tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post6184329346722863540..comments2024-01-25T09:28:56.610+00:00Comments on Confessions of a skeptic: Father David PearceJonathan Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00527063732905729010noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-73264281930108415782015-09-01T19:26:35.822+01:002015-09-01T19:26:35.822+01:00by the way I wrote a letter to Abbott shiperlee as...by the way I wrote a letter to Abbott shiperlee asking him about soper and pearce and he did not replyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-64999449180841912912015-09-01T19:25:40.692+01:002015-09-01T19:25:40.692+01:00is there any update on pearce and soper. I live op...is there any update on pearce and soper. I live opposite the abbeyn and whist not a catholic I like to go in to it for compline when it is empty pretty much apart from the monks. I has sodomiswed at my own boarding school by a teacher and my god father for a number of years and am 61 years old and am still very sensitive to paedophiles and homosexuals I made a statement to the police a few years back about my abuser and he was arrested but not charged. He had been a headmaster of a catholic primary school not long before so gosh knows what he got up to as I knew him 45 years beforeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-59092745931599039112014-07-19T18:00:17.573+01:002014-07-19T18:00:17.573+01:00Pearce may be "laicised" but he may stil...Pearce may be "laicised" but he may still remain a solemnly professed monk of Ealing Abbey. This means the abbey has canonical obligations to him particularly in the area of material support.<br />If Pearce believes that he wants to continue "playing at being a monk" and Ealing wishes to persist in its belief that it still functions as a "monastery" then we need to know whether they intend for Pearce to live at the abbey, another monastery or indeed another religious house.<br /><br />The guise of religion has been used long enough to permit predators to continue in their depravity. Pearce is a particularly egregious example of a sinister, cynically manipulative cleric who capitalised on the advantages and deference such a religious office gave to him.<br /><br />We need to find out his status with Ealing Abbey.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-54739327470736008032012-07-02T12:26:39.158+01:002012-07-02T12:26:39.158+01:00The school has got to accept the horrors of it'...The school has got to accept the horrors of it's past and ensure it never happens again. No St Benedicts priests should ever be let near students bar them being at the altar serving mass. The fact that Fr Pearce got 5 years is a disgrace as he has ruined countless lives. To move on the school must distance itself from the Abbey as the place will forever tainted by paedophiles.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-34453265729747440312012-03-21T15:20:51.810+00:002012-03-21T15:20:51.810+00:00Who in their right mind would want the job as the ...Who in their right mind would want the job as the child protection officer at that school ?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-74956481149039136352012-03-19T11:48:05.307+00:002012-03-19T11:48:05.307+00:0008:37
The Abbey has insurance, the claims are almo...08:37<br />The Abbey has insurance, the claims are almost certainly all being paid by the insurers rather than directly out of charitable funds. But we will learn more when the Abbey sends the current year's accounts to the Charity Commission.Jonathan Westhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00527063732905729010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-58004070320682752452012-03-18T15:37:12.021+00:002012-03-18T15:37:12.021+00:00De Cintra is in charge and it shows, the staff tur...De Cintra is in charge and it shows, the staff turnover and lack of direction comes from the accountant who had to pay the 50k for Pearces crimes last week. We know this wont be the last claim. Who is paying for all this?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-66564585885229087092012-03-17T18:45:34.985+00:002012-03-17T18:45:34.985+00:00Yet another questionnaire by Mr M. Nalewajko, what...Yet another questionnaire by Mr M. Nalewajko, what in heavens does this man do all day. <br /><br />Theres lies damn lies and statistics and then there is the "independent" questionnaire by Nalewajko .. What a joke and a waste of money.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-50437021993607293852012-03-13T22:58:35.942+00:002012-03-13T22:58:35.942+00:00If and when I have some solid information, I'l...If and when I have some solid information, I'll publish. I know (or have some information about) more than I publish, because I want to be pretty sure of the situation before I publish.Jonathan Westhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00527063732905729010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-28129658408973820572012-03-13T22:54:44.642+00:002012-03-13T22:54:44.642+00:00There are lots of good teachers and support staff ...There are lots of good teachers and support staff at that place. However, the management of St Benedicts is appalling. Huge sums of money are squandered on IT projects with little other than technical vanity being their usefulness. Property services are in total disarray and moral at an all time low. The guys on the ground have only ever been magnificent in their work ethic, but they are lions led by donkeys. <br /><br />The management at St Benedicts has always been an incompetent self serving clique, but its got worse in recent years. I very much doubt any of them would be capable of holding down a position were they to be employed elsewhere.<br /><br />Still, you will probably see redundancies for the actual workers, but pay rises for the management.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-83176202663633096112012-03-13T18:58:28.082+00:002012-03-13T18:58:28.082+00:00Jonathan you must have some comments.Jonathan you must have some comments.