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Church hid secret of the choirmaster who abused boys
Last updated at 20:22pm on 26.04.07The Church of England was accused of a cover-up after a choirmaster who systematically abused children in his care was allowed to become a school governor.
Peter Halliday admitted sexually molesting boys as young as nine, nearly 20 years ago. But Church authorities did not tell the police.
Instead, they allowed him to quietly leave - on the promise he would change his ways.
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Peter Halliday, 61, from Farnborough, Hampshire, abused the three boys who were in his church choir between 1985 and 1990
As Halliday finally began a jail sentence for his crimes, it was revealed he was only caught after one of his victims saw a TV programme on sexual abuse in the Church.
When he checked on the Internet and discovered his former tormentor was still working with children, he called police.
Child safety campaigners yesterday criticised the Church's "serious mishandling" of the case.
Halliday, 61, was sentenced to two and half years in prison after he admitted ten counts of sexual abuse between 1986 and 1990.
Winchester Crown Court heard the former choirmaster at St Peter's Church in Farnborough, Hampshire, was so trusted by his victims' families that the boys were allowed to stay at his home.
St Peter's Church in Farnborough, Hampshire
Described in court as "a bully and a revolting character", he attacked the boys at his home, during swimming lessons and on camping trips.
Now in their twenties and thirties, the victims, one of whom is head of music at a private school, are still coming to terms with what they went through.
The court heard Halliday could have been stopped in 1990 when the rector of St Peter's, the Reverend Alan Boddington, was informed about the abuse.
Yet Mr Boddington and the then Bishop of Dorking, David Wilcox, told Halliday he could leave quietly as long as he had no more contact with children.
The court heard Halliday was on the board of governors of a secondary school in Farnborough from 1988 to 2000 but had no unsupervised contact with children.
When he was seen at a choir concert in 1993, the victim who had already complained to the Church again expressed his concerns. But nothing was done.
Halliday, a married father, would have escaped justice had one of his victims not researched him on the Internet and found he was a school governor and working with a children's choir.
After the hearing the Church insisted it had done nothing wrong, saying officials "acted in good faith".
Child protection workers said it had failed, however.
David Pearson, of the Churches' Child Protection Advisory Service, said: "Had we been contacted by the Church authorities then we would have had no hesitation in telling them to go straight to the police."
Halliday was also ordered to pay £2,000 compensation to each victim.
One recalled his horror at meeting Halliday in 1993 on a course. He said: "I was just aghast. Younger brothers of friends were there. I was scared for myself, but also terrified for them."
Reader views (1)
There are certain crimes so heinous that it is criminal not to report them to the police. If one knows someone is planning a terrorist outrage, it is a crime not to report them. The same should be true of child abuse: if you know that a child is being abused and do nothing to help bring his or her abuser to justice, you should also be found guilty of abuse.
- Nigel, London
