Keith lives with the pain of being sexually abused in a children’s home, made worse by not being believed
All names and identifying details have been changed.
Participants have given us permission to share their experiences.
Keith was placed in a children’s home for three years during the 1970s. He experienced sexual, physical and emotional abuse from staff and other children residing at the home.
An older boy, Brian, sexually abused Keith on three occasions. Brian was also a minor and Keith suspected that he was in an inappropriate relationship with the adult house mother at the home.
During the episodes of sexual abuse, Brian would tell Keith that he must do these things or girls would not like him. Keith says that at the time he did not realise he was being sexually abused, but he had a devastating delayed reaction. In his early teens, he tried to cut his wrist and still bears the scar.
As well as being sexually abused, Keith was enduring physical and emotional abuse from staff at the home. They would slap him and hit him with slippers and, on some occasions, denied him food and water. He was also bullied and attacked by other children.
Keith first reported the abuse to the police in the 1970s but was accused of lying in order to return to his family home. He reported his abuse again, years later, but says the information has never been acted on.
The police told him that they could take no action against Brian because he had mental health issues, nor against the house parents who ran the home because they were too elderly.
The police added that they could not trace the male house parent but in fact Keith had recently come across him working at an adult day centre. He was appalled that the council had employed this man to work at an adult day centre.
Throughout his life, Keith has experienced the frustration of not being believed and all his attempts to bring the truth to the surface being thwarted.
His experiences trying to report his abuse have left him very distrustful of the police. He believes one reason they did not thoroughly investigate his allegations is that the house parents’ daughter is married to a police inspector in the local force.
Keith has experienced similar challenges in being believed by his local authority and believes they have covered up the abuse which happened at the children’s home. A review panel meeting was held to look into his case, but he says it was a ‘waste of time’.
The council said that it was a ‘different era’ back when the abuse occurred and also stated that they could not find the relevant records. Keith says the Data Protection Act has been used selectively and describes the local authority as a law unto themselves.
Keith recommends that local councils should be made more accountable to a higher authority, or the same problems will keep occurring. He wants the Data Protection Act to be applied correctly and everyone to be allowed to access all their records. He would also like to access all information related to staff at the home.
Keith believes that a completely independent body needs to be established to monitor the conduct of the police and local authorities. He says the existing structures are not good enough.
He would like Operation Hydrant (the police investigation into allegations of non-recent child abuse) to examine whether there was some sort of paedophile ring operating at the children’s home where he was placed.