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-51008497007086818412012-03-11T23:20:41.404+00:002012-03-11T23:20:41.404+00:00The Deputy Head to whom you refer is young and hig...The Deputy Head to whom you refer is young and highly ambitious. He's leaving to take up a post as a Headteacher elsewhere, which seems to me to be a logical career move. To suggest otherwise is malicious. I am also in total agreement with 06:55, Peter you should report these crimes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-80514200189707988232012-03-10T11:46:50.499+00:002012-03-10T11:46:50.499+00:00The Deputy Head is leaving to become Headmaster of...The Deputy Head is leaving to become Headmaster of another school. Hardly suggests that he's done a bad job or that the school's reputation is in crisis. 10-15% staff turnover is natural for any business.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-28421313663650196122012-03-10T06:22:59.593+00:002012-03-10T06:22:59.593+00:00er they wont be telling anyone about ex pupils get...er they wont be telling anyone about ex pupils getting 15000 for getting abused for two years solid at the hands of soper raped by pearce and maistri. still no appollogy or money. treated like shit dehumanized followed about for months .Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-87023166057238402912012-03-09T14:13:45.956+00:002012-03-09T14:13:45.956+00:00Perhaps as is very common the staff are simply mov...Perhaps as is very common the staff are simply moving on? Does everything have to have a sinister undertone?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-39553698104905262142012-03-08T22:08:38.035+00:002012-03-08T22:08:38.035+00:00The Deputy Head who is also the child protection o...The Deputy Head who is also the child protection officer at St Benedict's is leaving with a number of other very capable teachers.<br /><br />Is there something else about to erupt? Is it the Management of the place driving them away, or have they too had enough from De Cintra ?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-56741755762499605462012-03-07T12:43:16.465+00:002012-03-07T12:43:16.465+00:00The Times comments today on a settlement of £50,00...The Times comments today on a settlement of £50,000 compensation paid to a former pupil of St Benedict's School. This is in respect of abuse at the hands of David Pearce.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-80537008266626329342012-03-05T20:32:30.756+00:002012-03-05T20:32:30.756+00:00Is this site still alive?Is this site still alive?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-73001798206527505042012-03-02T02:55:11.623+00:002012-03-02T02:55:11.623+00:00To Peter,
Go and report to the police whatever ha...To Peter,<br /><br />Go and report to the police whatever happened to you. They should keep it in confidence and you should not be publicly named. It will give you some closure if the "filthy little paedo's" are locked up (if not at least investigated). THEY SHOULD NOT and hopefully WILL NOT get away with their pathetic horrible crimes.<br />As one who has been down this road and got a successful result with the paedo locked up it may be easier for me to say this, but please do it. I repeat, they SHOULD NOT get away with their crimes.<br />Good luck pal!!<br /><br />As for David Pearce - who's up for a public stoning outside the prison he's released from??Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-9031594090819370442012-02-27T18:45:20.467+00:002012-02-27T18:45:20.467+00:00Thank you "Anonymous Feb 26, 2012 03:19 PM&qu...Thank you "Anonymous Feb 26, 2012 03:19 PM", I can't tell you how much your empathetic and affirming response means to me, and to know that I am not alone with this set of circumstances. You have put sharply into focus for me what reading the rest of this blog has meant emotionally. It has been cathartic to put my experience in a searchable public forum after 50 years and I am grateful for this opportunity. I will certainly check out "Chosen."<br />I also wanted to share some thoughts about my relatively brief involvement with Ealing Abbey. These days I consider myself agnostic, although I try to practice the John Main method of meditation, another product, this time positive, of Ealing Abbey. At the time (mid 90s) I was having something of a crisis of faith and, at the suggestion of a friend, went to have a discussion with Father Bernard Orchard. On an intellectual level I was impressed by his knowledge but my gut was telling me there was something not right. Of course, it’s easy to be wise after the facts have emerged but one response he gave now rings with bitter irony. I remember asking him about the Anglican branch of the Benedictine Order to which he responded that the Anglican monks do not have the “safety” of supervision by the Catholic Church. I know very little about Father Bernard but I do question whether a monk with such a high level of involvement at Ealing could have been wholly ignorant of what was going on.<br />I also used to attend the evening services conducted in chant by the monks and have always found this aesthetically beautiful and a meditative way to start the new week. Laurence Soper was the abbot at the time and I always found his imperious rap on the pew when it was time to stand somewhat threatening. For all I know this may be standard throughout the Benedictine Order but once again, with knowledge of Soper’s predilection for sexualized beatings it is easy for me to make the link with the violent, ritualistic behavior of Ronald Cleveland at Claremont School.Peternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-63812493715122015622012-02-26T23:19:53.500+00:002012-02-26T23:19:53.500+00:00Hi Peter, I read your post with interest. I know o...Hi Peter, I read your post with interest. I know of Duffel and BSS, a friend went this route, I chose an alternative. Nonetheless I have connections to them and hear from someone there regularly about various items