A VICAR who was sexually abused by a Bishop has spoken of his ordeal in a new documentary.

Appearing on BBC programme, Exposed: The Church’s Darkest Secret, Rev Graham Sawyer, former vicar at St James' Church in Briercliffe, candidly talked about his experiences as a victim of Bishop Peter Ball.

Ball abused 18 males in the 1970s to 1990s and was sentenced to 32 months in prison in 2015, but was released just 16 months later. He died last year, aged 87.

The Bishop of Gloucester started a scheme in 1980 called Give a Year to God, where teenagers and young men would go to live with him to 'learn the ways of a holy man'.

During this time, Rev Sawyer went to stay with the disgraced Bishop.

He said: “To be honest with you, I don’t remember the first time I met Bishop Peter Ball, all I remember is the occasions when he tried to take my clothes off me.

“I do remember Bishop Peter Ball making me feel as if, somehow, I owed it to him to take all my clothes off and be naked with him.

“And when I say be naked with him, I mean he wanted to take his clothes off too.

“I remember as a teenage boy, being completely confused.”

When Rev Sawyer continuously rejected his advances, Ball said he would make sure he never got ordained and stayed true to his word, as Rev Sawyer was rejected for his ordainment.

Due to this, he moved to New Zealand, where he was ordained after three years, before returning to Wales.

He said: “Peter Ball’s friends, many of whom are still living Bishops, have sought every way possible to try and ensure that I did not continue being a clergyman.

“It showed how rotten and corrupt and evil the pervading culture and leadership of the Church of England is.”

There were 24 men who stayed with Ball at the church, who was also friends with Prince Charles.

But despite all the growing allegations against him, the programme says even the Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, denied Ball could have any involvement, and failed to hand over letters from concerned parents to the police during initial investigations.

Rev Sawyer is now in Ireland, and said it was 'a shame he had to move so far away to stay 'safe from the eyes of corrupt Church of England officials'.

The first episode aired on Monday evening and the second part is on tonight at 9pm.