‘Missed opportunities’ in investigations into decades of sexual abuse of children in care

It follows the publication of a damming report that found children in the care of the council were subjected to “levels of cruelty and sexual abuse that are hard to comprehend”.

The report from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), published on Tuesday (July 27), said the children were “pawns in a toxic power game” within Lambeth Council and between the council and central government.

It also criticised detectives for a “failure to identify and investigate networks and links between offenders” responsible for the “systematic sexual abuse”.

The MPS conducted five investigations of child sexual abuse linked to Lambeth Council from 1992.

Commander Alex Murray said: “It is clear that at different times we missed opportunities to identify offenders and investigate further. Some of the treatment of children was also unacceptable.

“We are sorry for when we let children in the care of Lambeth down.

“As the report notes, we have changed the way we investigate allegations of child sexual abuse, with better training for officers, greater collaboration between social care partners, and putting the victim at the heart of the investigation. We are building a culture of professional curiosity within the Met to ensure any officer with concerns about a child acts promptly and appropriately.

“We will ensure that any learning for the Met will be taken forward.”

He added: “We welcome the report by the IICSA.

“There are victims and families who have waited years for this, and I hope today’s publication brings some answers.”

IICSA has now recommended that the MPS considers a criminal investigation into the death of one of the children in the care of Lambeth Council during the 1970s.

The report, Children in the care of Lambeth Council, examined the scale and nature of the sexual abuse experienced by children in the care of Lambeth Council over several decades since the 1960s. The report found one of the council’s biggest care homes, Shirley Oaks, received allegations of sexual abuse against 177 members of staff or individuals connected with the home, involving at least 529 former residents. By June 2020, the council had complaints of sexual abuse from 705 former residents. Despite this, over 40 years, the council disciplined only one senior employee for their part in the catalogue of sexual abuse.

And despite the scale of reported abuse and suspected abuse, only six perpetrators were convicted of child sexual abuse.

During the public hearings the Inquiry heard of LA-A2, who was found dead in a bathroom at Shirley Oaks in 1977. Lambeth Council did not inform the coroner that he had alleged he was sexually abused by Donald Hosegood, his ‘house father’. As a result, the Inquiry is recommending the MPS should consider whether there are grounds for a criminal investigation, examining Lambeth Council’s actions when providing information to the coroner about the circumstances surrounding LA-A2’s death.

Commander Murray, who contributed to the Inquiry, said: “We have received the recommendation by IICSA, namely ‘the death of LA‑A2 whether the Met should consider whether there are grounds for a criminal investigation into Lambeth Council’s actions when providing information to the coroner about the circumstances surrounding LA‑A2’s death’, which we will now assess.

“We encourage anyone who has been the victim of child sex abuse to come forward and speak with us.”

Shirley Oaks and South Vale care homes were found to be “brutal places where violence and sexual assault were allowed to flourish”. Another of the council’s care homes, Angell Road, was found to have systematically exposed children (including those under the age of five years) to sexual abuse.  The report says that the true scale of the sexual abuse against children in Lambeth’s care will never be known, but it is certain to be significantly higher than is formally recorded.

There were many black children in Lambeth Council’s care. In Shirley Oaks in 1980, 57 per cent of children in its care were black. During 1990 and 1991, 85 per cent of children who lived at South Vale were black. Racism was evident in the hostile and abusive treatment towards them by some staff.

Lambeth Council was found to have a culture dominated by politicised behaviour and turmoil during the 1980s. The report reveals that the desire to take on the Government and avoid setting a council tax rate resulted in 33 councillors being removed from their positions in 1986. Bullying, intimidation, racism, nepotism and sexism were found to have thrived within the council, all within a context of corruption and financial mismanagement, which permeated much of the council’s operations.

Lambeth Council has accepted that children in its care were sexually abused and that it failed them. Their representative at the Inquiry gave a full apology on behalf of the council, acknowledging that Lambeth Council “created and oversaw conditions … where appalling and absolutely shocking and horrendous abuse was perpetrated”.

The report concluded the council’s apology to the Inquiry was fulsome, but noted it did not make any meaningful apology until relatively recently. This is despite the many investigations and inspections over 20 years which made clear the duty of care it failed to deliver to so many child victims of sexual abuse.

