from Religion Media Centre
A two part documentary is to be aired on Channel 4 on Wednesday and Thursday this week, on how John Smyth’s abuse was kept hidden and silenced for decades. Smyth was a barrister and leader in the Church of England, who groomed young men and boys at the Christian Iwerne summer camp and at public schools, then beat them in his garden shed, until they bled.
The documentary series “See No Evil” includes interviews with his daughters and son, on how they look back at their fear, his temper and cruelty, and how they have faced the stories of abuse that have emerged.
The Sunday Times says the film also includes the children confronting their mother, Anne, “still in Africa and remarried, and ask why she remained loyal for so long”.
The documentary includes interviews with Andrew Graystone, whose book “Bleeding for Jesus: John Smyth and the Cult of Iwerne Camps”, has just been updated with new information on how complicity in the church kept the story hidden. Survivor Mark Stibbe has written about the film and his experience here.
See also: Our father was the Church of England’s worst serial abuser. He destroyed our family too by Sophie Barnes, Telegraph