The Church of England has scrambled to defend the incoming Archbishop of Canterbury’s safeguarding record amid ongoing complaints from an “abuse” victim.

The Rt Rev Dame Sarah Mullally is the Bishop of London and is set to legally become the 106th – and first female – Archbishop of Canterbury at a ceremony at St Paul’s Cathedral on Wednesday.

She has faced accusations of mishandling a complaint from an alleged abuse victim, known as Survivor N, who claims that he was groped and asked to perform a sex act by a priest.

The priest also allegedly invited Survivor N to his flat and proceeded to change clothes, which involved stripping down to his underpants, before talking about his sex life and suggesting there was a “sexual attraction” between himself and his guest.

Survivor N claims Dame Sarah mishandled his complaint against the priest and failed him by claiming that his complaint had been “fully dealt with”, and also by sending a confidential email about the allegations directly to the priest accused of the sexual assault. The allegations threaten to pile pressure on her ahead of her imminent installation as Archbishop.

The Church of England has come to Dame Sarah’s defence, claiming she addresses safeguarding concerns with “care and rigour”.

The Rt Rev Dr Joanne Grenfell, the lead bishop on safeguarding, published a statement saying she has seen Dame Sarah’s “full commitment to safeguarding – strengthening systems and processes, and improving the culture across a large, complex organisation”.

As a result, Survivor N criticised the “galling betrayal” of abuse victims and dismissed the praise as “a slap in the face” and “a cruel untruth”.

Survivor N said Bishop Grenfell’s defence of Dame Sarah epitomised “the very worst of the Church of England’s double-speak – talking out of both sides of your mouth – around safeguarding”.

He added: “For Joanne Grenfell to praise Sarah Mullally’s record of dealing with clergy abuse while there are live and active safeguarding complaints against her, which are currently being investigated by the Bishop of Winchester, feels like a galling betrayal of both Survivor O and myself.

Last week The Telegraph revealed that, as well as Survivor N, a second victim was allegedly targeted by the priest in question. The alleged second victim, a Church of England clergy member whom The Telegraph is referring to as Survivor O, claims that the priest confronted them, while fully naked, and sexually propositioned them.

Although Dame Sarah had no involvement in Survivor O’s case and no complaint was ever made, because Survivor O felt “intimidated”, the latest allegation has put renewed pressure on her.

Dame Sarah’s predecessor, Justin Welby, was forced to resign in a separate scandal over his mishandling of abuse claims.

Bishop Grenfell said: “[Dame Sarah] gets it, she cares about it and she prioritises it.”

In a statement released this weekend, she added: “In areas where poor practice had gone unchallenged in the past, she didn’t look away. She tackled issues with clarity and principle and made sure concerns were followed through with care and rigour.”

She added that Dame Sarah “has taken care to listen, resource and act, and ensure complaints are handled properly… She is committed to taking the next steps towards greater independence in safeguarding across the Church – as Synod has voted for – with external scrutiny underpinned by legislation, survivor engagement embedded and practice kept robust and accountable at every level”.

Documents seen by The Telegraph show that the Church’s own officials are currently looking into Survivor N’s case, which, he suggests, shows that six years after making his complaint, it is neither resolved nor “fully dealt with” as Dame Sarah claimed in a statement published last month.

As a result, Survivor N filed an official complaint, known as a Clergy Discipline Measure (CDM), against Dame Sarah. The CDM remains outstanding and is being looked at by the Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Rev Philip Mounstephen.

Archbishop of York dismissed Survivor N’s claims

Furthermore, earlier this month, a previous CDM made by Survivor N against Dame Sarah over her handling of his complaint against the priest was dismissed by her closest ranking colleague, the Archbishop of York, the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell.

Survivor N has indicated that he will appeal the dismissal of this CDM. This would mean that there would be two live CDMs against Dame Sarah as she becomes the Church of England’s top bishop.