An independent review, commissioned by the Church of England's National Safeguarding Team in August 2019 and led by Keith Makin with Sarah Lawrence, into the Church's decades-long handling of allegations against John Smyth, a Reader in the Church of England. Published 7 November 2024, it found Smyth abused between 115 and 130 boys and young men from the mid-1970s until his 2018 death, first through Winchester College and the Iwerne holiday camps in England, then, after his 1984 move, in Zimbabwe, where a boy died, and in South Africa; and that the Church's response, once senior officers learned of the abuse through a 1982 report, was "wholly ineffective and amounted to a coverup." Smyth was never charged: he died in 2018 while under police investigation, so he is named here on the strength of this review's own official findings rather than any criminal conviction, and this atlas states that distinction plainly.
Facts
Documented Findings
Victim EstimateSourced to the subject's own accountThe review's own finding is a range, 115 to 130 boys and young men; this atlas records 115, the lower and more conservative bound, as its own figure and states the full range here and in the entity description. Key FindingThe review found an active cover-up: Church officers learned of Smyth's abuse through a 1982 report by the Reverend Mark Ruston, and from 2013 the Church knew of it "at the highest level" but failed to refer it to the police or to the relevant authorities in South Africa, where Smyth was still active and died while under investigation in 2018. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby resigned on 12 November 2024, acknowledging he had personally failed to ensure the 2013 disclosure was energetically investigated, becoming the first Archbishop of Canterbury to resign over a safeguarding failure. 1 Inquiry Profile
Kind of RecordChurch-Commissioned Report 1 JurisdictionEngland (Winchester College and the Iwerne Trust camps), Zimbabwe and South Africa 1 Commissioned ByChurch of England National Safeguarding Team, commissioned August 2019; authored by Keith Makin and Sarah Lawrence 1 Publication Year Period Covered, FromSourced to the subject's own account Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Africa directly: "where a boy died, and in South Africa; and that the Church's response, once senior officers learned of the abuse through a 1982 report, was "wholly ineffective and amounted to a coverup." Smyth was..."
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