Bob Key, Church of England Dean of Jersey (CI)
I have just heard the Dean being interviewed on BBC Radio Jersey and a more sickening piece of effrontery you could not imagine. He was oozing complacency and triumphalism which must surely have made every one listening, bar his own claque in the Jersey civil and church power structure, throw up.
The background is briefly that a vulnerable young lady was abused by one of the Dean's Churchwardens and when she complained she was the one held up to odium and ridicule. Needless to say she did not react well to this and as a result, and with the connivance of the Dean, she was locked up in a cell for two weeks and then deported penniless from the island, in the night attire in which she had been arrested.
As far as the Dean was concerned, the matter had now been swept under the carpet and he and his buddies could continue "moving into the future".
Unfortunately for him the carpet was not up to the job and the whole matter resurfaced in recent times. The Dean's Bishop commissioned an inquiry, with which the Dean refused to cooperate, and which found his behaviour unacceptable. The Bishop promptly suspended the Dean but subsequently found he had not the power to do so (Jersey is a funny place) and had to withdraw the suspension. The Dean and his civil cohorts immediately trumpeted this as the Dean being "cleared", which it wasn't and the whole matter moved on, beyond the victim, who had been living homeless on the streets of the mainland, and into a fully blown civil and ecclesiastical constitutional crisis.
As relations between Jersey CofE and its parent diocese had totally broken down, the Archbishop of Canterbury (CofE's No.1 man) moved Jersey from the jurisdiction of Winchester to that of Canterbury itself, but effectively under Bishop Trevor Wilmott, a friend of the Dean, if we are to believe the story.
It was the signing of an agreement between Jersey, Winchester and Canterbury, the other day, which gave rise to the BBC interview referred to above.
In the interview the Dean claimed he had been "cleared" of any misbehaviour or whatever, and he gave out about the Korris report which criticised him, and which he had not been shown in advance of publication, though he had refused to cooperate in the drawing up of the report itself. He said he can't wait for publication of the Steel report, also commissioned by Winchester to look into the complaint, after all the work that went into it, including a gruelling 8 hour interview with himself. It should be pointed out here that Dame Heather Steel, the author of this report has strong Jersey establishment connections, offered herself to do the job, and did not interview either the young lady or the churchwarden. A former MET policeman and former Jersey parliament member, who was intermediating for the young lady and had a substantial meeting with Dame Heather, found her extremely prejudiced against the young lady. So it is no wonder the Dean, and his Jersey civil cohorts, can't wait for this report to hit the presses.
The man is a smoothie weirdo. Jesus would have a fit. I already have.
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I have previously posted about the young lady and if you have a strong stomach you can read her blog where she is slowly finding a voice to pitch against the official trumpets.
You can listen to the Dean here.
ReplyDeletewww.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-22328641
Dean Key said: "I regret mistakes that I made in the safeguarding processes and I understand that, upon reflection, it would have been more helpful if I had co-operated more fully with the Korris [safeguarding} Review .........I now add my own apology to that of the Bishop of Winchester and ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY to the vulnerable person at the heart of this matter."
HG was homeless at the time and living on the streets.
How many homeless people have had an apology from the Archbishop of Canterbury?
How does Dean Bob Key reconcile his begrudging but abject apology with his current claims to be totally innocent.
In which case WHY DID HE APOLOGISE?
Is he a man or a mollusk?
Photopol.
ReplyDeleteBob Key and THE JERSEY WAY
Photopol.
ReplyDeleteHere is where/how the disgraced Dean was 'EXONERATED"
Not one of these so called 'Christians' in leadership cares that I have suffered years of severe damage, not least in the last year. It makes their roles paradoxical, because there has been so little Christianity in all this.
ReplyDeleteOf course the Dean told me to my face that I 'wasn't abused' and that I was a troublemaker, that terrible attitude has been omitted from all reports.
