How many paedophiles are there at the Paralympics?

The tide of emotion flooding over the paralympics is inspiring and euphoric. We watch many supreme athletes achieving the most incredible feats of unbelievable strength and bravery. Whilst watching Ellie Simmonds win the 400 metre Freestyle in the pool, I marvelled at the fact that she produced more reserves of strength than most of us can manage in a lifetime. At the end of the race, she could hardly speak for tears of joy. When she was presented with her award, it was obvious that she was the same height standing up as her competitors were sitting down, yet she managed to beat them all. What a triumph.

I am frequently laughed at by my daughter for being tearful at various television programmes, particularly "Britain's got Talent". I never expected to become dewy eyed when watching a sporting event. Quite honestly I find the Paralympics more entertaining and inspirational than the mainstream event. There is no doubt in my mind that the disabled have more metaphorical hurdles to jump than their able bodied counterparts.

So what is the point of this blog? Sadly there is always a dark side to everything. Particularly if you are a child abuse lawyer. We always look for the flaw in everything. Why be creative when you can be destructive?

There are many statistics which show that disabled children, and vulnerable adults are much more likely to be targetted for abuse. Think about it. They are less able to defend themselves, and less likely to be able to give evidence in Court.  Figures vary, but a rough statistic shows that a disabled person is almost twice as likely to be abused than the able bodied. You can read more on the NSPCC site here

The question is how vigilant are the officials when there are so many vulnerable people gathered together? Whilst there are coaches to watch over the individuals, child protection officers, a paralympic policy on the subject, and thankfully more awareness of the risks now than at any time in history, what an attraction to the dedicated child sex offender?

To quote the Safe Network "Officials have confirmed that 2012 Paralympics will be the biggest ever with over 4,000 competitors from 165 countries competing. Athletes as young as 12 will be competing, so it is more important than ever that sufficent procedures are in place to safeguard young competitors." The NSPCC sell their own booklet entitled "Safeguarding deaf and disabled children in sport"

The competitors are highly stressed, away from home, full of adrenalin, and focussed on their event. Will they be turning their mind to the risk of grooming and entrapment? Some of them will be seeing the glories of London, riches beyond their wildest dreams. Some of them come from countries where the disabled are pilloried by society, and given no welfare help whatsoever. Compared to the United Kingdom, home must seem like Dickensian London .

So imagine the scenario. The disabled child is allowed a wild card entry because of the dreadful conditions at home. He/she stands no chance of winning not only because of the standard of their equipment, but also the lack of investment in them at home. They have incredible talent. They come last in their event, and the Paralympics are nearly over. They feel down, and don't want to go home.

A nice man says he is acting on behalf of a major sponsor, who is looking to invest in foreign paralympic athletes. He offers accomodation, regular contact with home, genuine looking papers, and a flashing smile. He seems credible. The disabled athlete has a choice. Stay here in luxury, or go home to poverty and discrimination. What choice is there?

What if the promises do not materialise? No rights, an illegal immigrant with barely any English is sucked into the sex offender's world of intrigue.

I apologise for my cynicism. I really hope it doesn't happen. Sadly, I fear it may become a reality. I hope that I do not receive instructions of this type. If I do, I will fight for their rights.

Stop the Legal Services Commission taking 25% of Victim’s Compensation

Why is it that government seem to have abandoned the rights of the individual in favour of saving money at all costs? Is it because we have a monetarist, cut, cut, cut, single-minded government who do not listen? Does the preponderance of millionaires on the front bench of government have anything to do with it? Too many questions, I know.

As part of the government’s proposed changes to the Legal Aid Fund, in an effort to save money and make Legal Aid self funding, there is a plan to introduce a Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme, whereby at the end of a case, even if it is successful and all money advanced by the Legal Services Commission is repaid, 25% of the Claimant’s compensation will be deducted and paid to the government in order to try and finance the Legal Aid scheme out of damages.

ACAL (Association of Child Abuse Lawyers) and I believe that the proposal is wrong, and should be abandoned for the victims of abuse. We have written a letter to the Ministry of Justice, which you can read here.

To take 25% of an abuse victim’s compensation is tantamount to abusing them all over again.

• Often the abuser was a government employee. To subject the client to abuse, then take some of their compensation off them at the end is wrong.
 
• The impact assessment published by the government when the scheme was proposed originally illustrated that the amount saved by the proposed scheme would be minimal in the area of abuse, principally because damages are relatively low in any event.
  
