THE former Bishop of Blackburn has been criticised in an inquiry report into child sexual abuse in his former diocese.

The Right Rev Nicholas Reade, the Bishop of Blackburn from 2004 to 2012, has been held to account by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse over his time as Archdeacon of Lewes, in the Diocese of Chichester.

The Rev Robert Coles admitted the alleged sexual abuse of a teenage altar server in the 1980s to Bishop Nicholas and a fellow clergyman, the inquiry was told.

But despite Coles confessing to sexual activity with the 15 or 16-year-old boy at his home, neither Bishop Nicholas nor his colleague disclosed this information to police, following the former’s arrest in 1997.

Coles, who was a parish priest across the southern diocese, faced no criminal action at the time.

But an investigation was relaunched in 2012 and he was later convicted on two separate occasions of serious sexual offences involving young boys and given substantial jail sentences.

Referring to the 1997 disclosures, Prof Alexis Jay, the inquiry’s chairman, said in a final report: “Archdeacon Reade declined to report a serious indecent to the police, yet repeatedly sought to justify this failure on the basis that ‘he had not raped the boy’.

“Coles should have been reported to the police and subject to disciplinary action or a risk assessment.”

The inquiry heard that Coles sexually groomed a child in 2007-08. He was officially retired but still continued to officiate.

Mr Reade was also found to have defended another minister, Rev Roy Cotton, who had a past conviction for indecent exposure involving a boy in a church organ loft in the 1950s.

Cotton, an ‘Anglo-Catholic’ was supposed to only be allowed to celebrate Mass at his retirement home but officiated in public several times when children were present, the inquiry report disclosed.

He was investigated twice over allegations that he abused boys in the 70s and 80s, with another disgraced minister. Three victims came forward to make accusations. No criminal action was taken but Sussex Police’s inquiry was found to be ‘inadequate’. Cotton, who was the subject of later church and judicial inquiries, died in September 2006.

Prof Jay, referring to Cotton’s case, added: “This was a clear example of the diocese failing to prioritise its responsibilities for children and young people.

“Its concerns seem to have been led by pastoral concerns for Cotton, rather than the danger he posed to children.”

The current Bishop of Blackburn, the Right Rev Julian Henderson, this week wrote to all clergy in the diocese, calling on them to learn lessons from the inquiry’s findings.

Mr Reade was Archdeacon of Lewes before being appointed Bishop of Blackburn in 2004. He retired in 2012.

The child sex abuse inquiry was prompted by revelations that no fewer than 20 individuals with connections to Chichester Diocese had been convicted of sexual offending against children, including Peter Ball, the former Bishop of Lewes and later Bishop of Gloucester, over the past 50 years.

In her findings, Prof Jay said: “The Church must take action to ensure that this catalogue of errors does not occur again.”