Abuse Scandal: Child-abuse report reveals `crash course in wickedness'

The stark, bleak life facing many children in residential care in England and Wales is laid bare in the Sir William Utting's report on child abuse, published yesterday. Our correspondent says the tragedy of poor education and health, high rates of mental illness, bullying and intimidation, is only capped by the threat of `sexual terrorists', men who still haunt the care system preying on young, vulnerable victims.

Sir William said his inquiry "seemed at times a crash course in human ... wickedness and the fallibility of social institutions".

The inquiry was set up last summer as a result of continuing revelations of widespread abuse in children's homes, stretching back as far as 20 years.

Although there are now significantly fewer children in homes - 8,000 in 1995 compared to 40,000 in1975 - "the danger of child abuse remains an ever present threat".

As a result, Sir William urged a radical overhaul of the system to protect children living away from home, including a comprehensive strategy for residential child care, legislation to regulate private foster care, legal protection against abuse, incorporating tougher standards on the recruitment of staff, and securing enough care for there to be a choice of placements.

"[These children] must take their place among other priorities for increased public expenditure ... The ultimate cost to society of not doing these things will be many times greater through the burden of ruined adult lives," said Sir William.

"There are no grounds for complacency about either children's homes or the other settings in which children live away from home. Abuse is documented in them all. People who wish to exploit children seek occupations or voluntary work where they have access to children.

"They will find the weak points in our defences. Institutions may be corrupted by evil people, or decay internally through neglecting their primary purpose of serving the interests of children ... There is still too much abuse on a mundane level - casual or opportunistic, physical, sexual and emotional."

The report, People Like Us, says there needs to be a rethink on the current strategy of residential care. He says that councils now spend less on residential care than they did 10 years ago. "We feel that residential child care as a national service has shrunk to below that which provides a reasonable choice for children."

Research had shown that 75 per cent of children leaving care have no academic qualifications of any kind.

More than half of them are unemployed, and 38 per cent of young prisoners have been in care. One in seven girls was also pregnant on leaving care aged 16 or 17.

On welfare of children in care the report says it received evidence of high rates of ill health. "Professor Jo Siebert told us that children looked after by local authorities were the most deprived group of children he had met, with serious health needs requiring expert attention from community paediatricians and psychiatrists.

"A submission to us estimated that 75 per cent had mental health problems, some complex and severe, and some with undiagnosed psychoses."

On paedophiles in the care system, he says: "Becoming associated with residential work as an employee or volunteer provides the abuser with a captive group of vulnerable children. Abusers may be good at their jobs, winning respect, affection or fear from their colleagues and admiration from the parents whose children they corrupt."

The report goes on: "Persistent sexual abusers are a scourge of childhood. Each one who adopts the lifetime career of abusing children sexually will amass a library of hundreds of victims. All of these will be damaged, many will be caused unspeakable psychological and physical harm.

"People who prey upon children in this way are sexual terrorists."

On staffing in the care system the report says that at the last count only 29 per cent of care staff had any social work qualification.

Although the report mainly refers to male abusers, it says there is increasing recognition that women too may abuse sexually and physically.

"It is important that foster care officers and social workers are aware of this and remain on their guard ... Allegations from children should be dealt with thoroughly rather than assuming that `women do not do things like that'.

Sir William spent nearly a year producing the detailed 200-page report.

The Key Recommendations

The Government to develop a comprehensive strategy of residential child care.

Councils to get sufficient accommodation for children in care.

Councils to focus on educational and health needs of children in care.

Government to produce a code of practice for recruiting, selecting and training foster carers.

Government to make unregistered foster care a criminal offence.

Government to carry out review of current arrangements for prosecuting sexual offences against children.

Children's homes with three and fewer beds to be regulated.