Reverend Robert Coles

Reverend Robert Coles served as a parish priest in the Diocese of Chichester until his retirement in 1997. Despite retiring, he continued to take services without formal permission from the Diocese. In 2012, Coles pleaded guilty to 11 offences of child sexual abuse, including seven counts of indecent assault and one count of buggery, related to his time in ministry. He was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment. In 2015, he faced further conviction on two counts of sexual assault against a male under 13 years old.

A serious case review conducted in 2015 by the Diocese revealed that Coles had sexually groomed a child between 2007 and 2008. He befriended families of teenage boys, took them out alone, and gave them keys to his flat, facilitating abuse. These activities were known to some individuals within the Diocese, including a diocesan bishop, an area bishop, an archdeacon, and two safeguarding advisers, yet no steps were taken to prevent him from working with children or to report the matters to the police. Colin Perkins, the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser, described Coles' case as “the worst case in the Diocese, the most serious case,” criticising the failure of Church leaders to act despite admissions of wrongdoing.

The IICSA investigation into the Anglican Chichester case study underscored the Diocese's inadequate safeguarding structures from the early 1990s to 2013, characterised by prevarication and a failure to take professional advice. This allowed perpetrators like Coles to continue offending. The Church's response was marked by 'clericalism' and 'tribalism,' prioritising internal loyalties over child protection, leading to callous treatment of victims.