The report has also recommended mandatory training for elected councillors on safeguarding and corporate parenting and a review of recruitment and vetting checks of current foster carers and children’s home staff.

Professor Alexis Jay, chair of the Inquiry said: “Over several decades children in residential and foster care suffered levels of cruelty and sexual abuse that are hard to comprehend.”

“These children became pawns in a toxic power game within Lambeth Council and between the council and central government.”

“For many years bullying, intimidation, racism, nepotism and sexism thrived within the council, and all against a backdrop of corruption and financial mismanagement.”

“There was a vicious and regressive culture, for which a succession of leading elected members were mainly responsible, aided and abetted in some instances by self-serving senior officials.”

“This all contributed to allowing children in their care to suffer the most horrendous sexual abuse, with just one senior council employee disciplined for their part in it.”

“We hope this report and our recommendations will ensure abuse on this scale never happens again.”

The five investigations conducted by the MPS since 1992 were Operations Bell, Pragada, Middleton, Trinity/Overview and Winter Key. The latter has been ongoing since 2015 and in May 2020, it had around 50 active investigations.

The report found opportunities to identify networks and links between offenders were missed by detectives.

For example, the IICSA said when investigating the production of indecent images of children there was no liaison between the officers within Operation Pragada and Operation Bell to seek any material or information about one of the perpetrators, Leslie Paul. He was eventually convicted on three separate occasions – in 1994, 2002 and 2016 – of a range of sexual offences against several children in Lambeth Council’s care. In 1994, he was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment, in 2002 to 18 months’ imprisonment and in 2016 to 13 years’ imprisonment. During Operation Middleton there was also evidence of links between another perpetrator, William Hook, and Hosegood and these were not investigated. In 2001 Hook pleaded guilty to 26 offences, including indecent assault, gross indecency and buggery, in respect of six children in the care of Lambeth Council and one he abused after leaving the council. He was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment.

However, the report highlighted that investigatory practice “has developed since the 1970s and 1980s”.

“Officers are now trained both to interview children and to work with social care professionals,” it said. “However, as was recognised by Commander Alex Murray, the Metropolitan Police Service should embed ‘a culture of professional curiosity’, so that officers act appropriately and promptly in response to any concerns about a child.’

The report acknowledged there were also “practical challenges” associated with the recruitment and retention of police officers in child protection work across London.

It added: “There is no doubt that it is difficult work, but the judgments of trained and experienced police officers make a real impact on sexual abuse investigations, and ultimately on the outcomes for victims and survivors. It is crucial that this work is properly resourced.

“In respect of the evidence of children, the Code for Crown Prosecutors in the late 1980s looked at these matters differently from the present day. In 1986, prosecutors were required to take into account whether there were ‘matters which might properly be put to a witness by the defence to attack his credibility’. The 1988 version of the Code noted that the ‘credibility and credit of the child will often be of limited value and in the case of very young children may be nil’. In consequence, it is unlikely that the criminal justice system at that time properly served many child victims in the care of Lambeth Council. Today’s practice requires prosecutors not to focus solely on the child but rather the evidence of the allegation being made.

“The changes in practice over the years have been designed to provide greater support to victims of child sexual abuse. Nevertheless, the mistakes of the past, whether related to policy or practice, cannot now be fully corrected: the true scale of offending against children in the care of Lambeth Council will never be known.”

Responding to the report, Lambeth Council said: “As the IICSA Report sets out, the council of the past failed to protect many of its most vulnerable children. The extent and scale of the horrendous abuse, which took place over many decades, remains deeply shocking. The council failed to acknowledge concerns when they arose, often failed to believe children when they disclosed abuse and then failed to take effective action.  That so many children and adults were not believed compounded their experiences and caused further pain and distress with lifelong impacts.

“The council takes responsibility for contributing to conditions in which adults were able to abuse with apparent impunity. Lambeth also recognises that a disproportionate number of those children were black, Asian and multi-ethnic, despite a range of policies intended to better meet their needs.

“The council recognises that there is much more to be done as part of its improvement journey and that we can never be complacent. Lambeth today benefits from robust political and corporate leadership and governance, founded on a sound understanding of its corporate parenting responsibilities.

“We welcome all the recommendations from IICSA that will assist the council to continue to keep children safe now and in the future.”