Sister of a man who took his own life after being abused by bishop Peter Ball claims the paedophile's 'friends in high places' like Prince Charles are 'to blame' for her brother's death in a new documentary
- Neil Todd was the first victim to tell senior clergy about Peter Ball's sex crimes
- Pair met in 1993 while Ball was Bishop of Gloucester and Neil, 16, was trainee
- Ball forced him to rehearse 'penitential psalms' naked in the middle of the night
- The victim committed suicide in 2012 in despair at being repeatedly ignored
- His family have claimed 'Ball, the church and his powerful friends' are to blame
The sister of a victim of disgraced paedophile Bishop Peter Ball has claimed his 'friends in high places' like Prince Charles are 'categorically to blame' for her brother's death.
Neil Todd met the then Bishop of Gloucester in 1993 at 16 years old while acting as his trainee - and was the first victim to tell senior clergy about Ball's sex crimes.
Neil took his own life in 2012 at the age of 38, in despair at being 'repeatedly ignored' and 'continuously silenced by authorities' after reporting the crimes.
In the new BBC2 documentary Exposed: The Church's Darkest Secret, his sister Mary told of how when the case resurfaced in 2012, her brother couldn't 'go through the ordeal' again.
She claimed the systematic abuse of the church was 'categorically responsible' for his death, as well as Ball's friendships with people in powerful positions, such as Prince Charles and former prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
The sister of Neil Todd (pictured age 16), a victim of disgraced paedophile Bishop Peter Ball, has claimed the death of her brother was 'categorically' down to the systematic abuse within the church and Ball's 'powerful friends'
Neil met the Bishop of Gloucester (pictured) in 1993 at 16 years old while acting as his trainee - and was the first victim to tell senior clergy about Ball's sex crimes
The Prince of Wales (pictured with the Bishop in 1992) remained friends with Ball following Neil's allegations against him. He has since expressed regret
The documentary told how Neil's abuse included being forced by the bishop to practice 'penitential psalms' naked in the middle of the night so he could 'feel the cold' and being told he would whipped by Ball in an 'initiation ceremony'.
Mary said: 'Peter Ball is responsible, categorically - the church, all his friends in high places.
'Neil thought he'd put it away, but you never get over anything like that.
'When you try to speak out and you go to the people that should be there to protect you and they call you liars and mischief makers and make out you're the one starting up a load of rubbish, then you've got to go through the ordeal all over again.'
Despite being forced to give up his position as Bishop of Gloucester, Ball's friendship with the Prince of Wales meant he was given a property purchased specifically by the Duchy of Cornwall to rent and he was often invited to Highgrove House
The first allegations made against Ball where from Neil in 1993, which led to a police caution for sexual abuse - the lowest level of punishment possible for such a crime.
Despite being forced to give up his position as Bishop of Gloucester, his friendship with the Prince of Wales meant he was given a property purchased specifically by the Duchy of Cornwall to rent and he was often invited to Highgrove House.
It was in 2012, when Phil Johnson, another of Ball's victims, made allegations against Ball that after surviving two previous suicide attempts, Neil took his own life.
The first allegations made against Ball where from Neil in 1993, which led to a police caution for sexual abuse - the lowest level of punishment possible for such a crime
In the new BBC2 documentary Exposed: The Church's Darkest Secret, Neil's sister Mary opens up about his death
Mary told how her brother, who had tried to make a new life for himself in Australia, was taken off life support by her after she 'lost all hope' for his recovery.
'I can't believe he's gone. When you lose a sibling, you lose part of yourself. We were close very close', she said, visibly tearing up.
She received the news that Neil had taken an overdose via a phone call and made arrangements to go out to Australia.
'When I got there it wasn't Neil, there was no one there,' she recalled. 'I sat with him all night and any movement, any flutter of his eyelash, any twitch, gave me hope.
'But it's just body spasm, so I had to start making arrangements and battling with the hospital to take him off life support.'
Ball was jailed at the Old Bailey in 2015 for sexual offences against 18 young men over three decades
Ball was Bishop of Lewes between 1977 and 1992 and became Bishop of Gloucester in 1992 to 1993, in a ceremony attended by Prince Charles.
He was jailed at the Old Bailey in 2015 for sexual offences against 18 young men over three decades, before being released after 16 months. In November last year an inquest heard he died at his Somerset home aged 87 after a fall.
Neil's father also spoke of his son, and how he had joined the church as he always loved 'helping other people'.
He admitted that his son was 'distraught' when the clergy rubbished his claims and branded him a 'liar'.
He said: 'Neil just loved the church, he got great satisfaction being there and helping other people, he just loved it.
'After everything had come out, Neil was distraught because everybody that was in the church started calling him a liar.'
It wasn't until last year, when the government's on-going Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published damning evidence against Ball, that a Clarence House spokesman said Prince Charles has been 'deceived' by Ball.
Neil's father went on: 'I don't understand how anybody could be friends with him, I feel just so let down and angry.
'Why, why are they still supporting this man, it just doesn't make sense to me. But apparently he was quite a friend of Prince Charles.
'Peter Ball was at Prince Charles' wedding to Camilla and then Camilla's father died and he did the reading at the funeral - so he's still getting supported in everything he does.'
Johnson, who speaks in the documentary of the horrific abuse he received from Ball and other senior members of the clergy from the age of 10, also spoke of Neil.
Philip Johnson( pictured age ten) also speaks in the documentary of the horrific abuse he received from Ball and other senior members of the clergy from the age of ten
The pair had got in contact when Philip had gone public with his allegations - and told that he received a call from Neil the night he died, which Philip had ignored.
He said: 'The night Neil took an overdose, he called me and I didn't pick up deliberately because I was trying to state boundaries.
'Then the following morning, I got a message to say what had happened. What Neil couldn't face was going through another police investigation.
'He was treated appallingly, he had been through all that and when he thought he would have to go through another police investigation into Peter Ball - and it was all going to be dragged out all over again - he couldn't face it.'
Exposed: The Church's Darkest Secret continues tonight at 9pm on BBC Two. For confidential support, log on to samaritans.org or call the Samaritans on 116123.
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