Jan. 29 (UPI) -- The bishop of Liverpool has denied a set of sexual assault allegations by two different women including a fellow church leader.
A woman previously accused Reverend Dr. John Perumbalath, the bishop of Liverpool, of groping and kissing her without consent, and another accused Perumbalath of sexual harassment going as far back as 2023.
In a statement to the BBC, Perumbalath said he has since "consistently denied" the allegations, and added that a police investigation led to no further action.
One woman alleged Perumbalath assaulted her in Essex at the diocese of Chelmsford on separate occasions from 2019 to 2023 while he was bishop of Bradwell.
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"Whilst I don't believe I have done anything wrong, I have taken seriously the lessons learnt through this process addressing how my actions can be perceived by others," he wrote in the statement.
The Diocese of Liverpool announced in October 2022 that Perumbalath was to be the ninth bishop of Liverpool and was enthroned in 2023 after he arrived from the Diocese of Chelmsford.
A complaint of alleged misconduct was brought against Perumbalath, now 58, in 2023 after he officially assumed his new role, according to the Church of England. The second complaint was lodged shortly after the first.
A female bishop told Britain's Channel 4 News that she too was sexually harassed by Perumbalath.
But the Church of England said "pastoral support" was provided "throughout for the second complainant and is ongoing."
"The allegations set out in this program are in relation to encounters that took place in public settings, with other people present," the bishop of Liverpool stated.
Perumbalath was voluntarily interviewed under caution by police in March of last year. And he noted that he likewise complied with an investigation by the National Safeguarding Team.
However, an NST spokesperson confirmed insufficient evidence was available to file a complaint under the Clergy Discipline Measure.
"The information brought by the second complainant was explored and assessed not to be a safeguarding matter but a matter of alleged misconduct," the Church of England stated.
Perumbalath, from Kerala in southern India, was ordained in 1994 into the Church of North India before being moved to Britain in 2001 to take a role with the Diocese of Rochester.
It follows the recent departure of Justin Welby, 69, as archbishop of Canterbury over Welby's handling of a sexual abuse scandal.
Meanwhile, Welby's temporary replacement as the Church of England's leader, Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, has faced similar calls to step-down after allegations he twice-appointed a priest at the center of a sexual abuse case.
