Oxford college employed sex abuse monk for 12 years

An Oxford college knew for six years a monk it employed had sexually abused a boy, before they sacked him, it has emerged.

Father Bernard Green admitted the abuse at Ampleforth College, North Yorkshire in 1995 and was barred from teaching in schools and further education.

A report into abuse at the school said Green began at Oxford's St Benet's Hall in 2000, in breach of the restriction.

St Benet's Hall said it stopped him teaching under 19s once it was aware.

It had learned of the ban in 2006, but Green - who died in 2013 - was not dismissed until 2012.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) said "appalling" abuse was inflicted on pupils at Ampleforth over 40 years.

St Benet's Hall was founded by Ampleforth Abbey, but has been run by the St Benet's Trust since 2012, which has a majority of university members as trustees.

Indecent images
In 1996, Green admitted he sexually assaulted a boy under the age of 14 and was sentenced to two years' probation, and 50 hours of community service.

He was also sent on a sex offenders treatment programme and put on the register for five years.

He attended a rehabilitation course at a treatment centre for Catholic priests, where it was decided he was not a paedophile.

After his death indecent images of children were found on his computer.

The teaching ban was discovered by the Abbot of Ampleforth in 2006, when he came across a letter from the Department of Education, the Cherwell reports.

The outgoing master of St Benet's Hall, Professor Werner Jeanrond, said: "It is a matter of deep regret that the hall had any part in what happened in those years."

He added that "far-reaching" changes have been made to its governance and procedures.

The report said in 2005 Green was issued with a final written warning by the university for harassing a 19‑year‑old undergraduate.

It said he was sacked in 2012 after a university review of his case discovered the ban on working with young people. Police had not been notified between these two incidents.

A university spokesman said: "The revelations of this important report are deeply troubling and we are looking into the points raised by it."