MEMORANDUM 22
Submitted by Fire In Ice (CA 198)
Fire in Ice is a Merseyside based self-help project run by and for men who have experienced child abuse especially those who suffered in childcare institutions.
The men who set up the project believed that mainstream social work services on Merseyside were not appropriate to meet all their individual needs. Fire in Ice offers empathic befriending and long-term support to child abuse survivors to help them make positive changes to their lives this includes survivors in prison.
We help and support men who have suffered any kind of childhood abuse by providing a confidential service consisting of:
— Self-help support groups for men and their partners.
— A telephone support service.
— Supporting survivors in prison who have not committed child/sex crimes.
— Designing and publishing a website, a self-help book and training courses.
Fire in Ice follows a basic value statement; every man using our service has the right:
— To express emotions in a safe and confidential environment.
— To receive information about the service on offer.
— To a service that does not discriminate on the grounds of race, sexuality, identity or ability.
— Not to be abused in any way.
We have a number of fundamental beliefs:
— Abuse can happen to any boy or man, girl or woman.
— Survivors' of abuse may be Black, White, Gay, Straight or Disabled and our service should always reflect this.
— The effects of abuse are harmful.
— With support it is possible to recover from the effects of abuse.
— People are never to blame for the abuse they have suffered.
Police investigations have uncovered 30 years of institutional abuse in Merseyside and Cheshire; across the United Kingdom about 42 Police authorities have investigated historical child abuse on children in care. By the end of 1999 the Police had investigated about 85 childcare institutions in Merseyside, Barnardos estimate that about 2,000 men suffered childhood abuse in these institutions. Operation Care alone has dealt with about 800 specific criminal allegations since their investigations began. They have successfully convicted about 27 child abusers, 22 of who pleaded guilty before the trial.
Over the past two years Fire in Ice has successfully provided support to over 300 men and their families who experienced institutional child abuse. We have additionally worked with historical child abuse investigations including Operations: Crusade (Cheshire), Van Gogh Merseyside), Granite (Cheshire), Care (Merseyside), Nevada (Lancashire), Lentisk (Devon), Cleopatra (Manchester), Shogun (Gloucestershire), React (Bristol), Phoenix (Merseyside), Angel (North Wales).
National research into the scale of child abuse shows that by the age of 18 about one in six males have suffered some form of abuse or serious sexual assault.
The 10 people who contributed evidence for the Home Affairs Committee investigation
Survivor 1
Is a 40-year-old man who suffered child abuse in a Catholic children's home during the 1970s. He successfully gave evidence against his abuser as part of Operation Care. After leaving care his life involved periods of petty crime and heavy drug/alcohol use until he got together with other survivors and established Fire in Ice. His is now manager for a project that supports homeless people.
Survivor 2
Is a 43-year-old man who suffered child abuse in a residential school during the 1970s. He was unable to give evidence against his abuser because he felt it would cause him too much distress. After leaving care he moved around between different jobs and relationships. He now works for social services supporting people with mental health problems.
Survivor 3
Is a 42-year-old-man who gave evidence as part of Operation Granite against an employee of a Cheshire children's home. After the trail was over he used drink to escape from the feelings resulting from childhood memories that he had buried so deep. He has suffered extreme physical damage as a result of the abuse he suffered this has meant that he has had to stop work early through disability. He currently helps other survivors of child abuse come to terms with their experiences.
Survivor 4
Is a 33 year old man who was abused while in the care of social services during the 1980s, he suffered extreme physical and mental abuse that still haunt him today. He gave evidence as part of Operation Crusade. The whole event of giving evidence and waiting for justice left him feeling suicidal. He has recently been offered compensation for the injuries he suffered. He wants to train to help people as a paramedic.
