Council boss apologises for ‘unforgivable’ failings in Cyril Smith abuse probe
Rochdale Council’s chief executive has apologised for the authority’s “unforgivable” response to concerns about sexual abuse at a residential school for boys linked to the late politician Cyril Smith.
Smith was the subject of sex abuse allegations and investigations over decades during his career, first as a prominent local councillor in Rochdale and later as the town’s Liberal MP.
He was never prosecuted and went on to be knighted before he died at 82 in 2010.
Two years after his death, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) stated the 29-stone politician abused young boys in the 1960s in his role as secretary of the Rochdale Hostel for Boys Association.
He had been accused of abusing eight youngsters at the Cambridge House hostel in the town by spanking and touching them.
Three separate files regarding Smith’s actions at Cambridge House were passed to the director of public prosecutions and the Crown Prosecution Service, although on each occasion no prosecution was pursued.
Former social worker Martin Digan claimed that in 1994 he discovered a report made three years earlier by a HIV prevention officer who warned Rochdale Council that boys aged eight to 16 at Knowl View School – where Smith (pictured) was chairman of governors – were at risk of Aids.
Mr Digan said the report revealed that men travelled from as far away as Sheffield to visit the residential school and sexually abuse young boys.
On Monday, Steve Rumbelow, the council’s chief executive, issued a statement before the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse holding its public hearing sessions next month into allegations of abuse and exploitation of children at Cambridge House, Knowl View and other institutions where their placement was arranged or provided by the council.
Mr Rumbelow said: “The events that took place at Cambridge House and Knowl View and other establishments in Rochdale have cast a long shadow over the town for many years and have undoubtedly caused pain to many people.
“The council acknowledges that there were significant failings, both in the way that Knowl View School was managed, and in the council’s response to concerns about sexual abuse within and outside the school.
“That was, frankly, unforgivable. On behalf of Rochdale Borough Council, I would like to apologise sincerely to anyone who was failed by the council during those years.
“We cannot turn the clock back. But as the current chief executive of the council, working with the director of children’s services and partner agencies such as the police, and through the Rochdale Safeguarding Children’s Board, I can make sure that we continue do our level best to safeguard our children and young people now and in the future.
“The council is doing everything it can to support and work with the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) in its task and I hope that it can help us fully understand what happened in Rochdale all those years ago.”
In February, GMP said no evidence had been found of a crimnal cover-up of historical sexual abuse at Knowl View.
The investigation launched in July 2014 focused on allegations of corruption involving Smith and others in authority at the time.
Last year it emerged no one would face prosecution following a separate “extensive and thorough” GMP investigation into reports of physical and sexual abuse at Knowl View from 1969 until its closure in 1995.
GMP had previously investigated allegations of child abuse at Knowl View and other care homes across Greater Manchester. Operation Cleopatra was launched in 1998 and lasted for six years before it led to the convictions of seven people.
Smith was elected as Liberal MP for Rochdale in 1972 and became a Liberal Democrat on the formation of the new party before leaving Parliament in 1992.
Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2017, All Rights Reserved. Picture (c) PA Wire.
