Prince Charles to give evidence in child sexual abuse inquiry

Prince Charles will give evidence at a UK child sexual abuse inquiry looking into the case of a disgraced former Church of England bishop.
 
A statement written by the Prince of Wales, 69, will be read out at the long-running Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) on Thursday.
 
The inquiry is investigating the Church of England’s handling of allegations against ex-clergyman Peter Ball, 86, who was jailed in 2015 for sexually abusing young men in the 1970s.
 
It aims to establish whether there were “inappropriate attempts by people of prominence to interfere in the criminal justice process” after the first accusations were made.

The court case against Ball heard that an unnamed member of the Royal Family was among public figures who supported him when he avoided charges in 1993.
 
The former bishop was sentenced to 32 months in jail in October 2015 - 22 years after the first allegation against him - for offences relating to 18 “vulnerable” young men aged between 17 and 25.
 
After serving half of his jail term, he was released in February 2017.