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| Retired bishop jailed for sex assaults | Retired bishop jailed for sex assaults |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| A retired Church of England bishop has been jailed for a string of offences against teenagers and young men. | |
| Peter Ball, 83, was sentenced to 32 months for misconduct in a public office and 15 months for indecent assaults, to run concurrently. | |
| The former Bishop of Lewes and Bishop of Gloucester used "religion as a cloak" to carry out the abuse between the 1970s and 1990s, the court heard. | |
| The Church of England said there were "no excuses". | |
| Ball was described by the judge at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Wilkie, as a man who did "so much good and so much harm". | |
| Bobbie Cheema QC, prosecuting, said: "He was highly regarded as a godly man who had a special affinity with young people." | |
| "The truth was that he used those 15 years in the position of bishop to identify, groom and exploit sensitive and vulnerable young men who came within his orbit." | |
| "For him, religion was a cloak behind which he hid in order to satisfy his sexual interest in those who trusted him." | |
| Ball, now of Langport in Somerset, was Bishop of Lewes between 1977 and 1992 and Bishop of Gloucester from 1992 until his resignation the following year. | |
| In September, he admitted offences against 18 teenagers and young men in the 1970s, 80s and 90s |