Abuse at Ampleforth

Abuse at Ampleforth by your webmaster St Wilfrids House Ampleforth College

This article is one of the most difficult to write about yet is one of the most important. It loses out in the telling but here goes anyway.

Your webmaster was a boarding pupil at St. Wilfrid's House Ampleforth College from 1958 to 1963, from the age of 13 to 18.

In 2008 child abuse is very fashionable. In those days the child was looked upon as being weak and guilty.

Your webmaster was never abused at Ampleforth College yet there was a climate which allowed this sort of behaviour.

From the age of 13 to 15 boys slept in dormitories without any privacy, disciplined by the older dormitory monitors, upper fifth types, big and stupid. There was free time from 7pm to 8pm. Then there were prayers. Bedtime was 8:15pm. Lights out was at 9:00pm. Then the housemaster rejoiced in summoning the boys to his study in rotation either to be beaten or to be given embarrassing and uninformed talks on sex, of which they had no experience and hence only theoretical knowledge. These summonings could often arise after the boy was asleep so that he had to be woken up. In this state the victim is more vulnerable. Your webmaster can still recall the blue patterns on all of the tiles as he squirmed in his seat as he was asked if he dreamed about naked women. What was the right answer? What have I done now? Your webmaster's mother was at school with some of the other mothers and they all agreed that the monks were embarrassed in their presence. They did not know how to act in the presence of a woman. This is a problem with celibacy.

A lot of the information was gleaned from an ex head boy whom your webmaster met in Singapore in 2000. Singapore is like that; a great place to meet interesting people. He was on his way to Kandy in Sri Lanka to do good works.

Your webmaster's religious instruction teacher was a monk, the late Fr. Basil Hume, later Cardinal Hume and very nearly the pope himself. He was not a pedophile but he does admit in his book that he did not do enough to stop it.

Ampleforth is rich and powerful and full of tradition. It is the leading Catholic boys public school in England. It is very difficult to criticise so much achievement rather one holds it in awe like royalty. If it was a state funded establishment it would have been closed down long ago.

Certain changes have been made which must reflect the problem. The school was divided into 10 houses. One of them, St. Aidens, no longer exists after the housemaster was discovered sitting in a chair staring at his new young 13 year olds as they slept in their beds. Housemasters are no longer monks offering nightly sex talks and morning mass to the boys. Housemasters are now family men with wives and children.

Monks no longer teach, so celibate men no longer have any contact with pubescent boys.

There were a lot of stories about sexual incidents among the boys and monks. Most of them were not true. Boys like to make up stories. Yet some of them were true.

It was the practice that if a monk became too friendly with the boys he would be sent away to be a parish priest in Yorkshire, where he probably continued to seek out young boys. Your webmaster received a love letter from one of them and was much too embarrassed to know how to act. Sea scouts

Your webmaster was also active in the sea scouts and enjoyed sailing and making fires and other scouting activities. So also were four other members of his house. We were all second year and so troop leaders. We shared a tent together. They were all older and like to talk about their sexual exploits with women for which your webmaster was too young. The scout master, a monk, must have been snooping for the next day your web master and his four friends were summoned by the housemaster and accused of buggery. Your webmaster was too young to understand the meaning of the word. It certainly did not occur. We were all beaten for it. Your webmaster not too hard because he had shopped the others and otherwise would lose his friends or so the warped thinking went.

One of the most surprising incidents was as a new boy volunteering to join the sea scouts. Your webmaster volunteered with a friend from his previous school. Then at the first meeting his friend resigned without saying why. He had friends and family in the school who had warned him that this was not a good idea. He knew and so did others.

There were 2 streams in the academic life. There were the intellectuals like your webmaster who moved year by year from the upper fourth form to the middle fifth to the middle sixth to the upper sixth. Then there were the thick thugs who went from the middle fourth to the lower fifth to the upper fifth to the lower sixth. The 2 streams sort of overlapped each other. The thick thugs were always put in positions of authority like dormitory monitors where they could create a hell for their victims. They were usually bigger and more violent. That was considered good medicine for the intellectual types.

There was a fashion for ball bashing in which an unsuspecting victim was hit in the balls. This was considered very funny. Your webmaster had an operation in Australia in later life where some of the damage was repaired. While still fertile and after numerous wives and girlfriends he has never fathered any children. They would be pleased with their handywork. the sea scout troop on parade being inspected by a naval officer

The school fees were not so expensive as the 20,000 pounds per year now quoted. There never seemed to be enough to eat and the surroundings looked tatty and run down.

Finding oneself in such a hell, with Catholic parents who made financial sacrifices to keep one in such a hell, a boy can only keep his head down and try to stay out of trouble. Parents never understand or believe their children. Requests to be removed were treated as mere home sickness. Their interpretation of the Catholic church was family values, church on Sunday and Christmas; none of which were practiced at such a school.

There are some photos taken at the time which are included here. Superficially the school looks very beautiful and the children have all that they could hope for. But what about sex? That is very different.

There were other recent reports about a monk who picked up small boys in the Kings Cross area of London. He was caught and committed suicide in the monks wood over the road and bridge from the school.

