CONTROVERSY surrounding a paedophile monk employed by Oxford University has been reignited.

Last week, a report published by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse suggested St Benet's Hall had learned about Father Bernard Green abusing a boy, 13, in 2006 - six years before sacking him.

Despite media reports suggesting the information had been newly revealed, student newspaper the Cherwell actually reported Green's actions in 2005.

Having been barred from teaching in schools and further education, Green began at St Benet's in 2000, when it controlled by Ampleforth Abbey and College.

But Green - who died in 2013 - was only dismissed a year earlier, when new leadership was installed.

A member of the Faculty of Theology, the Benedictine monk had tutored at seven Oxford colleges and been Director of Studies in Theology.

He was also the subject of a 2005 investigation, after a St Benet's student made a formal complaint about Green - who had a student welfare brief - over an incident at a Port Meadow picnic.

He apologised and was kept in post.

Professor Werner Jeanrond, the outgoing Master of St Benet’s Hall, who heavily criticised Ampleforth's 'major mistakes', said: “It is a matter of deep regret that the Hall had any part in what happened in those years, a period which predates the fundamental changes in leadership and oversight in 2012.

"The St Benet’s of today is a very different place. It is run by a separate Trust and far-reaching changes have been made to its governance, operating procedures, oversight arrangements. While these cannot expunge the past and its failings, they do give us confidence for the future."

A University spokesperson added: “The revelations of this important report are deeply troubling and we are looking into the points raised by it."