Survivor 5
Is a 56-year-old man who was abused in a boys approved school in the 1960s he gave a statement to the police as part of Operation Care unfortunately the trail did not proceed due to a legal technicality around the age of the accused. After leaving care he managed to lead an ordinary life with a job, wife and children. The collapse of the trail resulted in him drinking to excess and using marijuana to control his raging temper. He still wants justice for the abuse that was inflicted on him as a child.
Survivor 6
Is a 53-year-old man who was abused in approved schools and children's homes during the 1960s and 1970s. His was placed in care because his father was an alcoholic and his mother was experiencing extreme mental distress and simply could not cope, he was judged to be a bad boy because he stole milk and bread to feed his family. Operation Care trawled his name from the records and took a lengthy statement. The trial was long and he was cross-examined for several hours before the jury found his abuser guilty. Ever since leaving care he has found it difficult to sleep in a bed or trust anyone with power or authority. He currently works to support survivors in prisons.
Survivor 7
Is a 41-year-old man who suffered abuse in a religious school during the 1970s. Operation Care found him through trawling. Since leaving the abusive school and throughout his adult life he has worked as a builder. Recently he has received counselling to deal with his use of alcohol and the resulting anger.
Survivor 8
Is a 28-year-old man who was abused by his football coach in the 1980s. Operation Care found his name through trawling. After the abuse he used heroin to escape the pain but inevitably he ended up in prison. Unfortunately in prison he was unable to cope with the strict regime and the authority represented by the prison officers and his sentence became extended. While in prison he was asked to give evidence against his abuser, he agreed but when the other inmates found out that the accused man was a famous local player/coach they bullied him until he withdrew the allegation. He was recently released and is receiving support and counselling to deal with his extreme anger, he wants to move on with his life by settling down with a wife and children, but he is still haunted by the fact that he never got justice for the abuse.
Survivor 9
Is a 26-year-old man abused by a boarding school teacher in the 1980s. He gave evidence as part of Operation Nevada. Since leaving school he has been unable to come to terms with his sexuality in a positive way because he thinks that he is gay because of his childhood sexual abuse. He is receiving counselling and wants to continue studying at university once he feels stronger.
Survivor 10
Is a 32-year-old man who was abused while in the care of social services. Operation Lentisk found his name through trawling. After leaving care he found it difficult to settle down or sustain relations with his family, after many years of travelling he found a partner whom was able to support him through the trial and give him the stability to build bridges with his family. The trail was unsettling but in the end rewarding for him.
Do police methods of "trawling" for evidence involve a disproportionate use of resources and produce unreliable evidence?
Survivor 1
I can't see any other way to reach out to child abuse survivors who may not otherwise come forward.
Survivor 2
Without trawling you have no investigation, and without the investigation the abusers are free to ruin other lives.
Survivor 3
I told the police about my abuse and they went away to find others who were around at the time when I was abused. I believe that so long as the police don't lead victims when they are giving a statement I can't see that there is any other way of finding out the true scale of an individual's abuse.
Survivor 4
I don't know about police resources but I thought that the idea of the police is to investigate crimes; surely child abuse is a serious enough crime to warrant an investment of people, money and time. Without trawling I would never have come forward and my abuser would still be free so it must be worth trawling.
Survivor 5
Trawling meant that 70 of the lads who were abused at the same time as me had a chance to give evidence. We all suffered the same abuse but after leaving care we all left the area, some moved to London in an effort to escape their childhood. Trawling meant that I had the chance to talk to a police officer and to be believed.
Survivor 6
To lock up these men, who for so long have got away with abusing children who they are being paid to look after, you need to collect evidence that is strong enough to be used in court. The man who abused me only saw me as an object for his sexual gratification, he was clever, educated and rich with powerful friends who claimed that men like me were making up stories for money. Without Operation Care having the foresight to trawl for information on the conduct of the staff at the approved school he would still be free to abuse today. Men, who were abused, like me, decades ago, don't want to come forward because it is too painful to remember. But if we have the chance to speak about our childhood to someone that will believe us and can do something to bring to justice those who inflicted such a terrible trauma on innocent children.
