Queer Christian ‘could never go to church again’ after being ‘groped’ at mass

Pinned against a partition portion being groped, John* knew helium had to act.

‘I wanted to determination distant from them, but they cornered me, gave maine a hug, and past grabbed my arse’, they told Metro.

This wasn’t the archetypal clip a person astatine this LGBT+ religion successful the UK had been accused of inappropriate touching.

At slightest 18 congregants person complained astir their behaviour since December 2022, but different religion leaders described them arsenic ‘just a hugger’ doing an ‘old antheral thing’.

Alleged victims’ stories overgarment a antithetic picture.

‘At the commencement of a Sunday service, the halfway person smacked my ass hard successful beforehand of different members’, 1 said.

‘They would compression and pinch my broadside each the mode down to my buttocks and thighs.’

Often it was done successful the open, according to John, who ‘saw him massage the tummy of idiosyncratic who was younger than me’.

They said: ‘His manus had gone down to the person’s flank, and past rubbed it – not for a 2nd oregon a moment, but astir arsenic if they were grasping it.’

It was expected to beryllium a harmless abstraction for anyone, careless of race, gender, sexuality oregon property – radical similar John, who’ve struggled to consciousness astatine home.

‘It was a immense upheaval to permission the erstwhile religion I went to due to the fact that their theology excluded cheery people, oregon was profoundly judgmental to cheery people. Leaving that community, I ne'er needfully thought I’d find different one.’

For John, that archetypal content they’d recovered determination they beryllium added to the consciousness of ‘betrayal’ they felt erstwhile galore complaints astir ‘overly intense’ behaviour were brushed aside.

Church argumentation was to study immoderate lawsuit of inappropriate touching to the territory church’s safeguarding pb wrong 24 hours. This didn’t happen.

John said: ‘They truly made it consciousness similar it was my occupation to woody with. I deliberation they said thing on the lines of, “X is my person and I consciousness truly awkward to bring it up with them, would you consciousness comfy to situation the behaviour yourself”, and different questions similar that.’

When an probe was launched, alleged victims weren’t called connected for evidence, they told Metro.

Attempts to stock their experiences with a gathering connected the substance led to threats to telephone the police.

‘You are disrupting the gathering’, a religion person could beryllium heard saying successful 1 recording. ‘I americium going to person to inquire you to permission for a last clip and if you bash not past I americium going to person to telephone the police.’

For John: ‘The existent occupation astatine the bosom of this lawsuit is the mode the religion responded – not conscionable its archetypal response, but its continuing response, and its downplaying of the issue, its consequent victimisation and past exclusion of radical who were victims oregon survivors of this person’s inappropriate touching.

‘The religion officially responded in, eventually, an aggressive, exclusionary mode arsenic they efficaciously rounded the wagons and sought to benignant of isolate the radical who had raised complaints to effort and safeguard the estimation of their community.’

Sunday services astatine the religion person been suspended since the summer, according to a announcement connected its location page. If they bash resume, John won’t return.

‘The betrayal of it has been rather deep’, they told Metro. ‘I truly conflict with emotions similar rage, that consciousness of betrayal, and there’s a heavy grief to it, due to the fact that it felt similar I’d recovered thing and it’s ripped distant by incompetence.

They said: ‘I’m not definite I could spell to a religion again. I don’t cognize if I could spot radical again.’

In a statement, the religion said it’s ‘grieved by each the symptom that has been experienced’, but stated its ongoing enactment for the religion leadership.

They said: ‘A safeguarding interest was archetypal brought to the attraction of [the church]’s enactment successful precocious 2023. This was followed by further complaints to the [district church] arsenic [the church]’s oversight assemblage successful January 2024.

‘Swift enactment was past taken by [the church] and territory leaders to guarantee the information of the community. With hazard removed, a five-month safeguarding probe followed. However, beyond the archetypal concern, aggregate further allegations could not beryllium corroborated oregon were recovered to beryllium inaccurate and truthful dismissed.

‘Several LGBTQ+ members of [the church] expressed distress astatine being wrongly named arsenic victims oregon witnesses without their cognition oregon consent. The safeguarding probe was completed successful June uncovering nary ongoing hazard successful narration to the archetypal allegation, but [the church] has not yet reconvened nationalist gatherings owed to the distress and harm this concern has caused.’

A connection from the constabulary said: ‘Officers investigating a fig of reports of intersexual assaults person made an arrest.

‘As portion of our ongoing enquiries, a 49-year-old antheral was arrested this play connected suspicion of intersexual assault.

‘He has since been bailed portion our enquiries continue.’

Metro approached the territory religion and territory researcher for comment.

*Name changed to support their identity.

Get successful interaction with our quality squad by emailing america astatine webnews@metro.co.uk.

For much stories similar this, check our quality page.

MORE: LGBT+ religion person arrested aft Metro probe into ‘sexual abuse’

MORE: Iconic London nightclub closed aft information defender charged with rape

MORE: Denzel Washington reveals his same-sex buss was chopped from Gladiator 2