A child abuse survivor has rejected an apology from one of Scotland’s top private schools and called for new laws banning internal investigations.
The man, who gave evidence to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry about his experience at Fettes College, in Edinburgh, said a statement issued by lawyers for the school this week which admitting failures in investigating abuse allegations was “paper thin”.
The victim said there had been “attempts to disguise criminal activity” at the school - where two former teachers have admitted abuse - and said it should become a criminal offence not to report all allegations of abuse to police.
He said: “I utterly reject Fettes College’s paper thin apology.
“These are real children psychologically maimed and lives blighted by inaction and deliberate attempts to disguise criminal activity.”
Men who claim they were physically and sexually abused by a teacher at Fettes in the late 1970s learned in December that he will not be prosecuted.
The Crown Office told them it will not attempt to extradite their former teacher from South Africa due to expected delays to the process, but the case was likely to have been pursued had the accused lived in Scotland.
This week, Fettes College issued a statement ahead of evidence led at the abuse inquiry in Edinburgh, admitting that “on occasions it did not act responsibly or appropriately when evidence of abuse came to light”.
The victim said: “In my case the man who sexually assaulted me was reported to the school at the time and the school did not attempt to investigate the matter – even though I had witnesses.
“Instead the school chose to put my abuser on one month’s sabbatical so he could ‘get his head together’.
“The inaction resulted in the abuse of dozens more children over the years and as far as I am concerned they have simply done everything they can to sweep allegations – and indeed the victims – under the carpet.
“I believe the only way forward to stop institutional abuse – whether schools, religious groups or sports clubs – is to make it a statutory offence to not report the matter immediately to the police.
“When it comes to allegations of abuse there should be no ‘in house investigations’ – these are crimes we are talking about so it makes sense to have Police Scotland conduct impartial investigations.”
Fettes College’s apology came as the inquiry moved onto abuse allegations at boarding schools.
Jonathan Brodie QC offered a “full and unreserved apology” to victims on behalf of the school, saying it accepts “sexual, physical and emotional abuse” was not investigated properly.
He said: “It is a matter of profound regret. What the school seeks to do now is to listen.”
Kim Leslie, specialist abuse lawyer at Digby Brown, who is handling the victim’s legal action, said: “We are pursuing a court action to make Fettes liable for the actions of their former employee.
“The failure to report matters to the police at the time and the recent Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service decision not to seek extradition closed doors to the alleged abuser being prosecuted.
“But lack of prosecution does not mean a survivor cannot take further action as a conviction is not always required in the civil courts.
“We will continue to support our client in his case against Fettes College but as it is ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment further."
We have approached Fettes College for comment.
