Former Church in Wales bishop admits to indecent assault on a child over 30 years ago

[Church in Wales] The Rt. Rev. Anthony Pierce, who was bishop of Swansea and Brecon between 1999 and 2008, has appeared at Swansea Crown Court and has admitted five counts of indecent assault on a male child under the age of 16. The offenses date from between 1985 and 1990, when Pierce was a parish priest in West Cross, Swansea.

Pierce has been remanded on bail, and a provisional date of March 7 has been set for sentencing at Swansea Crown Court.

The allegations came to the attention of the Church in Wales in 2023 when the survivor made a disclosure to a Church in Wales safeguarding officer. The disclosure was immediately passed to the police, and the Church in Wales worked closely with our statutory partners as the case was investigated and prosecuted.

Following criminal sentencing, the Church in Wales Disciplinary Tribunal will consider further appropriate action.

We acknowledge the bravery of the survivor in coming forward and thank the police, Crown Prosecution Service and the local authority for their careful work in this case.

The Church in Wales is appalled at the offenses which have been revealed in this case and expresses its deepest sympathy with the victim for the abuse they have suffered. It is a cause of the most profound shame that a priest in the Church in Wales should have been convicted of such shocking crimes.

Our prayers are with the survivor and with all victims of abuse, whose welfare must always be at the heart of our work. We hope that the manner with which the disclosure was handled when it came to light in 2023 will give confidence that the church is serious about dealing firmly and decisively with any such cases.

An internal investigation prompted by the disclosure suggests that in 1993 a small number of members of the Church in Wales had been aware of a further allegation against Pierce but that this was not shared with police until 2010. The Church in Wales Safeguarding Committee has now commissioned an independent external review of the Church in Wales’s handling of this second allegation, which will commence immediately and will be published upon completion.

The review will also consider how safeguarding allegations are handled in the church’s current systems for the appointment of archdeacons and bishops and whether any changes to these processes are necessary. The Terms of Reference of the Review will be published shortly on the Church in Wales website.

The Church in Wales is determined to demonstrate that it is a safe place, and that anyone coming forward will have their concerns or disclosures taken seriously, treated with compassion and taken forward according to the highest current standards. If our people and processes have failed victims and survivors of abuse in the past, we intend to take responsibility for that fact and to fully apply the lessons which have been learned.

There is no place for any form of abuse in the Church in Wales. We give the highest priority to the care and protection of children and vulnerable people in our communities. To this end we regularly review our safeguarding procedures and provide extensive training to staff and volunteers.

We encourage anyone with safeguarding concerns to contact a member of our team via the Church in Wales website

Alternatively, Safe Spaces is a free and independent support service, providing a confidential, personal and safe space for anyone who has been abused through their relationship with either the Church of England, the Catholic Church in England and Wales, or the Church in Wales.​ You can contact the Safe Spaces team by its website or email.