Top private schools Scottish child abuse inquiry, Archbishop admits Church ‘failed terribly’ over abuse revelations
February 2, 2017 Comments Off on Top private schools Scottish child abuse inquiry, Archbishop admits Church ‘failed terribly’ over abuse revelations
Top private schools included as part of Scottish child abuse inquiry
Inquiry chair Lady Smith has said more than 100 locations so far have been identified for investigation, including current and former boarding schools
Tuesday 31 January 2017
More than 60 residential care establishments including several top private schools are being investigated by Scotland’s national child abuse inquiry.
They are among more than 100 locations where the abuse of children is said to have taken place, chair Anne Smith confirmed.
Six boarding schools or former boarding schools, including Fettes college and Gordonstoun, are being investigated. Several faith-based organisations, other major care providers and local authority institutions are also being looked at by inquiry staff.
Lady Smith, a senior judge who was appointed to the role in July, named a list of places being investigated as she provided an update on the inquiry’s progress at a preliminary hearing.
The inquiry is examining historical allegations of the abuse of children in care and has been taking statements from witnesses since last spring….
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/31/top-private-schools-included-as-part-of-scottish-child-abuse-inquiry
Archbishop admits Church ‘failed terribly’ over abuse revelations
Cathy Newman Presenter 1 Feb 2017 UK
The Church of England has tonight apologised unreservedly after a Channel 4 News investigation revealed that a prominent Anglican evangelical and former colleague of the Archbishop of Canterbury is alleged to have severely assaulted boys and young men for decades.
The alleged abuse was carried out by prominent QC and part time judge called John Smyth, who was chairman of the Iwerne Trust, a charity closely linked to the church which ran Christian holiday camps for public school students.
The Church admitted that it had “failed terribly”, after this programme learned that the Trust had discovered the alleged abuse in 1982, but failed to report it to the police.
Winchester College, where some of the young men met Smyth, was made aware of the alleged abuse, but also failed to report it to the police at the time. There is no suggestion that any abuse took place at the College or with the knowledge of its staff.
The Archbishop’s apology comes after a six month investigation by Channel 4 News, in which we tracked down and spoke with many of Smyth’s alleged victims. One man told us that he and other boys were beaten so violently by Smyth that they had to wear nappies to staunch the bleeding….
It described what it called the “beatings” of 22 young men.
“The scale and severity of the practice was horrific…8 received about 14 thousand strokes: 2 of them having some 8000 strokes over three years,” the document, written in 1982, noted.
Despite the findings of the report, the Iwerne Trust did not inform the police. Instead, a senior figure in the Iwerne Trust wrote to John Smyth, telling him to leave the country. He went on to live in Zimbabwe, and then South Africa….
https://www.channel4.com/news/archbishop-admits-church-failed-terribly-over-abuse-revelations
Former students call for inquiry into assault claims, Zambia police arrest four suspects for ritual murders that sparked riots
May 11, 2016 Comments Off on Former students call for inquiry into assault claims, Zambia police arrest four suspects for ritual murders that sparked riots
Former students call for inquiry into assault claims
By Jonathan Saltzman and Jenn Abelson Globe Staff May 10, 2016
Two former students of the Fessenden School in Newton on Monday demanded a federal inquiry into alleged sexual assaults by staffers there in the 1960s and 1970s, saying they believe the suspected abuse extends far beyond the 17 individuals the school says have come forward.
Adrian Hooper and John Sweeney, two former Fessenden students who allege they were sexually assaulted, spoke at an emotional news conference at the Boston office of their lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian….
The news conference came a day after the Globe Spotlight team reported that at least 67 private schools in New England have since 1991 faced allegations that at least 200 students were abused or harassed by staffers. Separately, Phillips Academy in Andover confirmed Monday a new claim of misconduct toward a student by a former English teacher….
Only recently, Hooper added, he realized that one of two teachers who had him and several other boys masturbate each other in what they were told was a “Mayan ritual” at Fessenden was Clarridge. He recognized Clarridge in a photograph from an online Harvard publication provided by a Globe reporter, he said, and nearly threw up.
The Fessenden School, whose famous alumni include Senator Edward M. Kennedy and Howard Hughes, has not disputed any specific allegations of abuse documented in the Globe article on Sunday. The school says that at least 12 former students have come forward since Fessenden sent a letter to the school community in 2011 reporting claims of abuse there since the 1960s. All told, the school says, 17 victims have alleged abuse by at least five former staffers.
The school reiterated an apology in a statement Monday….
The two former students called on the school to provide all records about at least four cases that Fessenden says it settled with alleged victims since the 1990s.
The school issued a statement Monday saying: “We are deeply saddened, and we apologize on behalf of the school to those who were harmed. In 2011, The Fessenden School acknowledged and apologized for abuses that took place decades ago and offered counseling to anyone who was harmed. We have acted with compassion and concern for the victims.’’….
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/05/09/former-fessenden-school-students-call-for-federal-inquiry-into-alleged-assaults-staffers-decades-ago/xiNzJcq7OhkmlYgIHLfG7K/story.html
Zambia police arrest four suspects for ritual murders that sparked riots
Reuters World May 10, 2016
LUSAKA (Reuters) – Zambia police said on Tuesday four suspects have been arrested in connection with a string of grisly ritual murders in the southern African nation’s capital that triggered anti-foreign riots targeting mostly Rwandan migrants in April.
The arrested suspects are two army soldiers, a civilian employee of the Zambian Air Force and a traditional doctor, police said. They were to appear in court Tuesday afternoon charged with seven counts of murder.
“All the murders which the accused have been charged with were committed in a similar manner by crushing the left side of the head, removing body parts and later dumping the deceased near their homes,” police said in a statement.
Police said in April that the victims had ears, hearts and genitals removed, raising suspicion of ritual killings.
Human body parts are sometimes used in traditional remedies and concoctions in southern Africa. The practice is linked to witchcraft beliefs…. http://www.investing.com/news/world-news/zambia-police-arrest-four-suspects-for-ritual-murders-that-sparked-riots-401105