A childhood in institutional care exposed Leroy to repeated sexual and physical abuse
All names and identifying details have been changed.
Participants have given us permission to share their experiences.
Leroy was born in the 1950s. When he was a baby, he was removed from his mother’s care and placed in a children’s home.
At the age of eight, he was placed in a psychiatric institution where a brutal regime prevailed. No support or help was provided by staff – only ridicule, humiliation and abuse.
There was no one to look out for Leroy, because his mother was dead and he had never had any contact with his father.
He recalls being physically abused by staff members at the psychiatric hospital, including an occasion when he was thrown across a room with such force that it caused lifelong injuries. He remembers being taken into a toilet block by a member of staff and ‘given a good hiding’. He told another member of staff about this but nothing was done.
When he was older, Leroy was moved to a different ward where he experienced sexual abuse from other patients as well as staff. Later, he was given a job within the hospital and his supervisor locked him in the store and violently sexually abused him. He recalls being so distressed by this that he ‘blacked out’.
His ordeal in the psychiatric institution left him vulnerable as an adult, and he experienced further sexual abuse. He did report one incident to the police but they said there was insufficient evidence for a prosecution.
Leroy now lives in supported housing where he described the staff as ‘fantastic’. They helped him report the sexual abuse he suffered as a child to the police, but it emerged that the perpetrators were all deceased. The staff are now helping him to seek compensation.
Leroy feels that those in charge of institutions should take responsibility for what occurs within them. He also discussed the importance of ensuring the suitability of people who care for children and vulnerable adults; he believes that more extensive checks should be undertaken.
He explains that he takes part in the interview process for new members of staff at his accommodation. He recommends a similar process for other establishments, saying that people who have lived in institutions have an insight into the type of people who should be employed in them.