• The largest saving to the Legal Aid Fund would be in the area of Clinical Negligence, which will be withdrawn from scope in any event. Thus there is no significant saving to be made, and the proposed policy is misguided and should be withdrawn.
  
• Sometimes aggravated, exemplary or punitive damages are awarded to a victim in order to punish the abuser or his/her employers. If the Defendant is a government body, the deduction of money from damages by the Legal Services Commission becomes even more unacceptable as it defeats the whole point of punitive damages in the first place.

If you would like to support our campaign, please send a letter to your MP. We have attached a suggested letter, please fill in your own details, print it off, and send it to your MP. If you don’t know who your MP is, go to http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/

To view the proposed letter (in Microsoft Word format - click here)

Is abuse of children in homes something new?

The Rochdale taxi drivers case has provoked a maelstrom of activity amongst MP's fronted by Ann Coffey who has taken evidence at an All Party Parliamentary Group for Runaway and Missing Children and Adults, and said:

“There is a scandal going on in England involving children missing from care - and until recent cases of child sexual exploitation in Rochdale and other places put the spotlight on this issue – it was pretty much going unnoticed.

“This inquiry has revealed the widespread concern that what we have in place at the moment falls dramatically short of what is needed to protect some of society’s most vulnerable children. “We know that dangerous predators are exploiting large gaps in the system and targeting children.”

My reaction is several fold:-

1. Paedophiles always exploit whatever loop holes they can find in the care system to target vulnerable children.
2. Vulnerable children are always easier to exploit than more robust children who are more likely to be strong enough to repel any would be assailant sex offenders.
3. This is history repeating itself but on a smaller scale. Back in the 1990's 37 out of 41 Police Forces had a major children's home investigation in their county to supervise. Numerous alleged sex offenders, who had been able to get jobs as care workers at the homes with a view to abusing children were sent to prison for varying periods of time, whilst protesting their innocence in some cases.
4. The Police spent several years between about 1994 and 2001, "scratching the surface" of the scale of abuse which prevailed in  children's homes during the 60's, 70's, and 80's.
5. In those cases, because of "loopholes" in the recruitment process which at the time did not have a sophisticated vetting process, paedophiles managed to get jobs looking after children. There was no such thing as the Criminal Records Bureau, and a very haphazard Data Protection System.
6. If you like golf, join a golf club. Paedophiles just had to get a job at a Children's Home in order to foster their preference for children. The rest was easy. When a child complained, because he/she was in care, they were not believed, and the abuse went un-investigated.
7. It was always better to target a smaller less regulated homes than a large, more professionally run Local Authority Home. The same is happening now.
8. Because less money is being invested into the system by central government, the private sector has become involved to fill the gaps. Thus it is no surprise that now "Of the 1,800 children’s homes in England, three quarters are run by private groups, very often housing just one or two particularly troubled children - charging taxpayers up to £250,000 a year per child." see the Telegraph Article today.
9. The lacunae highlighted by the various reports that a lot of children are housed out of area, and that the police do not really know what is going on is no surprise. Following the scandals in the 1980's a paper called "Working Together" was published, which criticised the various child care organisations for not communicating with each other. This was remedied by Joint Committees being set up. Now we have a similar problem but in a different guise.
10. We will always spend our life sticking plaster over the cracks, only to find that paedophiles find other cracks to exploit. That is their modus operandi. They want to exploit children. They are clever and manipulative. The operate in groups. There is money to be made. They will thus find a way round whatever system we devise.
11. I am a foster parent. Some of our children run off when things are not going their way. It is their solution to unhappiness that they feel within themselves, or a temper reaction. Run away. It is nothing new. It does not solve anything, but it is a human being's reaction to unhappiness. Run away. Our own children sometimes do it in adolescence until they come to their senses.
12. If your own child runs away, you only report them missing when you can't find them anywhere. If a foster child does not return at the appointed time, then even though you have a fairly good idea where they might be, you are obliged to report them missing to the police for health and safety reasons, hence the figures for those "missing" can be distorted by statistics and rules.

So undoubtedly there are worrying features about the recent governmental report, but it is nothing new. If anything the scandal is not as bad as it was in the police investigations of the past, which I have witnessed. There were scandals of children being "sold" as rent boys, or girls from the care system being used as prostitutes at outrageous parties. If the government use the private system to supplement lack of resources, then inevitably there is less control, and there a greater opportunity to exploit.

