Morning:
13°c
Ray Lewis 'cornered woman in hotel room and ordered her to strip off'
Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter10.07.08
Disgraced former deputy mayor Ray Lewis is facing a new accusation of sexual misconduct, the Evening Standard can reveal.
A woman has come forward to make allegations of improper behaviour against Mr Lewis during his time as a clergyman.
The Church of England is, meanwhile, planning a fresh investigation into previous claims against Mr Lewis, who denies all the allegations.
A senior Church source has told the Standard a dossier containing details of sexual and financial allegations against Mr Lewis, who was banned from ministry by two bishops, could now be made public as part of an independent inquiry to be chaired by a QC or judge.
The source told the Standard the new claim of sexual misconduct was made against Mr Lewis in the wake of his resignation on Friday after the Standard revealed he had misleadingly claimed he was a magistrate.
Details of the first allegation of sexual misconduct contained in the Church dossier were also revealed today. It is alleged that Mr Lewis attempted to have sex with a parishioner he had taken to a conference in the Nineties during his stint as a parish priest in West Ham. He allegedly cornered her in a hotel bedroom and then became abusive when she refused to take her clothes off. The woman is said to have been shocked and frightened by the incident and to have made a complaint to the Church.
Police have never been asked to investigate the claim, which Mr Lewis has always denied.
He was arrested by police on suspicion of deception but no criminal charges have ever been brought against him. Friends of Mr Lewis have expressed their concern that the Church has ruined his political career without proving any of the allegations against him in an open court.
One senior Tory accused the Church of being "reckless" over suggestions Mr Johnson had been warned by the Bishop of Barking about Mr Lewis's behaviour while a parish priest at St Matthew's Church in West Ham between 1993 and 1997.
But today the Church hit back at the claims. The Reverend Chris Newlands, chaplain to the Bishop of Chelmsford, who oversees the Barking diocese, told the Standard: "The Church of England does have its own law which ranks alongside civil law and military law in England. We do have processes which are thorough and have legal weight. It [the original investigation] was done thoroughly and effectively and we will consider whether we should mount our own formal inquiry into this. We need to assess whether our handling [of the allegations] at this stage has been correct and if we need to make a further statement than we have already. We believe we have done everything by the book.
"There was plenty we had to go on. This is never taken lightly. This [decision to bar a priest] is only [taken] when there is a very substantial weight of evidence."
A City Hall source said Mr Lewis had vehemently denied the claims in the Church dossier.
The source added: "One of the accusations the Church has in the dossier is he took some woman from the parish on a conference and booked one room and one bed and that was a surprise to her. When she then told him she was not 'up for it' he got abusive. He later went around the parish, calling her a whore and undermining her. My understanding is there was no allegation of indecent assault or rape. The Church didn't call in the police."
It is understood that when the allegations surfaced last week, Mr Lewis had a meeting at City Hall with the Mayor's senior officials. On the allegation of sexual misconduct, Mr Lewis called in Anne Collard, a former parishioner with whom he now works, to back up his claim that the woman had made up her story.
Ms Collard told officials in taped interviews that she too was at the conference and had shared a room with the woman and that Mr Lewis had booked his own room. Nothing untoward had occurred, she told officials.
Mr Lewis was unavailable for comment. One source close to him told the Standard: "He is staying out of the limelight. The reality is he doesn't want to say anything about anything."
Neither alleged victim has ever gone to the police. The Church said it would hand its files over only if police requested them. Scotland Yard said it would not investigate unless asked to do so by the Church or the alleged victims.
Mr Lewis remains director of the Eastside Young Leaders' Academy, a highly praised company and charity he founded which encourages young black boys to become society role models. It is understood EYLA is standing by Mr Lewis unless devastating evidence comes to light.
Reader views (10)
Livingstone lost. Get over it.
- Martin, Telford England
St - I don't know how long comments stay on here but how will you feel if this accusation is found to be true, and this woman is not a "viciously malicious rumour-monger"?
- James, London
Typical.
- Michael, Charleston, SC
Oh please, when will the constant drival about the persecution of so called innocent public figures stop? There is no smoke without fire and with all three instances all three individuals have reigned due to an element of guilt, like it or not. It is time to face up to the fact that the days are long gone when public figures are able to line their own pockets without fear of reprisal or exposure by the media. If anyone believes that these individuals have been treated unfairly then it is a grave indication of the decline of moral values within British society. No you should not take your colleagues away for dirty weekends when in public office, nor should you ensure the majority of your friends receive public funds without accountability, neither should you send emails packed with sexual innuendoes not even in jest, it's it bit like saying if you are in public office you do not have to adhere to statutory employment legislation. Indeed our public figures are supposed to set an example for others to follow, with this in mind. non of the individuals in question seem fit for purpose.
- Insignificant But Significant Enough, London
"I hope that Andrew Gillighan will be calling for the immediate release of the CofE file on Lewis, so we can all see the truth".
And what would that truth do for anyone? This is simply a case of "He who is without sin (skeletons in closet) let him cast the 1st stone". Whatever he did is in his past and all these people should have come out then. If anyone thinks it's gonna be possible to get a leader or politician with no sins, then they need to leave earth for heaven cos that's where you'd be able to find such a type.
P.S Am not condoning his actions either.
- Sola, Basildon, Essex.
Amen to that, Crito. What a shame the same benefit of the doubt was not afforded to Lee Jasper when he was forced to resign on the basis of innuendo and non-proven allegations. He, too, is still awaiting either charges or arrest, neither of which seem likely. Unfortunately, this kind of ill-judged tittle-tattle goes with the territory, when power is the prize. The Conservative administration at City Hall, who did their share of dirt dishing, should remember that what goes around comes around.
- Val Daniels, Mijas Costa. Spain
Isn't this just another typical example of so called local community leaders, becoming greedy and corrupt at the thought of pursuing their own agenda / career. Mr Lewis claims that he has stepped down in order to protect the valuable work of our new London Mayor, however surely he knew about these allegations and all the sleezy details of his past before he took up the role of Deputy Mayor for Youth. It seems painfully clear that if his intentions were as honourable as he makes out, he would have thought about it and stayed away from the limelight in the first place. Message to Boris, next time choose someone young and ambitions with no skeletons in their closet to act as deputy Mayor instead of some of the annoying cretins who only make a big notice about community needs to enhance their own career prospects.
- Insignificant But Significant Enough, London
Obviously, these recent 'scandals' are aimed to undermine the credibility of a Tory administration and, judging by their baseness and triviality, the attacks could only have issued from the New Labour trenches.
In my view, Mr Lewis and especially Mr McGrath should not have resigned.
As far as we know, Mr Lewis has not been formally charged or convicted with any offence, and therefore should be able to enjoy all the rights of an innocent person. Moreover, apart from being still unproven, the allegations levelled at him are not related to his time as deputy mayor.
Mr McGrath' departure was even more unjustified.
These men should have been judged mainly by their abilities and performance in the posts they held. They might have given us good service.
- Crito, london
Let's hope Mr Lewis sues the pants off this woman whose claims, according to Ms Collard are nothing more than viciously malicious rumour-mongering, no doubt being orchestrated by a certain unemployed left-wing politician with lots of time on his hands...
- St, London
I hope that Andrew Gillighan will be calling for the immediate release of the CofE file on Lewis, so we can all see the truth.
- David, london uk