Survivor 7
The police gave me a chance to put right suffering that had been with me all my life, I was found through trawling and I'm sure that without it I would still be living in a kind of hell. Trawling meant that I had a chance to be believed because it got me talking to the police about my child abuse.
Survivor 8
The police need to trawl to find the victims; I wouldn't have talked to them because to me they were the enemy. If they want to lock up the abusers then you need to find the victims.
Survivor 9
I knew that my abuse was wrong, I didn't know how to talk to the authorities about it but I was scared of not being believed. Thank God they found me, I was ready to talk just like if I had walked into the police station cold.
Survivor 10
I don't know about police resources but I do know that they needed to investigate what happened to me. It's such a difficult thing to find evidence about abuse that happened so long ago, but I believe that the key to a successful inquiry is getting to the victims and collecting evidence.
Is the Crown Prosecution Service drawing a sensible line about which cases should be prosecuted?
Survivor 1
I was raped as an innocent child, the charges against the men who abused me were watered down to ensure that a conviction could be obtained, I felt as if my experiences were viewed as pieces of paper.
Survivor 2
More cases should be prosecuted, everyone who hurts innocent children should be punished and the CPS should work to protect the innocent victims. I hate the fact that crimes are downgraded without due consideration to how that makes the victim feel.
Survivor 3
I feel that the CPS did a good job in my case. They needed to make a judgement about what is likely to get a result, I would have been distraught if my case had gone to court and the evidence was so weak that the prosecution failed. We need to keep the CPS separate from the inquiry team to ensure that they can make a decision based on fact not feeling.
Survivor 4
The CPS seems to be on the side of the abuser, too easily lead by popular opinion shaped by the media or headline-grabbing politicians. They should be impartial all the time.
Survivor 5
The CPS made a mistake and as a result my abuser never went to court. I was one of 70 men who were abused by that man if the CPS had done their job he would have been locked up. They need to think through how they treat child abuse survivors and the evidence we have.
Survivor 6
I know the CPS have a tough job to do, I would hate to decide which cases are heard in court. I would like to work with members from the CPS to ensure that they understand the humanity behind the files. Without it the abuse inflicted on us remains on paper. I want everyone who is involved in the strategic management of the CPS to make their decisions with an understanding of the effects crime has on the victim's lives. Children should not be abused in our country and the police and CPS should do everything in their power to prosecute those who abuse and protect the victims.
Survivor 7
The CPS makes some strange decisions; sometimes they seem to be too careful about what they do prosecute. Sometimes they seem distant from the crime but close to popular opinion.
Survivor 8
I think the CPS should prosecute every crime against children whenever it occurred.
Survivor 9
I was successful in getting a prosecution thanks to the police and the CPS. Child abuse is wrong and should be treated with the utmost respect by all involved. The CPS needs to view historical child abuse allegations as being truthful, sometimes I felt like they were waiting for my story to fall down.
Survivor 10
I felt as if the CPS didn't care about me: the survivor, and the man who wants to get justice, the victim. Without people like me having the courage to come forward they would have nothing to do. The CPS needs to think about the abusers who they let into the community by not having the balls to prosecute.
Should there be a time limit (in terms of the number of years since the alleged offences took place) on prosecution of cases of child abuse?
Survivor 1
I was abused in the 1970s and it should make no difference in law when the abuse took place. If the abuser is still alive then the criminal is still at large posing a threat to other innocent children.
Survivor 2
If the law puts a cut-off point for investigating child abuse allegations then we, as a society are saying its ok to abuse children so long as you keep them quiet for 10-20-30 years and I believe that this is wrong.
Survivor 3
The only reason you would need to limit the time after an offence has been committed is when one of the parties is dead. When I was abused in the 1970s I was silenced through fear and shame for 20 years before I gave evidence to Operation Care. You can't put a time limit without establishing why child abuse survivors stay silent for so long.
