John Smyth Stripped Of Church Leadership Role In South Africa After Channel 4 Christian Teen Beatings Investigation

                        John Smyth in church in South Africa


John Smyth, the British QC and Christian summer camp leader who is at the centre of allegations of teenage boy beatings, has been stripped of his Church role in South Africa.

The latest development came after new allegations of inappropriate behaviour, following a series of exposes by Channel 4 News.

Smyth, who ran the Iwerne Trust Christian 'bash' camps in the 1970s, has been accused of violently beating a group young men in the 1970s and 80s at his home near Winchester.

He has now been removed as a leader of his church in Cape Town, Channel 4 News has learnt today.

The decision was made by elders at Church-on-Main in Cape Town after they discovered new allegations of inappropriate behavior by Smyth.

In a statement to Channel 4 News, the church said some congregants had raised 'worrying concerns' about Smyth last September.

Smyth's 'discipleship' of young men was described by the church as 'pastorally unwise'.

The church said: 'His practice of meeting young men at a well know Cape Town sports club that began with a game of squash, was followed by a shower in a common shower, then lunch over which we were told John would make generally unsolicited enquirers about the young men's experience of pornography, masturbation and other sexual matters.'

They were also worried that Smyth was 'offering his advice regarding sexual matters that left the person feeling uncomfortable. Mostly this seems to have occurred on John's first meeting with the young men we spoke with.'

The church made it clear it had no evidence that any criminal acts had taken place, or that there had been physical contact between Smyth and the young men.

Complaints had also been made about Smyth's 'heavy handed style of leadership, which was described to us in a way where John became upset with individuals when they failed to meet up to his suggested commitment towards his meetings and forums.'

The Church said it first became aware about allegations about Smyth last September after receiving a call from a man in Zimbabwe who had attended one of Smyth's Christian summer camps.

Smyth was later charged by Zimbabwean police with culpable homicide and assault, but the case collapsed.

At that point, the church says, it first became aware that allegations had been made against Smyth in the UK.

On September 15th 2016 Andrew Thompson from the church challenged Smyth on the allegations in Zimbabwe and in the UK.

'To these concerns John stated that the case in Zimbabwe had been brought by himself to the Supreme Court in order to clear his name of what he viewed as malicious rumors and unfair accusation swirling at the time. He also led Andrew to believe that there was nothing in his past in the UK that we needed to know about,' said the Church.

The Church said Smyth and his wife Anne responded by making accusations against members of the church and withdrawing from Church meetings. Despite repeated requests, the church said, Smyth refused to meet with them.

'Given that our concerns remained unresolved and their resistance in meeting with us, we felt that we could no longer endorse John and Anne Smyth as leaders, in any capacity, in Church-on-Main,' the Church said in its statement.

'We communicated this to John and Anne in an email which we sent to them on 2
 December 2016. In it, we made it clear that we were removing them from their roles as leaders at Church-on-Main [and] that we continued to have unresolved issues and concerns about John's pastoral practice.'

The Church said they did not meet with Smyth until the 30th of January, when Mr Smyth asked the pastor to come to his house to discuss allegations scheduled to be broadcast by Channel 4 News the following week.

'This was the first time any elder at Church-on-Main was made aware of the nature and the gravity of the allegations about John's ministry in the UK. Present at this meeting was a member of the NGO that John led at the time,' the statement said.

'John was requesting that Andrew as his pastor would call the UK and vouch for him saying that he was in good standing in the church community. At this point Andrew said this was not possible as John was currently suspended from leadership and that there were unresolved issues between John and the elders of Church-on-Main.

'In our meeting John did acknowledge that something of a serious nature had taken place in the UK and that he did regret certain occurrences from his past.

'John also stated that in his opinion many of the allegations from the UK were inaccurate and grossly exaggerated. He told us he had been given counsel not to talk about what had happened in his past.'

The Church said it encouraged John to fly back to the UK in order to face the allegations and work with the UK police and justice system.
John Smyth is confronted by Channel 4's Cathy Newman