Originally published in Christian Today
Channel 4 is broadcasting a two-part documentary on the life of John Smyth, the serial abuser whose crimes brought an end to Justin Welby’s tenure as Archbishop of Canterbury.
Smyth ran a number of Christian camps in both Britain and Africa and is believed to have physically and mentally abused hundreds of boys from the 1970s onwards. He died in 2018 without ever being brought to justice.
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Last year the independent Makin Review into the Church of England’s handling of the abuse allegations found that Welby had failed to inform police. Welby insisted it was his understanding that the abuse had already been reported to police, but apologised for his failure nonetheless and subsequently resigned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
The new documentary, called See No Evil, features testimony from Smyth’s victims and family members.
Speaking to The Times, Smyth’s daughter, Fiona Rugg, recalled asking her father why they had moved to Africa. While he told his family they had come for mission work, in fact, he had left England after the Church upheld abuse complaints against him while teaching at Winchester College.
Rugg recalled: “I said to him, very gently really, ‘I just want to talk about why you left England and what happened.’ And there was an explosion. He flew off the armchair in such a rage. It was the whole spiel about wicked, disloyal daughter. It was all slander and ‘I can’t believe you would ever question me’.”
One of Smyth’s victims at Winchester College was author Dr Mark Stibbe. Writing on Medium, Dr Stibbe spoke of how Smyth put on an outward façade of charm and authority that allowed him to become a father figure to those who felt lost and abandoned.
Dr Stibbe, who also appears in the documentary, wrote, “Smyth had a nose for boys like me — ones with orphaned hearts. He could sense those suffering from the fear of abandonment and the longing for a father’s love. When he found good-looking boys who fitted that profile, he would conduct a charm offensive. Before long, we would be looking to him as the older male role model we needed. We felt accepted and affirmed.”
Smyth’s son, PJ Smyth, also commented ahead of the documentary’s broadcast, saying on Instagram, “We [the family] chose to take part to step out of our shame and hopefully help other families caught in the crossfire of trauma also.”
The documentary airs on Channel 4 on and December 10 and 11 at 9pm. It is executive produced by Channel 4 News journalist, Cathy Newman, investigated Smyth for years.
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