Hundreds of Nottinghamshire children abused by predatory carers over decades, report finds

Sexual abuse of children in council care in Nottinghamshire was widespread for decades, with hundreds of young people exposed to predatory carers due to repeated failures to learn from mistakes, a report has concluded.

Some 350 people have alleged they were abused while in residential or foster care in the county from the 1960s onwards, but the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) said the true number of victims was “likely to be considerably higher”.

The scale of abuse in Nottinghamshire is the largest to have been investigated so far by the inquiry, which published its findings on Wednesday following 15 days of evidence at public hearings in October.

Widespread abuse including repeated rapes, sexual assaults and voyeurism took place during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s in many of Nottinghamshire County Council’s and Nottingham City Council’s homes, as well as in foster care, the report concluded.

“Harmful sexual behaviour” also occurred between children in both settings, it found.

In a damning assessment of the councils’ failures, the report said: “For more than five decades, the councils failed in their statutory duty to protect children in their care from sexual abuse.

“These were children who were being looked after away from their family homes because of adverse childhood experiences and their own pre-existing vulnerabilities.

“They needed to be nurtured, cared for and protected by adults they could trust. Instead, the councils exposed them to the risk, and reality, of sexual abuse perpetrated primarily by predatory residential staff and foster carers.”

Between the late 1970s and 2019, 16 residential staff were convicted of sexually abusing children in residential care in the county. Ten foster carers were also convicted of the sexual abuse of their foster children.

The panel said it was also aware of 12 convictions relating to the harmful sexual behaviour of children against other children in care.

The inquiry heard from former residents of the notorious Beechwood Care Home, where the report said “sexualised behaviour by staff was tolerated or overlooked, allowing abusers to thrive”.

Male and female former residents described being routinely sexually abused by members of staff at the home and being too afraid to report it.

The panel said abuse also took place in a number of other children’s residential units, including Hazelwood, Skegby Hall, Edwinstowe, Sandown Road, Wollaton House, Hillcrest, Risley Hall, Greencroft, Beckhampton Road, Woodnook, Amberdale and Three Roofs.

The report also criticised a “crass” comment last year by Jon Collins, then leader of the city council, who was reported to have said of the abuse: “We will apologise when there is something to apologise for”. The panel said Mr Collins, who resigned in March, had caused “avoidable upset”.

The inquiry said the provision and consistency of support and counselling for victims “remains an issue” to this day.

It recommended both councils should “assess the potential risks posed by current and former foster carers directly provided by the council in relation to the sexual abuse of children”.

The panel also said the city council and its child protection partners “should commission an independent, external evaluation of their practice concerning harmful sexual behaviour, including responses, prevention, assessment, intervention and workforce development”.

Criticism was also levelled at Nottinghamshire Police, which the inquiry found had not properly resourced its initial investigation into allegations of non-recent abuse of children in care, nor treated the allegations with “sufficient seriousness”.

Despite increased confidence in the police investigations after a number of prosecutions, “only now have Nottinghamshire Police begun to address weaknesses in its approach to child protection,” the panel added.

Inquiry chairwoman Professor Alexis Jay said: “For decades, children who were in the care of the Nottinghamshire councils suffered appalling sexual and physical abuse, inflicted by those who should have nurtured and protected them.

“Those responsible for overseeing the care of children failed to question the extent of sexual abuse or what action was being taken. Despite decades of evidence and many reviews showing what needed to change, neither of the councils learnt from their mistakes, meaning that more children suffered unnecessarily.

“We hope this report and recommendations can help ensure it never happens again.”

Kim Harrison, a specialist abuse lawyer at Slater and Gordon who is representing a number of Nottinghamshire victims, said: “This is, quite simply, one of the most horrific inquiries I have been involved in, both in terms of the sheer scale of abuse, and the lasting damage it has caused to victims.”

“I am not naive enough to believe that this will never happen to another child again – there will always be animals out there that will find devious ways to hurt children. But it is imperative that better safeguards are put in place so we can truly say we’re doing everything we can to eradicate the horror that I and other survivors were cruelly subjected to.”

He added: “The abuse and acute lack of care has ruined my life – ruined my childhood and my early adult years.”

In a joint statement, the city council leader David Mellen and chief executive Ian Curryer said: “We accept that the council made mistakes and should have done more to protect children from harm while they were in our care.”

They pledged the council would take “appropriate action” on the recommendations.

Referencing an apology made at a council meeting in November, the pair added: “We’re sorry for any further distress we caused to those who would have welcomed a public apology from us sooner – we didn’t get that right.”

Colin Pettigrew, corporate director for children’s services at the county council, which has previously apologised for its failings, said: “We are determined to do our utmost to ensure that children in the care of this council are as safe as they can be.

“And swift and effective measures are now in place to deal with any allegations of abuse of children in the care of this council.”

The council will reflect on the report’s findings and consider any further changes deemed necessary, he added.

Chief constable of Nottinghamshire Police, Craig Guildford, said that “many of the improvements” recommended by the panel had been implemented by the force.

He added: “It’s fair to say that a lot has been learned around the complexity of investigating non-recent allegations of child sexual abuse – not least in the need for us to dedicate specialist resources to this type of investigation. A dedicated team, with specialist officers and staff, is now well-established and investigates all allegations of this nature.”

IICSA’s report is part of a wider investigation into child sexual abuse and the extent to which organisations have failed to protect young people.