Survivor 4
I was too scared to come forward after I was abused; even though I knew what had happened to me was wrong. It took over 10 years for me to come to a stage in dealing with my childhood experiences for me to feel strong enough to give evidence and confront those who had destroyed my early life.
Survivor 5
It took 30 years for my abuser to face what he had done; even then he got away with it. While the abuser is alive the law should seek them out and bring them to justice. Who will draw the line? How will that number be decided? After the time has gone is the abuser innocent of all crimes with a clean slate? It sounds like a completely stupid idea that is only good for abusers.
Survivor 6
I was abused many decades ago, and to some it seems like a lifetime. Not to me though, I live those memories every time I can't sleep, or feel scared or come across someone in authority, to me it was yesterday. I tried to tell the staff in the school what was going on but I was silenced and told not to make up stuff about a respected adult. I was a naughty boy that needed to be punished. They silenced me and I never spoke about my abuse until Operation Care came to my door, when they did I became a 10 year old boy remembering hell. What I want to say is that abuse is not just about the physical act, the rape or the beating, it's about the fear/love that the abuser puts into your head. It's impossible to escape your memories. I don't think that any time limit should be placed on investigating abusers like mine until this country is able to listen to children and use the experiences of people like me who have suffered to inform those who make such important decisions.
Survivor 7
I don't see the point of limiting the investigations because an abuser will use the law to his own advantage. I was so scared after leaving that church school that I didn't want to tell anyone. That beast had silenced me. So if the law said that they wouldn't investigate claims over 20 years ago then he would still be free now. Even if he never went on to abuse anyone else the fact remains that he abused me.
Survivor 8
It sounds like the law wants to protect abusers by putting a time limit on their abuses. It's OK the rape children if it took place a long time ago, I think it's a ridiculous idea thought up by politicians and lawyers who want to cover up the real issue.
Survivor 9
Operation Nevada seemed to have got it right with my case. For the first time in my life I felt as if those who had abused me all that time ago were finally going to have to answer for their crimes. That man knew that when he raped me that he was doing a bad thing, I want the police, politicians and the courts to protect innocent victims like me and not put a time limit on the offence.
Survivor 10
If they decide to say that no abuses will be investigated that are 20 years old then I must assume that they want to protect child abusers and are ignorant of what it feels like to suffer.
Is there a risk that the advertisement of prospective awards of compensation in child abuse cases encourages people to come forward with fabricated allegations?
Survivor 1
I don't know anybody who would stand up in court and say that they have been raped just for a bit of cash. It has taken me over five years to bring those who employed my abuser into the civil court, I don't care for the money I just want them to understand that they can't employ abusers. I want an apology.
Survivor 2
The media seems to paint survivors of child abuse as money grabbing liars. This is due to only a handful of false claims. At the same time adverts are everywhere for personal injury companies telling of great rewards if you've suffered a trip/slip/RTA. I was abused and it shouldn't have happened.
Survivor 3
I did not want to be raped as a child, but I was. I did not want the rape to cause me serious damage that meant I could not continue work, but it did. I am fighting for compensation because I was damaged; it is not an easy process and has taken four years so far. I don't know anyone who could possible make up child abuse and claim compensation because it's not a quick process, they would be better off lying about a whiplash injury.
Survivor 4
I've just been offered a settlement. It has not been easy to convince a civil court that I deserve compensation despite the fact that my abusers are in court; the insurance companies run the whole thing. I don't know of anyone who has made up a claim. All I want is for someone to say sorry.
Survivor 5
So what if a handful of idiots make up compensation claims. They should be found out and punished leaving the way clear for real claims.