that appear in the news. We exchange emails about incidents that appear in the public domain. None of us can afford a news clipping service so a loose coalition of interested parties works very effectively. <br /><br />When to come out? You know there is never a perfect time. You've been through a course, and clearly done some of the cerebral gymnastics that go with the subject. We all do these, some better than others and there is never a perfect time to jump from the plane - and we only ever make a single jump, the consequences of which are significant. <br /><br />I jumped in 2001 and filed a complaint with the police. It was not very satisfactory for various reasons - I'll not bore you. It should have been a great deal easier - but there was a significant F.up factor by the police and others, the cost of which was borne by me. <br /><br />That said, the case against the person who abused me is returning to court and the time frame is similar to your events. Each case is unique but there have been recent cases which have set a new direction for the prosecution of child abuse reported in adulthood. The direction of travel is at last accounting for people like me, and perhaps you. <br /><br />If you have not seen it, consider watching a documentary titled Chosen, just Google it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-52771506633959692042012-02-26T19:01:07.521+00:002012-02-26T19:01:07.521+00:00Again it is heartbreaking to read of how children ...Again it is heartbreaking to read of how children have been mistreated by those they were brought up to respect. And again, the feeling that there is so much more out there that is yet to come out. <br />Search Google for the sale of children by the Catholic Church in Spain, the website annfreespirit (don't be put off by her way of presenting) and black collar crime in Scotland.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-67759069217671608402012-02-26T16:09:03.575+00:002012-02-26T16:09:03.575+00:00I did not attend St Benedict's although I have...I did not attend St Benedict's although I have attended services at the Abbey and had some connection in the past with a number of the monks, and know two ex-students. <br />I greatly admire the way Jonathan West has set up this forum and the work he and other contributors have done here over many years.<br />The emotional effect on me of reading these many posts over the last 24 hours has set me thinking about my own experiences at a prep school in Sussex in the 1960s, Claremont School. In particular, the sexually motivated beating of boys by the abbot, Laurence Soper reminded me of the year of terror inflicted on the boys by the headmaster of Claremont, Ronald Charles Cleveland during 1963, until he was dismissed for reasons that were never made clear by the school. <br />The first night of his first term he beat a boy, which set the patterns for his abusive behavior for the next year. These included lining boys up in rows over the billiard table and beating them, giving boys a choice of “bat or stick,” then making them fetch the item and hand it to him in a ritualistic manner. Beatings were often carried out without trousers or pants. Following a beating boys were sometimes told to take baths on their own for a week in a separate bathroom, supervised by Cleveland. On other occasions he would ask to see “your postmarks,” his infantile term for the bruising caused by his canings. One boy was beaten black and blue for using his fork the “wrong way.”<br />He seemed to be obsessed with catching any sexual activity amongst the boys, even going so far as to have the dormitories rewired so that he could switch the lights on from outside the glass door when on the prowl for victims at night. Another seemingly harmless innovation was the installation of showers to replace the footbaths which had been used previously. Needless to say Cleveland always supervised the showers and would insist on “no false modesty.” When boys began to complain to their parents on outings, he switched his focus to boys whose parents lived overseas.<br /> About 18 years ago I attended sessions of Nick Duffel’s Boarding School Survivors and was advised to file a complaint with the police (at that time, in 1993, Cleveland would have been about 63 and might have still been involved with teaching; he was also a scoutmaster). For reason that have been widely discussed on this blog, I did not feel ready to break my anonymity and to approach what I felt might be an unsympathetic audience in the police. I have regularly searched the Internet for information about Cleveland and found none, so I wanted to at least put this out there in case there are any other old boys from Claremont School who feel that they have been harmed in any way by Ronald Cleveland’s sadism and sexual perversion.Peternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-40086641538084620582012-02-24T16:55:35.504+00:002012-02-24T16:55:35.504+00:00I can't argue with you as I was not there when...I can't argue with you as I was not there when he was sentenced. However, I fail to see how his incarceration can be determined by an act passed after most of his crimes were committed. Doubtless you will advise blog readers when he is released and we will see who is right. I hope I am as the longer he is in jail, the better!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518202135348193859.post-73192413139934979522012-02-24T10:52:53.509+00:002012-02-24T10:52:53.509+00:0002:41
Not so. I attended Pearce's sentencing h...02:41<br />Not so. I attended Pearce's sentencing hearing. The judge made it perfectly clear that he was sentencing Pearce to 8 years, of which he would serve half and the other half would be suspended.<br /><br />The sentence was reduced to five years on appeal. So, since Pearce was sentenced & imprisoned in November 2009, he should be being released in April 2012, after 2 and a half years.Jonathan Westhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00527063732905729010noreply@blogger.com