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Lambeth Palace 'paid hush money' to alleged victim of sexual assault by senior adviser
19 November 2024, 08:57 | Updated: 21 November 2024, 11:05
An abuse survivor has told LBC that a compensation payment from Lambeth Palace felt like “hush money”, after he accused a senior aide to the Archbishop of Canterbury of sexual assault.
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Derek Fullarton, a top adviser at Lambeth Palace, allegedly “groped” the survivor during a meeting about child abuse he suffered at a leading Church of England private school.
His alleged victim, Julian Whiting, a former Met Police Officer, has spoken exclusively to LBC, waiving his right to anonymity in the hope that other survivors come forward after Fullarton’s death in 2018, aged 66.
Mr Whiting, now 61, said he met Fullarton at a hotel bar in London in 2009 to share his experience of being repeatedly raped by 'an older pupil and sexually abused' by choir masters as a pupil at The Blue Coat School in Birmingham in the '1970's'.
He said Fullarton, who was patronage secretary to then-Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, promised to work with him to improve safeguarding at the Church of England.
Instead, Mr Whiting says Fullarton became “predatory”, abusing his position and groping him while making “a kissing face” in full view of others at the busy bar.
Fullarton was cleared of sexual assault at a trial in 2010, where his lawyers accused Mr Whiting of wanting to “get at the Church”.
But LBC can now reveal Lambeth Palace later compensated Mr Whiting with over £7,000 for his complaint against Fullarton, which he said was meant as “hush money”.
Mr Whiting reported Fullarton to both Archbishop Williams and his successor Justin Welby, but the Palace continued to employ him for four years until his retirement in 2013.
He had significant behind-the-scenes influence, advising on clergy appointments and helping to shape the Church leadership.
The allegations come after Welby was forced to resign because a damning report found he failed to report prolific abuser John Smyth.
Church abuse survivors have since called for root-and-branch reform, accusing the clergy of a culture of cover up which protects perpetrators and suppresses victims.
Mr Whiting, from Havant, Hampshire, told LBC he was “retraumatised” by Fullarton and taken back to the abuse he suffered as a schoolboy.
He said: “He put his hands down my crotch area, and I was completely shocked.
“There was this sort of freezing feeling, and it took me right back to when I was seven or eight.
“He was offering to get me involved in Lambeth – describing me as a pioneer in safeguarding.
“You go in with a clean heart and a clean spirit, hoping for the best – but the predatory behaviour is off the scale.
“It makes you afraid of God.”
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In correspondence seen by LBC, the Palace acknowledged the hurt Fullarton caused, restricting his contact with the public and “vulnerable adults”.
Describing the compensation he received, Mr Whiting said: “It felt like hush money. I remember the barrister saying, ‘this isn’t going to come around again’, and I just felt like I was being horse traded with.
“In hindsight, I was played with – it’s bordering on evil to treat survivors like that.”
Fullarton was never dismissed by Lambeth Palace, but he took early retirement in 2013.
In a letter to Mr Whiting in 2012, Archbishop Williams apologised for his experience, saying there is “nothing worse” than being “hurt or humiliated again” while trying to find “closure and justice”.
Mr Whiting also made Archbishop Williams’ successor aware of Fullarton shortly before he took up the role in 2012. In an email dated that year, Welby said he referred Mr Whiting’s complaints to the police so that there is “no possibility of any cover up or the Church behaving less that correctly.”
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In a letter dated 2014 to Mr Whiting, the newly appointed Archbishop Welby said he “encouraged” the retirement of Fullarton which he said was due to “restructuring”.
Mr Whiting said he believed Welby did not have faith in his own Church to handle the complaint against Fullarton.He said: “I just sensed there was something pricking his conscience. I think he needs space for grace to share what he does know which he couldn’t say as Archbishop of Canterbury.”
Mr Whiting echoed claims by survivors and campaigners that the Smyth scandal was just the ‘tip of the iceberg’, saying: “I hope this is a watershed moment – and I think it should be survivor led.
“Don’t just put a plaster on this situation. While their thoughts and prayers are going on, I hope the Church get on their knees at the top end and do something for once and just be kind and Christ-like to survivors.”
Lambeth Palace spokesperson said: "While safeguarding processes were followed at the time, with an independent risk assessment, it is clear that the handling of this case fell short of the rigorous safeguarding standards of today.
"In the last 11 years since Archbishop Justin was appointed, much has been learned and much stronger processes are in place.
"The complaints procedure at Lambeth Palace has changed significantly, with a dedicated Safeguarding Manager working full time, and with all staff receiving safeguarding training."
It comes as the Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, said senior clergy put “careerism” ahead of tackling abuse after she put pressure on Welby to resign last week.
She claimed Welby and the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell sent her a “coercive letter” to discourage her from speaking out.
And the scandal which forced Welby to resign looks set to widen as Reverend Sue Colman stepped back from ministerial duties in the Diocese of Winchester last week over allegations, she and her husband Sir Jamie Colman also knew about Smyth’s abuse.
He’s thought to have beaten and coerced over 100 schoolboys at his home in Winchester and at Christian summer camps in Dorset in the 1970s and 80s before moving to Zimbabwe, where the Colman family continued to support his work.
