Ampleforth & Downside UK Child Abuse Scandal – Roman Catholic Schools Cover Up Horrors To Protect Paedophile Monks – Victims Speak At Inquiry
Two leading Roman Catholic schools investigated at a child abuse inquiry “prioritised monks and their own reputations over the protection of children”, a report says.
“Appalling” abuse was inflicted on pupils at Ampleforth in North Yorkshire and Downside in Somerset over 40 years, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) said.
But, the report said, both institutions attempted to cover up the allegations.
Ten individuals, including monks, have been convicted or cautioned for abuse.
The report, based on evidence heard by the IICSA’s investigation of the Roman Catholic Church and the English Benedictine Congregation, said, however, the true extent of the abuse is “likely to be considerably higher” than the number of convictions.
It states many of the perpetrators did not hide their sexual interests from the children and pupils were often abused in front of each other.
Report damns culture of acceptance of sexual abuse at two Catholic schools
Inquiry says Ampleforth and Downside put own reputations before protection of children.
The true scale of sexual abuse at two of the UK’s leading Catholic independent schools over a period of 40 years is likely to have been far greater than has been proved in the courts, a report by the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse has concluded.
Ten people have been convicted or cautioned in relation to sexual offences at Ampleforth in North Yorkshire and Downside in Somerset. The schools “prioritised the monks and their own reputations over the protection of children … in order to avoid scandal”, says the 211-page report published by IICSA on Thursday after hearings last year.
The inquiry heard that boys were made to strip naked and were beaten. Some were allegedly forced to give and receive oral sex, both privately and in front of other pupils. Alleged abuse included digital penetration of the anus and children being compelled to perform sex acts on each other.