Stephen Cottrell was criticised for renewing the contract of David Tudor, despite being aware of his past abuse
The Church of England’s second most senior cleric has been cleared of misconduct over his handling of a priest who committed sexual abuse.
Stephen Cottrell, the archbishop of York, was criticised after he allowed the disgraced priest David Tudor to remain in ministry during his oversight from 2010, despite Tudor’s history of sexual abuse.
Tudor was barred from ministry for life in 2024 after acknowledging he had sexual relationships with two teenage girls, aged 15 and 16, in the 1980s.
He had previously been suspended from ministry for five years in 1988 after admitting to having sex with a 16-year-old girl who was a pupil at a school where he was chaplain. He returned to working in the church in 1994.