I told Jane Fisher of that incident, which prompted me to ask to see the Bishop immediately and yet she ignored it, and the inaccuracy in the Korris report about my meeting with the Bishop is horrendous.
HG
@VoiceforChildren
ReplyDeleteThank you for fleshing out my apoplexy with further facts. This whole saga is nothing short of unbelievable and the more people realise what went on, and is still going on, the better.
I'm a great admirer of your blog and the stand you are taking in Jersey, no doubt at considerable personal cost to yourself.
@themiracleofforgetfulness
Thanks for reminding us all of the Dean's contortions and of the real meaning of "moving into the future" in his case.
I didn't want to burden the post itself with too many examples but I welcome all the additions in the above comments.
@HG
While Korris is only half the story, and not your half, it at least nails the Dean to the wall and stops those who are new to this area from writing you off.
Your predicament is a stirring testimony to the shallowness of these people's humanity, let alone their supposed faith.
I have briefed St. Peter in this regard, as you well know. Let's hope he has more the courage of his convictions than those entrusted with the lives of Jersey residents.
Try to stay well. Your day will come.
By the way, no disrespect to Guernsey in the above. I know they are also involved, but my immediate interest is in the scandalous happenings at the Jersey end.
ReplyDeleteI have sent the email below to Bishop Tim and his chaplain, who apparently is supposed to handle his correspondence.
ReplyDeleteIt follows two previous emails I sent a while back and to which I received no reply.
____________________________
Dear ye,
who do not have the courtesy to reply to serious emails.
I do not know the full reasons why the Steel Report has not been published. I do not know who that person is who appears to have successfully prevented publication through the threat of legal action. I do not know if the threat is a serious one, and is so taken by the Bishop, or if it has been seized upon as a useful excuse to bury a biased and deficient report, at least for the moment.
One aspect of this, which you may not have considered is this.
It is clear that the report will be biased and will not give HG her due, any more that did Korris. This report appears to be worse as Dame Steel did not interview HG or the Churchwarden concerned, any more than did Korris, but Steel is reliably reported to have very negative views about HG despite never having met her. Steel is also a known crony of the Jersey establishment and appears to have offered her services which were accepted by a gullible Bishop. It is no wonder the Jersey establishment are going apeshit at the lack of publication of their carefully orchestrated report.
Meanwhile, HG, the vulnerable lady at the centre of all of this is living in terror of the publication of the report. She was already on the autism spectrum and suffering from PTSD when the Jersey church shredded her confidence, robbed her of the life she had struggled to build, and, conveniently for them, dumped her on the streets of the mainland. A self satisfied, overfed, church dealing with a victim of its own shortcomings in this way is not a pretty sight. The publication of the report is likely to be a body blow to what remains of her shredded life.
If you do not intend publishing Steel, you should say so. This would, at least, alleviate some of the victim's terror and stop the baying of the Jersey hounds. The current situation constitutes inhuman and degrading treatment of the victim. Has this ever occurred to you or are you too preoccupied with your own internal problems, cash flows, and the defence of the indefensible
If you do publish the report, be aware that Dame Steel's credibility has already been conclusively undermined in the eyes of those who matter to the Lord and you will be making a further fool of yourself and your inadequate and unheeding church. You will also be showing your utter contempt for the victim of your corrupt actions.
Yours, not really expecting a reply, like the last two times,
Pól Ó Duibhir
Dublin, Ireland
Your readers might be interested in my latest blog which comments on the farcical Agreement which has been signed because the Jersey Dean and the Bishop of Winchester apparently can't stand the sight of each. The Blog includes a direct link to the Dean's Tuesday interview and can be accessed here.click here
ReplyDelete@ Bob Hill
ReplyDeleteThanks Bob.
A very good post which puts the silly constitutional spat in a Christian perspective.
You are right to keep the focus of all this on the abominable and unchristian treatment meted out to HG.
I know all of this distresses her and she may wish it would all just go away, but she is entitled to some justice and an opportunity to reconstruct her life without living in daily fear.