The conviction of an individual for child sex offences led the Presbyterian Church to begin talks with police over safeguarding issues, it has emerged.
Moderator Trevor Gribben announced on Wednesday he was standing down as leader of the Church in Ireland following an internal investigation that found “serious and significant failings” around safeguarding, ones dating back more than a decade.
Three people are known to have been harmed by these failings, the Rev David Allen, acting clerk of the church’s General Assembly, told The Irish News.
However, the Church believes an unknown larger number were impacted due to the “basic failure” of the church to follow its own guidelines on the safeguarding of individuals who may have made contact from 2009 to 2022.
A lack of proper record-keeping is partly to blame for the lack of solid information, the church said.
The Church has called on individuals who may have been affected by the failings to come forward and make disclosures, an appeal echoed by the PSNI.
Detective Chief Superintendent Zoe McKee, head of the PSNI’s Public Protection Branch, said the service: “Has been actively engaged in ongoing discussions with the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) to ensure that mechanisms are in place to support any victim who wishes to make disclosures.
“The PSNI remains committed to working in partnership with all relevant agencies and organisations to ensure that robust safeguarding measures are in place to protect vulnerable individuals,” Det Chief Supt McKee added.
“If you or anyone you know are concerned or wish to report a crime to police, we have dedicated detectives trained to investigate and support all victims of abuse.”
The Church would not reveal any details of allegations made by those who made contact over the years, including those made by the three, where it is known they suffered harm due to the failings.
However, discussions with the police followed concerns raised by the Church after the conviction of an individual in 2024 for child sexual offences.
Rev Allen told the BBC the church had initiated an investigation after receiving information from the PSNI in May.
“We became aware of the actions of a member of one of our congregations – not within that congregation, but in another area of his life,” he said.
“The PSNI told us they were investigating this individual.
“They prevented us from taking any action until their investigation was completed. When this investigation was complete, they gave us the go-ahead to carry out internal investigations into our processes.”
In the statement announcing his resignation, Rev Gribben said an “internal investigation and report” revealed “serious and significant failings” in the central safeguarding functions of the church from 2009 and 2022.
“As a result of this, people have been placed at risk. We are aware of a number of people who have been harmed, and we believe there may well be others as yet unknown to us,” he added.
Communities Minister Gordon Lyons, a member of the Church, said he does not think members or the wider public has been “furnished with all the information”. Mr Lyons added that he hoped more information will be provided.
“I speak as a member of the Church, they have made this announcement yesterday and I think a lot of people will be concerned at what has been said and also concerned at what hasn’t been said,” Mr Lyons said.
“I don’t think we have been furnished with all the information, obviously we haven’t seen this review and there does seem to be a lack of clarity as to what is happening, so I hope there is more information that can be provided.
“I hope more people come forward if there have been issues.”