongly encouraged to leave and ended up moving to Zimbabwe with this wife and children.
"Church officers knew of the abuse and failed to take the steps necessary to prevent further abuse occurring," the report says.
Church officials, including Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the ceremonial head of the church, had another opportunity to report Smyth when they learned of it in 2013 but did not do so, the report says.
Welby, who attended Iwerne camps and had known Smyth, said he was unaware of the abuse before 2013.
His abuse was made public in a 2017 investigation by Channel 4, which led police to start an investigation, and they were planning to question him at the time of his death.
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