At the inquiry in Edinburgh on Thursday, Bishop of Aberdeen Hugh Gilbert was asked about convicted abuser Richard White, with whom he was photographed at a celebration in 1997.
Professor Alexis Jay, Chairwoman of The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) is pictured above.
Rt Rev Gilbert, then Abbot of Pluscarden in Moray, said: “I was aware that he had been sent to Fort Augustus from his home monastery because of allegations against him at that time.
“I think I was possibly informed about Richard White’s move but I was not a person of any status – I was a monk at Pluscarden.
“I think what happened was that I had been informed, possibly by the Abbot of Downside, that he was being sent there.”
Asked if he knew the reason why, the president of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland told the inquiry: “Yes, at least generally.
“I think it was said that there was a reason that it was not a good idea for him to be at the school at his own monastery.”
Richard White was subsequently convicted of sexually abusing two boys in the 1980s.
Rev Gilbert said: “I think he was found guilty and that was lamentable. It must have been thought that this was a safe place to send him because there was not a school.”
The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry is currently hearing evidence on abuse allegations at Fort Augustus school in Inverness-shire, run by Benedictine monks before its…
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