Survivor of Child Sex Abuse Gets Closure and Compensation

Mr Wright was placed into care in the 1970s when he was a child, because of physical abuse in his family home. Sadly, while he was under the care of Leicestershire County Council, he was sexually abused.

He had a number of placements throughout his childhood before being placed at Rosehill Children’s Home in Market Harborough, which was where he suffered serious sexual abuse.

Mr Wright lived at Rosehill for several years during the 1980s and was sexually abused on several occasions by the officer in charge of the home, Mr Kenneth Scott. The abuse continued until Mr Wright left the children’s home. He did not tell anyone about the abuse whilst he was there as Mr Scott was well respected and Mr Wright thought no one would believe him.

After he left Rosehill, Mr Wright was visited by the police and he gave a statement. Mr Scott was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment at Leicester Crown Court for 5 counts of sexual offences, two of which related to Mr Wright.

Mr Wright recalls not being offered any support from the Local Authority after the investigation and was left to deal with the aftermath by himself. His life became chaotic and he was in and out of police custody for many years. He found it difficult to deal with the abuse and he felt too embarrassed to talk to anyone about it. It wasn’t until he saw reports on the television relating to allegations of sexual abuse against well-known celebrities that he decided to draw a line under everything and finally deal with his abuse so he move on.

How did we help?

Mr Wright got in touch with us when he was 50 years old and told us he had been sexually abused whilst he was in care as a child. Abuse Claims Solicitor, Tamsin Chapman, who specialises in historic child abuse cases, took on his case.

After taking a full statement from Mr Wright, Tamsin reviewed his historical records. It was very important that we obtained evidence of Mr Scott’s conviction as the abuse Mr Wright suffered had already been proven by a criminal court.

Tamsin obtained proof of the conviction from the court before sending a letter to Leicestershire City Council (the Defendant) setting out Mr Wright’s claim.

The Defendant made an offer of £15,000 to settle Mr Wright’s claim. Leicestershire City Council didn’t deny the claim as they were fully responsible for Mr Scott’s actions, because he was their employee and the abuse was proven by a conviction.

Getting Closure and Looking Forward

Mr Wright decided to accept the offer as he could finally draw a line under everything, allowing him to get the closure he needed. More importantly, Leicestershire City Council gave Mr Wright a letter of apology. This was an important acknowledgement of what happened to him, which he greatly appreciated and valued more than the compensation itself.

Mr Wright and his wife are planning on using the compensation to buy a camper van so they can travel around the country.