QUESTIONS still need to be answered about why a bishop was not prosecuted over sexual assault claims 22 years ago, one of his alleged victims has said.

Prosecutors have admitted their predecessors were "wrong" to caution Bishop Peter Ball in 1993, after his admission on Tuesday to 18 charges of historic sex abuse.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it did have sufficient evidence to prosecute in 1993 for one act of gross indecency, and that Ball had not made the admissions normally required for a caution.

Phil Johnson, who said Ball, who was then Bishop of Lewes, sexually assaulted him in the 1970s, said: “It is always positive when people admit their mistakes, but I think this is a very serious mistake that really warrants questions being asked about why it was not pursued when there was, as they say, substantial and reliable evidence.”

The victim in the 1993 caution, Neil Todd, killed himself in 2012, when Sussex Police opened a new investigation into Ball, prompted by a review by the Church of England. Police were aware of two further complaints in 1993, when the caution was given, court hearings have heard.

Mr Johnson, from Eastbourne, who has waived his right to anonymity, said: “If the CPS had made the correct decision and pursued the correct course of justice at the time, then Neil might have been alive today.

“And the other victims might have received justice at the time and would not have had to go through more than 20 years of stress and trauma and feeling they had never been believed or could not be taken seriously.”

Dame Barbara Mills, director of Public Prosecutions in 1993, died in 2011.

Mr Johnson’s allegation against Ball was denied by him and left to lie on file, leaving Mr Johnson angry that his evidence will not be examined in court.

A CPS spokesman added its approach to sexual abuse had "changed fundamentally since 1993 and we are confident that such a decision would not be made by prosecutors today".

He added: "Indeed, this prosecution is testament to our determination to robustly tackle sexual abuse, no matter how long ago it is alleged to have happened.”