7 Catholic Monks in Somerset are Investigated for Child Sex and Pornography

Richard White, Paedophile MonkIn a letter to the parents of the 1,500 pupils at the £26,000-per-year
Downside School in Somerset, Dom Aidan Bellenger, the Benedictine Abbot of
Downside, apologised to parents and named some of the monks who were picked out
by a criminal investigation looking at 50 years of confidential school
records. Seven Roman Catholic monks with links to a top public school have faced police investigation over child sex and pornography offences, the school has admitted.



Of the seven monks from Downside, four had faced police action and
two, against whom allegations “were founded” , had restrictions imposed on their
ministry. The seventh was cleared and allowed to return to his monastic
life.



The school has already announced a “major review of the school’s governance”
that would result in “significant changes” after a monk and former teacher at
the school, Richard White, was jailed for five years on January 3 for sexually
abusing two 12-year-old boys in the late 1980s.



His abuse was known about by monastic and school staff at the time but he
evaded criminal charges for more than 20 years!

“We are truly sorry that children and young people have been abused by those
whom they should have been able to trust,” Dom Bellenger wrote. “We are committed to doing everything possible to ensure that such things do
not happen again. We must never underestimate the great damage suffered by the victims of
abuse. Their bravery in telling their stories has resulted in radical changes in
the way safeguarding is approached. Victims of abuse are in our prayers and the
sadness we feel for what they have suffered will be with us always.”



“These unhappy events inevitably cast a long shadow, but your chief concern
will of course be the welfare, security and happiness of children currently at
Downside. Many steps have been taken to ensure that the Downside portrayed in
some parts of the media is a thing of the past.”

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