Abuse never goes away, it simply morphs into a different shape and size. It is like those tubs of gue that children sometimes play with.

Am I a queen?

The title of this article is, of course, a pun. Obviously I am not the queen even though my trousers suggest that I am of a royalist nature. I do like the queen, even though I have never met her. I believe that our country would a lot less stable, and more open to corruption if we had a presidential state without a figure head to provide balance and deference.

 Almost without exception prime ministers hold the queen in high regard, and treat her with respect. She signs every statute, and governmental policy has to be approved by her before the opening of parliament.  I think it was David Cameron who said (without even a hint of insincerity - but there again you would expect nothing less) that over the years she had provided much wisdom and guidance to successive prime ministers.

So why am I looking decidedly patriotic (some said effeminate on Facebook - as if?)? Well on Jubilee day - Friday 1st June actually - we had a royal day at the office. It cost £1 if you dressed up and £2 if you didn't. Various staff baked wonderful cakes which cost money, we had pink bubbly and chocolate covered strawberries which Claire made - thank you Claire. Thank you also Claire for organising the day. The firm - Abney Garsden McDonald solicitors topped up the money raised for Cancer Research to £200.

Did I wear the trousers again? Well of course I did. We had a Jubilee party on Bank Holiday Monday at our caravan in Anglesey, when I was forced, totally against my will, to drink large quantities of champagne, beer, wine, and eat huge quantities of barbecued food. What a penance - all because I was wearing Union Jack trousers.

So all those who like the Queen say "Aye". Those who like my trousers say "Aye". If you would like to borrow the trousers, I can accommodate you at a price of course. Just a punnet of strawberries and a tot of bubbly will do.

If the Queen reads this, Lillibet, please don't overlook me in the next honours list. A CBE will do.

Children's Homes - Good Bad or Ugly?

The Guardian publicised a story following the Rochdale case which promotes the protection of sexually exploited children in care at the behest of Barnado's who are appealing for specialised foster parents. You can read the story here

This is an old problem which has come to people's attention recently because of the Rochdale story of girls from care homes being groomed by Asian Taxi drivers.

But children from care homes are usually the most badly damaged vulnerable children in care, who are too difficult to manage in other types of care such as fostering. So it is no surprise that they are the easiest to target, most in need of any sort of affection, and low in self esteem.

The government are now looking at the problem according to the article, but there is no money to sort it out, so why not turn to charities instead of using government funds to try and solve a problem which should be sorted out by the state.

My wife and I are foster parents in Cheshire East, which is not as short of funds as some local authorities, yet they are choosing to pay more by sending children out to Agency Foster Parents, when there are Local Authority foster parents within the county with spare beds. It is a scandal, which presumably is something to do with budgets, but we are at a loss to know why.

Children in Care need protection from paedophiles, but I remain pessimistic as to whether the government will put its money where its mouth is, during a Conservative type of cut, save and cut more Britain.

At work - (www.abuselaw.co.uk) we see the results of failed attempts at care all the time, when the care system lets children down, and it is not a pretty site. When they do get it wrong, fault is rarely admitted, and many years of contested litigation result, usually many years after the event.

"Historic Abuse": Child abuse should not be so described

"Historic Abuse": Child abuse reported in adulthood is referred to b...: Child abuse reported in adulthood is referred to by all and sundry as "historic abuse."quotes Tom Perry in his blog.

At the Association of Child Abuse Lawyers - www.childabuselawyers.com and indeed at my own firm Abney Garsden McDonald (www.abuselaw.co.uk), we constantly wrestle with abuse which happened many years ago, and "Limitation" or "Time Delay", as it is colloquially known.

Using the word "Historic" is therefore not only ill advised legally in that it emphasises by its description the fact that the abuse happened a long time ago, but also disrespects the survivor whose suffering is life long.

I am going to be recommending that we promote this idea as a campaign on our Website. I also support Tom in suggesting to the Police, who first coined the phrase back in the late 1990's, that its use is abandoned.

Is abuse of girls only committed by Asian Men?

Today, you will have seen the headlines today that nine men have been found guilty of grooming, entrapping, then raping girls in the Rochdale area. One of my staff has been involved in the case from an investigative point of view, and regarded the result, after an 11 week trial, as a real victory for justice. See the story in the Manchester Evening News

The facts are appalling, the offences deserving of long sentences.

The vulnerable girls were all white, and as young as 13 when the offences were committed. All the men were part of the Rochdale Pakistani Community and most were married. The girls were often runaways or the victims of the care system, who, after being given the affection which they craved were plied with drink then raped, and driven across the North West to have sex with other men.

