“Abuse at St Francis Boys Home kept secret for 60 years” & related articles

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BBC News  Beds, Het & Bucks

20 July 2013

St Francis Boys Home

St Francis Boys Home in Shefford, Bedfordshire, closed in the 1970s

 

 

An ex-resident of a Catholic orphanage in Bedfordshire has spoken for the first time about being sexually abused by a priest 60 years ago.

 

A group of former residents of the St Francis Boys Home in Shefford are taking legal action against the Church.

 

Most allegations are against Father John Ryan who died in 2008, but the latest claim relates to another, also deceased priest and dates back to 1952.

 

The ex-resident only felt able to tell his family about the abuse this year.

‘Ruined lives’

He told the BBC: “I was 10 years old when I went to the home. One day the priest said he wanted to see me in his room to make the bed.

 

“So I went up to the bed and he sexually abused me, and did this again and again over a period of months. It was pretty traumatic.”

 

The former resident, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he was “disgusted” the Church had not apologised to the children abused at the home and that he would be contacting the police and offering to take part in the group action.

 

“The Church needs to be made accountable to all the lives it has ruined,” he said.

‘Not proven’

A new investigation was started this year after allegations of sexual abuse in the 1950s and 1960s at the home run by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Northampton.

 

The man’s brother, who also went to the home, said: “My brother was abused maybe 12 times. All he can remember is the priest’s hairy chest, he then blanked out.

 

“I think the most important thing is that it comes out into the open, so people can see what really happened.”

 

A spokesman for the Northampton Diocese of the Catholic Church, which ran the home, said it “deeply regrets” any hurt caused, but stressed the “claims are not proven”.

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Shefford’s St Francis Boys Home abuse inquiry files missing

BBC News  Beds, Het & Bucks

02 July 2013

 

Police investigating abuse at a Catholic orphanage in Bedfordshire have been unable to locate files relating to the original 2003 investigation into the home, the BBC can reveal.

 

Former residents have alleged they were abused by Father John Ryan at St Francis Boys Home in Shefford, near Bedford, in the 1950s and 1960s.

 

Fr Ryan, who died in 2008, was arrested in 2003 but released without charge.

 

Bedfordshire Police confirmed the files that led to his arrest are missing.

 

The revelation about the files came after the BBC asked what advice the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) gave the police over the original investigation.

 

A CPS spokeswoman said: “It is believed that the CPS did provide charging advice to Bedfordshire police in 2003 and advised no further action due to insufficient evidence.

‘Personification of hell’

“The advice will have been returned to the police and filed with their case papers. However, the police are unable to locate the file, so we are unable to determine any more details.”

 

A Bedfordshire Police spokeswoman said the “files have not been located… at this moment in time” but officers in the new inquiry were talking to officers involved in the old investigation.

 

The BBC has spoken to a number of people who say they were abused either sexually or physically by Fr Ryan.

 

Last week a man, now in his 60s who lives in Woolwich, who attended the orphanage in the 1950s and 1960s, said he was repeatedly sexually abused at the home which became “the personification of hell”.

 

In May, another man, who is now in his 50s, told the BBC: “Father Ryan abused me. He used to get me up to his office. Then he turned round and said ‘If you let me fondle you, I won’t hit you’.”

 

Both men said they have spoken to Bedfordshire Police, which has started a new investigation into physical and sexual abuse at the home.

 

A spokesman for the Northamptonshire Diocese of the Catholic Church, which ran the home, said it “deeply regrets” any hurt caused, but stressed the “claims are not proven”.

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Second sex abuse victim talks of ‘evil’ Shefford priest John Ryan

BBC News  Beds, Het & Bucks

29 June 2013

 

A second man who says he was sexually abused as a child by a priest at an orphanage in Bedfordshire has said he hopes legal action will bring justice for former residents.

 

The man, now in his 60s, attended St Francis Boys Home in Shefford, near Bedford, in the 1950s and 60s.

 

He says he was repeatedly abused by priest Father John Ryan.

 

Fr Ryan was arrested in 2003 following other allegations, but released without charge. He died in 2008.

‘Evil man’

The former resident of the home, who now lives in Woolwich, south London, spoke out about the abuse after a group of former victims pledged to take legal action against the Catholic church.

 

“The home was the personification of hell. He (Fr Ryan) was an evil man,” said the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

 

He said Fr Ryan touched him in a sexual manner and sexually abused him repeatedly, as well as beating and kicking him.

 

The man said it had been beneficial to meet other residents of the home who knew what had gone on.

 

In May, another man, who is now in his 50s, told the BBC: “Father Ryan abused me. He used to get me up to his office. Then he turned round and said ‘If you let me fondle you, I won’t hit you’.”

 

Both men said they have spoken to Bedfordshire Police, which has started a new investigation into physical and sexual abuse at the home.

‘Blood blisters’

The force said its safeguarding unit was keen to hear from anyone about any possible offences at the St Francis Boys Home.

 

The BBC has also spoken to a number of former residents of the home who say they were physically abused by Fr Ryan, but not sexually.

 

Gordon McIntosh, 63, of Roehampton, south-west London, who helped organise a reunion of former victims, said they were consulting a solicitor and planned to take legal action.

 

Mr McIntosh, who suffered “blood blisters” from some of the beatings at the hands of Fr Ryan, said it was vital to get an apology from the church and compensation.

 

David Cox, 61, from Ipswich, Suffolk, who attended the home in the 1960s, was also at the reunion.

 

Speaking last month, he said: “Father John Ryan was the most brutal man I’ve ever come across in my life. He threw kids around like they were toys. We were all punch bags.”

 

A spokesman for the Northamptonshire Diocese of the Catholic Church, which ran the home, said it “deeply regrets” any hurt caused, but stressed the “claims are not proven”.

1 Response to “Abuse at St Francis Boys Home kept secret for 60 years” & related articles

  1. Eugene Murphy says:

    Hi.
    I was a pupul at St Francis School in Shefford from about 1949 to 1955 6. I was Abused (Sexuly9 many times by Fr JohnRyan and Fr Johnson and the Gardner Ossie. I was Raped once and attempted Rape on me many Times. also beaten and Molested in man ways.. I did tell a Canon Hunting and other people about it but they called me a Lier and got smacked around the Head for my Troubles. I will pursue the Church and will write a Book about this and name all.The Boys and myself wIll carry on unil somehing is done about Those wrongful doings by the Church (/The Pope will be informed I promice you that. I am a Author and have already started myBook.

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