As Bishop of Chelmsford, Mr Cottrell let priest David Tudor remain in post in the diocese despite knowing he had been barred by the Church from being alone with children and had paid compensation to a sexual abuse victim, a BBC investigation reveals.

Tudor was only banned from ministry two months ago – after he admitted historical sex abuse allegations relating to two girls.

Since this article was first published, Mr Cottrell has responded saying he is “deeply sorry” that action could not be taken earlier, but that was the situation he inherited.

However, the Bishop of Newcastle the Rt Rev Helen-Ann Hartley has said Mr Cottrell could have done more and should resign as archbishop.

“It completely undermines his credibility that this case was not acted on,” she told BBC File on 4 Investigates.

“How can you have the moral and ethical authority to lead an institution with that?

“A woman who was paid £10,000 compensation by Tudor over claims he sexually abused her as a child says Mr Cottrell’s failure to act when he was told about the payment means he should “leave the Church”.

“I feel like he [Stephen Cottrell] has spat in my face,” says Jessica (not her real name).

The calls for Archbishop Cottrell to resign come at a time of turmoil in the Church of England following a damning report into how it covered up prolific abuse by the barrister John Smyth.

The report led to the resignation of the Church’s most senior figure, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. Mr Cottrell will take over his role temporarily for a few months in the New Year.

The BBC can reveal that Mr Welby and a former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, were also involved in the Tudor case – Mr Welby in 2018 and Lord Carey in 1993.

At least seven women say they were abused by Tudor. One received six-figure compensation from the Church in 2019.

David McClenaghan, a partner at Bolt Burdon Kemp solicitors who brought the claim on behalf of the woman and who has supported other survivors of clerical abuse says “one of the most surprising aspects of this case was that they suspended him on full pay and over a period of time, funded his accommodation and lifestyle.

“Tudor worked for the Church of England for over 46 years, in London, Surrey and Essex, rising from curate to honorary canon. He gained a reputation for filling churches with his charismatic preaching.

He was an area dean on Canvey Island in Essex in 2010, when Stephen Cottrell became Bishop of Chelmsford – a position Mr Cottrell held for 10 years before becoming Archbishop of York.

During his first week in office, Mr Cottrell was fully briefed on the “longstanding safeguarding concerns” raised about Tudor, a spokesperson for the Archbishop said.

Ashley Paul Griffith, 47, confessed to 307 offences committed at childcare centres in the Australian state of Queensland and overseas between 2003 and 2022. His victims were aged between one and seven.

Judge Paul Smith called the scale and nature of the crimes “depraved” and “horrendous”, saying “there was a significant breach of trust”.In addition to this case, Griffith is separately accused of abusing at least two dozen children in the Australian state of New South Wales and in Italy.

In the Brisbane District Court on Friday, Judge Smith said Griffith – who the court heard had a “paedophilic disorder” – had a high risk of reoffending, ordering a non-parole period of at least 27 years.

Griffith was first arrested in August 2022 by the Australian Federal Police, and a year later charged with more than 1,600 child sex offences. Most of these were eventually dropped.

Investigators found thousands of photographs and videos of his abuse, which he had filmed and uploaded onto the dark web.

Although faces were cropped out of the footage, they managed to trace them to Griffith because of a unique set of bedsheets seen in the background of some of the videos, which had been sold to childcare centres across Queensland.

He pleaded guilty to 28 counts of rape, almost 200 charges relating to indecent treatment of a child, and several related to making and sharing child exploitation material.

Four of the girls who featured in his videos were from a childcare centre in Pisa, Italy. His other 65 victims were from 11 locations across Brisbane.

Ahead of his sentence behind handed down, the court heard a string of emotional statements from some of those victims and their parents – who cannot be identified for legal reasons.

Among them were two sisters who were abused in kindergarten, one of whom recalled Griffith being her favourite teacher.

“To find out what he was really doing was devastating… I don’t seem to be able to process it even now, because there’s a disconnect between what I remember and the reality,” she said, according to The Courier Mail.

Another woman told how his actions had robbed her of a normal childhood, recounting her struggles with mental illness in the years since.”I will never know what my life could have been like,” she is quoted as saying, in an article by The Guardian Australia.

“I can never know what it would have been to grow up unafraid of people.”

Parents meanwhile told the court of their horror upon discovering the crimes inflicted upon their children, with several saying they struggled to forgive themselves for trusting Griffith.

“(My daughter) loved you like an uncle and you used her like a toy,” one said, according to News Corp Australia.

Another explained how she was trying to keep the burden of knowledge of the abuse from her daughter.

“I cannot undo what you did to her body but will do everything I can to limit the damage to her mind,” she said, according to the Courier Mail.

Outside court, the families called for an investigation into the childcare centres – and broader system – in which Griffith was able to go undetected for so long.

“Parents are walking their children into these centres today with a false sense of security,” one father told reporters.