Survivor 6
In my case I am pursuing civil action for a very clear reason. I punished my abuser in a criminal court; he faced the charges and was found guilty by a jury. He is now in prison. During the trial I discovered that the man who abused me had not only abused other boys, but also had sought help for his sexual deviancies. He got help for a few months and during that time he abused no children. Once he voluntarily stopped the treatment he was re-employed and began to abuse again. If the people responsible for the employment of that man had made it compulsory for him to continue to attend the treatment programme then I believe that he would not have abused me. The employers need to be punished and the best place to bring them to account is in the civil court. It should not matter if allegations are made up for compensation because it is a side issue to the main event of how can organisations that employed staff that abused be brought to account.
Survivor 7
I think that there is a risk of false accusations for compensation but the system should be able to cope with that. It shouldn't take away from the child abuse that has gone on. I don't want the money but if I don't take civil action then the school gets away with employing that abuser. I want them to feel remorse for what happened to me but it seems that I am dealing with lawyers and insurance companies.
Survivor 8
Because of what happened to me when I couldn't go to court I have been called a liar. I never wanted compensation I wanted that man to be punished.
Survivor 9
Compensation will give me the chance to rebuild my life after all the court and police stuff, I want to do so much and with an injection of cash I will be able to do some of the things I want. People would be mad to make up allegations because the process goes on for ages and involves some very intimate medical examinations, liars will be easily found out leaving the path clear for people like me who have genuinely suffered.
Survivor 10
I hate the suspicion that surrounds my claim for compensation. I didn't ask to be abused, but I was. I was told that I am entitled to be compensated, to be honest I think it's dirty money but I want to claim my entitlement. I feel that the suspicion is based on only a few false claims. It's not an easy thing to do.
Is there a weakness in the current law on "similar fact" evidence?
Survivor 1
I am no expert in how the police collect the evidence of historical child abuse. I do know that the man who abused me also abused over 70 other boys in a very similar way; it was his perversions that linked us.
Survivor 2
I understand that this is an issue that is causing a debate among many experts. I can only speak for my case and that is the way he treated his victims before the abuse was identical, it followed a pattern that gave him complete control over his victims, including me. The police will be unable to collect much physical evidence and there is no scene of crime to go over all they have is the act itself. This evidence is held in the minds and nightmares of the victims. At the time of the abuse I thought I was the only one, someone special because that's how he wanted me to feel. The police found proof of his abuse because they followed a pattern.
Survivor 3
I was groomed over a period of months by the man who eventually raped me, in court I found out that at the same time as he was abusing me he was also grooming other boys. I thought I was special to him. Years later it sickens me to think that anyone could see a child as a sex toy. The police need to be supported in their collection of evidence because in my case the only thing they had was the specific process he used to win our trust. How else can we convict these people?
Survivor 4
I was punished in a special way by my abusers. They also inflicted their kind of discipline on many others in exactly the same way. The scares have gone now but my memory is still clear. With the similar fact you have a way to catch them years after the event.
Survivor 5
No Comment
Survivor 6
My abuser was convicted on evidence gathered by Operation Care; this evidence included a substantial amount of information on his modus operandi. Without this it would be the word of one against another. The sheer weight of testimonies from his other victims meant that my evidence has a place and must be correct, for instance; he would always abuse me in a white towel, when I told the police this they were able to link it to other abusers accounts. I'm sure that the police do not want to find child abusers, but when they begin an investigation into a home or school they come up against very powerful people who want to silence the inquiry by painting pictures of false accounts/memories. I would like my experiences to be used to inform not as a weapon to score political points. The police need to be supported in order to gain safe evidence to successfully convict child abusers.
Survivor 7
So long as the statements are taken without interference then they can be checked against the statements of others that have suffered at the hands of the same abuser.
Survivor 8
No Comment.
Survivor 9
I never knew that the man who abused me had also abused over 20 other boys. I only found out that others had suffered in a similar way to me at the trial. Apart from physical damage and maybe other witnesses I can't see how else the police can get enough evidence.
Survivor 10
The police were so unsure about my allegations until they had identified others who had suffered in a similar way. I would like to be believed even if I was the only one speaking out. Even child abuse allegation should be believed.
June 2002
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