John Smyth, the serial abuser at the centre of the Church of England scandal, tortured over 130 boys and young men

After 11 years of service as the head of the Church of England, Justin Welby on Tuesday resigned as Archbishop of Canterbury over his failure to report prolific child abuser and Christian barrister John Smyth. His resignation came after an independent review published last week found that Mr Welby and the Church of England “knew, at the highest level” about Smyth’s abuse in 2013 but failed to report him to the police and authorities in the UK.

The review said the Church of England covered up the actions “of its worst and most brutal serial abuser, who subjected his victims to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks.”

Who was John Smyth?

Smyth was a barrister and an evangelical Christian, who headed Iwerne Trust, which ran summer camps for young Christians in the 1970s and 1980s, in the UK. Smyth was also a barrister who took cases against Gay rights campaigners in those years.

Smyth is said to have physically, psychologically and sexually abused young men and boys, who he picked from Christian summer camps, at his Winchester home. He carried out “horrific” beatings of teenage boys with garden canes at his shed. He is also said to have forced them to strip naked.

A BBC report said eight of the boys received a total of 14,000 lashes, while two more received 8,000 strokes between them over three years.

Smyth also groomed the boys, including his own seven-year-old son. One survivor said he received more than 1,000 strokes with a cane on a single occasion. Some had to wear diapers to contain the bleeding.

His abuse came to light in the 1980s but he was never exposed, allowing him to continue his abuse. Though a review was carried out in 1982, the recipients of the review covered it up. The Winchester College, from where many victims came, did not approach the police either. Smyth was asked by the college to never enter the institution.

He soon moved to Zimbabwe with his wife Anne where he continued his abuse. He was charged with the manslaughter of a 16-year-old boy, who was attending one of his summer camps. The boy was found dead in a swimming pool at a holiday camp in 1992. The case was dismissed after which he moved to South Africa.

John Smyth abused as many as 130 boys and young men in the UK, Zimbabwe and possibly other African countries.

According to the report, some 30 boys and young men are known to have been directly physically and psychologically abused in the UK. The number is around 85 in Zimbabwe and South Africa, though the total “likely runs much higher”. The report also described him as “arguably, the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church of England.”

The story of Smyth’s abuse surfaced again in the UK in 2012 when a church officer received a letter from a fellow survivor. Though police were informed, the Church of England did not file a formal complaint.

However, in 2017, a private documentary revealed details about Smyth’s abuse to the public. The police launched a full investigation only after that.