BBC Radio 4’s In Dark Corners gives platform to those who suffered abuse in British private schools
“I have 50 new emails containing criminal allegations that require serious attention from me,” he says. But it is not just the numbers involved: Renton continues to be shocked by the “vicious” lengths to which schools go to avoid being held to account for the historical sexual abuse that went on behind their gates.
As if to prove his point, Renton reveals he spent Wednesday morning responding to a lawyer’s letter from one of the schools he named in a recent edition of his In Dark Corners, threatening legal action. “It’s hard not to conclude that for many schools, including the most eminent, reputation still comes before child safety and transparency,” he says.
He adds: “The schools first try to placate parents, while not admitting any responsibility. If the case goes to court despite their efforts, they use very expensive lawyers to keep the school’s names out of the court papers on grounds of protecting the children. What that means is that the school’s failings in tolerating an abuser don’t get revealed so they can avoid addressing it.”
“In some instances, it appears that this has been done deliberately in order to escape legal liability for past abuse. Where liabilities are not transferred to the new entity, and no insurance existed for the old one, claims for damages can be stymied and victims are left uncompensated.”
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