Bishop of Warrington made sexual harassment claim against Bishop of Liverpool
The Bishop of Warrington, Bev Mason, has announced that she was the female bishop who made a complaint of sexual harassment against the Bishop of Liverpool.
Dr John Perumbalath resigned from his role as Bishop of Liverpool on Thursday (January 30). after a Channel 4 News investigation revealed he had been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in the Chelmsford diocese on separate occasions between 2019 and 2023, and of sexually harassing a female bishop.
Perumbalath has “consistently” denied any wrongdoing, stating in his resignation announcement: “Media reports have treated me as guilty on all charges and treated these allegations as fact.” He was interviewed voluntarily under caution by police in March last year, and no charges were brought. The police closed the investigation due to insufficient evidence.
In a pastoral letter to the Diocese of Liverpool, Bishop Mason said that in March 2023 - while she acting Bishop of Liverpool - she raised “significant” concerns about Dr Perumbalath, including her own disclosure, after being advised of a separate complaint.
She said she has “remained consistent and persistent in my pursuit of proper and appropriate ecclesiastical judicial process”, adding: “A bishop cannot be above the law. A bishop cannot be dealt differently from a priest. If anything, a bishop must be held to greater scrutiny. This is a biblical imperative.”
Bishop Mason continued: “I do not hold to the media serving as prosecutor, jury and judge. For these reasons, I have with intention distanced myself from the recent media activity. However, I regret we as a church have not properly and satisfactorily addressed concerns that have been raised.
“My prayer is that now things have been brought into the light, there will be no more defendedness but an honest scrutiny of what we are doing, how we are doing it, where the gaps sit and how we address them. Our aim as an institutional church should be to work together across disciplines and departments to ensure our church is a safe, grace-filled, Christ-centred, flourishing environment/workplace for all.”
The Church of England has been approached for comment.