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PressTV-New sex scandal rocks Church of England Another church sex scandal has rocked UK as former Church of England bishop pleaded guilty to sex abuse charges. Peter Ball, the former bishop of Lewes and Gloucester admitted sexually abusing 18 young men decades after his victims first complained. According to media reports, Ball, 83, pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault relating to two young men and one charge of misconduct in public office, which relates to the sexual abuse of 16 young men over a period of 15 years from 1977-1992. The former bishop has close relations with Prince Charles whom he has described in the past as “a loyal friend”. The United Kingdom has witnessed a surge in child molestation and sexual abuse cases, some of which go back to the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and involving churches, media personalities and politicians. Earlier this year, the Methodist Church issued a public apology after an independent probe found some 2,000 cases of abuse within the institution dating back to 1950s. Back in July, New Zealand judge Lowell Goddard formally opened an independent inquiry into child sexual abuse in England and Wales. Meanwhile, last month a commission probing into sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland asked it to make a public apology over the sex abuse scandal within the church. "An apology must be made in a way that is unmistakable and unequivocal," the commission said in its report.