In 1963, when Jon Bird was 4 years old, he ran home in tears and in pain after a stranger pulled him into the woods and raped him. His mother’s response was one of denial. Six years later, when a boarding school head teacher was fired for sexually assaulting Bird and other students, yet not criminally charged, the same response was echoed.
For decades, the British response to allegations of sexual abuse of children in institutions meant to care for them was one of denial, forgetting and covering up. Now, however, a major national investigation is set to launch in order to uncover evidence of such abuse, even if it was perpetrated by people in the highest echelons of public life.
David Jervis, spokesman for the inquiry, has stated that this could be “the biggest inquiry this country’s ever seen”. Police are currently looking into reports of a suspected pedophile ring in Westminster, as well as other institutions such as children’s homes, schools and hospitals, where survivors of such abuse are now coming forward. In some cases, police are even investigating the possibility that children were murdered in order to cover up the crimes.
The lack of child safeguards in public institutions, and the cultural preference for protecting the system instead of individuals, allowed such abuse to proliferate. For those who have been trying for years to get their complaints heard, the investigations are a validation that many thought they would never receive. Jon Bird, now operations manager at the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, is still amazed that the issue is being taken seriously.
For decades, allegations of sexual abuse of children in institutions meant to care for them in the UK have been met with denial, forgetting and covering up. Now, however, a major national investigation is set to launch in order to uncover evidence of such abuse, even if it was perpetrated by people in the highest echelons of public life. Police are currently looking into reports of a suspected pedophile ring in Westminster, as well as other institutions such as children’s homes, schools and hospitals, where survivors of such abuse are now coming forward. In some cases, police are even investigating the possibility that children were murdered in order to cover up the crimes.
The lack of child safeguards in public institutions, and the cultural preference for protecting the system instead of individuals, allowed such abuse to proliferate. For those who have been trying for years to get their complaints heard, the investigations are a validation that many thought they would never receive. Jon Bird, operations manager at the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, is still amazed that the issue is being taken seriously.
Open secrets, official silence
For decades, rumors have swirled in Britain of powerful people engaging in pedophilic activities. Recently released National Archives documents show that in the 1980s even Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was briefed on the pedophilic predilections of people in and close to her government. These included Sir Peter Hayman, a career diplomat and member of the Pedophile Information Exchange, Sir Peter Morrison, a close Thatcher aide and deputy Conservative Party leader, and Cyril Smith, a Liberal member of Parliament from 1972 to 1992. Last week, after a year of stalling on a newspaper’s information request, the government released documents showing that a top adviser warned Thatcher about Smith’s previous abuse investigations, and that knighting him could harm “the integrity of the honors system.” Despite this warning, Smith was knighted. Last year, Greater Manchester Police acknowledged that there was “overwhelming evidence” that young boys were sexually and physically abused by Smith.
In 1984, Conservative MP Geoffrey Dickens sent then-Home Secretary Leon Brittan multiple letters charging that people in and linked to the government were sexually abusing children. Brittan claimed to have passed them to Home Office officials for investigation, however, the Home Office later revealed that the letters, along with more than 100 other documents related to child abuse allegations, were missing from their files.
In the 1990s, Liz Davies, a social worker in the London borough of Islington, began to work with police on a major investigation of sexual abuse in children’s group homes there. She maintains that she found evidence that children in the system were being subjected to sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect and even murder, but the investigation was abruptly stopped and she was given no explanation.
It is clear that for decades, allegations of abuse by powerful people have been treated more as embarrassing secrets than reportable crimes. Now, however, the truth is coming out and it cannot be stopped.
Savile blows it open
For almost 50 years, British television viewers were familiar with the Yorkshire-accented figure of Jimmy Savile. His charitable work and children’s shows on the BBC made him a household name. However, following his death in October 2011, allegations of child grooming and rape soon surfaced. Hundreds of people have since come forward to report being sexually assaulted by Savile when they were underage.
The London police investigation that followed has resulted in the arrest of 17 men on charges of sexual offenses against adults and children, committed between the late 1970s and early 1990s. Notable convictions and imprisonments of British TV personalities such as Gary Glitter and Rolf Harris have made headlines, but it is evident from victims’ accounts that institutions and their staff were complicit in the abuse.
At present, there are 13 separate investigations taking place across Britain into past sexual offenses against children. These include internal reviews to understand how institutions like the National Health Service or the Department for Education allowed children to be exposed to predators and failed to act on reports of abuse.
In July, Prime Minister David Cameron announced an independent national inquiry to determine the extent to which institutions in England and Wales were negligent in their duty to protect children from sexual abuse. However, the inquiry has gotten off to a rocky start, with the first two inquiry chiefs stepping down over concerns that they were too close to establishment figures likely to surface in the course of the investigation. The inquiry is now under the direction of New Zealand High Court judge Lowell Goddard, and evidence hearings are not expected to begin for months.
The inquiry has been welcomed by those who have been fighting for recognition of the abuse they suffered in state institutions, such as Phil Frampton, who was sexually abused as a child in care. However, Simon Danczuk, an MP leading the push for a full investigation, has expressed concern that Prime Minister David Cameron was “dismissive” of the allegations toward establishment figures and ready to “move on”. Cameron sat on a parliamentary committee examining police investigations of abuse at children’s group homes in 2002, when he was still an MP.
The national inquiry is an opportunity to uncover the truth and set the record straight. It is hoped that it will leave “no stone unturned” in its investigation into the sexual abuse of children in England and Wales.
A criminal trail
Police have launched a series of investigations into the Elm Guest House, a former hostel in Barnes, a suburb southwest of London. Allegations have been made that the Edwardian house was used as a brothel for gay men and trafficked children were brought to be sexually abused by adults. Operation Fairbank, which opened in 2012, has led to three new lines of inquiry.
One of these, Operation Fernbridge, is looking into reports of a pedophile ring operating out of Elm, including claims that boys were trafficked from Grafton Close Children’s Home, a group home in southwest London. In 2013, two men were arrested on charges of sexually assaulting children at Grafton Close in the late 1970s and early 1980s. John Stingemore, its former manager, died in January before the trial against him was due to start, while Anthony McSweeney, a Catholic priest, was convicted of sexually assaulting a boy and making child pornography and is due to be sentenced later this month.
The other two lines of inquiry, Operation Midland and Operation Cayacos, are investigating claims of murder by an organized ring of pedophiles operating in London and its surrounding counties. The families of two boys who went missing near Elm Guest House in the late 1970s and early 1980s have asked police to investigate the possibility that their sons were taken and killed by people linked to the house.
A system gone wrong
The UK is now reckoning with a history of child abuse and institutional neglect on an unprecedented scale. Last year, Jordans Solicitors, a law practice in Yorkshire specialising in representing sexual abuse victims in civil lawsuits, reported receiving between 600 and 1,000 calls from people claiming to have been abused. Lord Norman Tebbit, a member of Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet, suggested on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show in July that there may have been a government cover-up of child sex abuse, though he added that it was done unconsciously. Jon Bird of NAPAC compared the cultural shift on child abuse in Britain to the animal rights movement, noting that there was a time when it was thought that children were not capable of feeling pain. It is clear that the UK is now facing a period of reflection on its past and the need to ensure that such abuses are not repeated.
