Widow 'ashamed' for standing by Church's worst child abuser

THE Widow of the Church of England's most prolific serial abuser says she feels "ashamed" of having stood by him and has apologised to his victims.

- AINE FOX

THE widow of the Church of England's most prolific serial abuser says she feels “ashamed” of having stood by him and has apologised to his victims.

Barrister and Christian camp leader John Smyth is thought to have attacked around 130 children and young men in his lifetime, but a report last year found his actions were covered up by the Church.

His wife Anne, in a Channel Four documentary, said while she knew about her husband's beatings and “didn't approve”, she ‘struggled to know what to do’.