The Church of England is to make far-reaching changes to the way it deals with cases of sex abuse, following an independent report detailing how senior C of E figures failed to act upon repeated disclosures of a sadistic assault by a cleric. The first independent review commissioned by the Church into its handling of a sex abuse case highlights the ‘deeply disturbing’ failure of those in senior positions to record or take action on the survivor’s disclosures over a period of almost four decades. The Church acknowledged that the report made ‘embarrassing and uncomfortable’ reading. Last October, the C of E paid £35,000 in compensation and apologised to the victim. Now a government-appointed inquiry into child sex abuse prepares to examine hundreds of thousands of files relating to the abuse of children and vulnerable adults within the Church. Justin Welby has said that abuse by Church figures and within other institutions has been ‘rampant’.