Actress tells of abuse by residential care workers

Award-winning actress Samantha Morton has spoken out for the first time about sexual abuse she suffered while in care as a teenager in Nottingham.

The Bafta and Golden Globe winner told how she was aged just 13 when she reported abuse by two men, both residential care workers, to both police and social services but neither authority formally investigated.

Speaking to the Guardian, she said she decided to waive her right to anonymity in the wake of a report detailing sexual exploitation of 1,400 children over a period of 16 years in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

And the 37-year-old said she fears the issue is more widespread, calling for investigations in other places, including in her home town.

“I just wanted to go public with this, to say, we know it’s rife but why are there not further investigations into other areas? It isn’t just Rotherham, I’m sure it’s not just Rotherham,” she told the paper.

“There was no support, no offer of counselling, no wanting to delve deeper … Maybe they just assumed I had been abused already, or was being, anyway.

“A lot of people who abused my friends were people in very, very top jobs within the social services. Nottingham in the 80s was rife with that.”

The actress revealed she had recently spoken to Nottinghamshire Police about her original complaint and was told the report contained only a reference to “frolicking” and no sexual abuse.

Nottinghamshire Police Superintendent Helen Chamberlain told the paper she had spoken to Morton about the allegations but they had not amounted to a criminal offence and the actress had not reported them as one.

Meanwhile a Nottinghamshire County Council spokesman said they were hoping to speak to her about her concerns.

In 2009 the double Oscar-nominee, who also starred alongside Tom Cruise in Minority Report, backed a Government campaign to recruit social workers in the wake of the Baby P scandal.

Speaking then, Morton said she experienced some “wonderful” social workers who supported her and helped her realise her ambitions.

She said: “My early life from infancy to leaving home at 16 was spent in care. I had some wonderful social workers who supported me and helped me achieve my goals in life.

“There are many people out there, whether they be children, families, vulnerable adults, even the aged who need a social worker.”

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