The men worked as Taxi Drivers or in the Tasty Bites and Balti House in Heywood where some of the girls were given free kebabs and vodka as they were groomed for sex.

The vulnerable girls, some of them runaways or in the care of social services, were given the attention they craved before being plied with drink, raped and driven all over the north to have sex with other men. Most of the men are from Rochdale's Pakistani community and were married with children. They worked as taxi drivers or in the Tasty Bites and Balti House in Heywood where some of the victims were given free kebabs and vodka as they were groomed for sex. The trial heard how the men abused a string of white girls.

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/crime/s/1493177_nine-men-found-guilty-in-rochdale-sex-grooming-case-?related_link

The vulnerable girls, some of them runaways or in the care of social services, were given the attention they craved before being plied with drink, raped and driven all over the north to have sex with other men. Most of the men are from Rochdale's Pakistani community and were married with children. They worked as taxi drivers or in the Tasty Bites and Balti House in Heywood where some of the victims were given free kebabs and vodka as they were groomed for sex. The trial heard how the men abused a string of white girls.

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/crime/s/1493177_nine-men-found-guilty-in-rochdale-sex-grooming-case-?related_link

The vulnerable girls, some of them runaways or in the care of social services, were given the attention they craved before being plied with drink, raped and driven all over the north to have sex with other men. Most of the men are from Rochdale's Pakistani community and were married with children. They worked as taxi drivers or in the Tasty Bites and Balti House in Heywood where some of the victims were given free kebabs and vodka as they were groomed for sex. The trial heard how the men abused a string of white girls.

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/crime/s/1493177_nine-men-found-guilty-in-rochdale-sex-grooming-case-?related_link

The vulnerable girls, some of them runaways or in the care of social services, were given the attention they craved before being plied with drink, raped and driven all over the north to have sex with other men. Most of the men are from Rochdale's Pakistani community and were married with children. They worked as taxi drivers or in the Tasty Bites and Balti House in Heywood where some of the victims were given free kebabs and vodka as they were groomed for sex. The trial heard how the men abused a string of white girls.

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/crime/s/1493177_nine-men-found-guilty-in-rochdale-sex-grooming-case-?related_link

The vulnerable girls, some of them runaways or in the care of social services, were given the attention they craved before being plied with drink, raped and driven all over the north to have sex with other men. Most of the men are from Rochdale's Pakistani community and were married with children. They worked as taxi drivers or in the Tasty Bites and Balti House in Heywood where some of the victims were given free kebabs and vodka as they were groomed for sex. The trial heard how the men abused a string of white girls.

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/crime/s/1493177_nine-men-found-guilty-in-rochdale-sex-grooming-case-?related_link

The media reporting has been hijacked by several side issues, which boost the headline potential, but detract from the seriousness of the offences:-

1. The Police, Crown Prosecution Services, and Council, have all apologised for failings in their processes. One of the girls in particular complained of the abuse back in 2008, but was not believed by either the Police or CPS. As such her abuse continued until a decision to prosecute was made in 2009 some 11 months later. Whilst errors were made, the real culprits are the abusers - for more detail see this story in the Manchester Evening News
2. The British National Party have jumped on the Band Wagon to claim it was a racially motivated crime. The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester has denied there was any racial motive and said that this was simply an appalling case of child abuse, which could have happened in any community. It is undeniable, statistically, that a high proportion of Asian and Afghan men in the North of England are involved in this sort of crime, higher statistically than the regional average population. There have been calls for a Public Enquiry to find out the cause of the racial bias towards this part of the community.

As an experienced child abuse lawyer, I see this story, I am afraid as typical of the behaviour of organised paedophile rings who prey on young girls from the care system for sex, and grooming. It has happened before with white men, and white girls. My own view is that such girls will be an obvious target for any group of men with such desires. It so happens that the Asian community is a preformed group of people who naturally will be able to work together without having to form a special network for the purpose of accessing under age sex. I agree with the Chief Constable that this has nothing at all to do with race. If one is going to choose a target audience, vulnerable young girls are an obvious first choice, particularly when they are needy of affection, in the way that those in care obviously are.

I doubt whether an expensive Public Enquiry will unearth much more than the above, other than to look into the ways that the network organised itself, to plan the crime, if indeed such evidence can ever be unearthed. We must watch and listen to see what develops.