It is not really fair to blame the monks. It is their unnatural behaviour which causes them a human beings to act in this way. Men need women and without them they do strange things.

Abuse at Ampleforth by David Harrison (Filed: 12/09/2004) View from the top of the church. Beautiful isn't it?

Police are investigating allegations of child sex abuse by two monks at Ampleforth College, Britain's leading Roman Catholic boarding school, the headmaster said last night.

Fr Gabriel Everitt told The Telegraph that police had contacted him about the allegations, made by ex-pupils, in February.

Detectives have questioned the former prep and junior school pupils about "traumatic and terrifying" abuse that they say they were subjected to between the ages of six and 13.

The abuse is alleged to have happened in the late 1960s and 1970s.

The actors Rupert Everett and Colin Firth, Michael Ancram, the deputy leader of the Conservative party who was a junior dormitory monitor shopped by a senior dormitory monitor for listening to Radio Luxembourg on his transistor radio under the blankets, and Edward Stourton, a presenter on Radio 4's Today, were all pupils there at the time. Lawrence Dallaglio, who has just stepped down as England rugby captain, attended the school more recently.

The claims centre on two monks who no longer teach at the Ł20,000-a-year independent school on the edge of the North Yorkshire moors near Helmsley.

A police officer close to the investigation said: "This is a delicate inquiry which is asking some distressing questions about the childhoods of former pupils. There is consistency in what we are being told by different individuals. This is potentially widespread abuse of children who had not even reached adolescence."

The investigation was launched after Fr Jeremy Sierla, a former housemaster, was questioned in February in a separate inquiry. Officers are to contact 80 Old Amplefordians from one specific year group at Ampleforth's prep schools - the former Gilling Prep, now known as St Martin's, and the now-defunct Junior House.

Fr Everitt said that the school, run by Benedictine monks since it was founded in 1802, was co-operating fully with the police inquiry. He said that he and the school "deeply regret any harm suffered" and would apologise "if the school's high standards can be shown not to have been universally applied in the past".

Four years for sex abuse priest

A Roman Catholic priest who taught at one of the country's top public schools was jailed for four years for sexually abusing boys.

Gregory Carroll, 66, abused 10 young boys over a period of eight years at Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire in the 1980s.

York Crown Court was told that Carroll first confessed to fondling one of the students in 1987 to the headmaster - but instead of being reported to the authorities he was removed from his position and told to carry out parish work in Workington.

Carroll pleased guilty to 14 charges of indecently assaulting boys under the age of 14 at an earlier hearing and appeared for sentence for the Recorder of York Paul Hoffman.

All the offences were committed against boys attending the school which is run by an order of Benedictine Monks for its junior house during his time on the staff or when at Ampleforth Abbey which is connected to the school.

Prosecuting Mr Jeremy Goss QC, said some of Carroll's victims had been left distressed and confused by what had happened and distrustful of authority.

Father Cuthbert Madden, Abbot of Ampleforth, apologised to the victims.

He said: "Father Gregory has been reflecting on the offences he has admitted. Our first concerns now are for the victims of his abuse of trust, who were boys in our care at the time.

"We publicly offer them our unreserved apology and deep regret."

Carroll was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders' Register on his release from prison and banned from working with children for life.

I saw this story in our local paper tonight and I was wild about it!

The BBC story is exactly the same, our local rag just copied it.

But the local rag for the area where this college is gives a very different outlook to the story.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/4276614.stm

Sex abuse priest given four years puffing billy, the boiler for hot water which spewed black ash

A Catholic priest who taught at the prestigious Ampleforth public school in North Yorkshire has been jailed for four years for sexually abusing boys. Gregory Carroll, 66, abused 10 youngsters over an eight-year period at the school in the early 1990s. Jailing Carroll Judge Paul Hoffman said the offences were part of a grooming process involving the young pupils. York Crown Court heard Carroll, who pleaded guilty to 14 indecent assaults, was revolted by what he had done. The priest confessed to the headteacher at Ampleforth that he had sexual contact with a boy in 1987. He was suspended and moved to a parish in Cumbria. But 12 years later he returned to the school and admitted his abuse had been more widespread. The court heard the school called in psychologist Dr Elizabeth Mann to carry out a risk assessment, but it was never completed because papers held by the abbey about Carroll's history of sexual abuse were withheld from Dr Mann. Judge Hoffman told Carroll it was perhaps ironic that the refusal to hand over papers in order to protect him had resulted in Dr Mann referring the case to the authorities.

'Weird experience'

Prosecutor Jeremy Goss QC said some of the victims had been left distressed and confused by what had happened to them.

One had been chased around a room by Carroll after being abused and described it as "a weird experience". Defending, Nicola Gatto said Carroll did not have his first sexual experience until the age of 34. He was, she said, "naive and unworldly". "He has expressed his revulsion towards his behaviour and has described it as grotesque," she said. Judge Hoffman ordered Carroll to sign the sex offenders' register on his release and banned him from working with children for life. 'Deep regret'

After the sentencing Father Cuthbert Madden, Abbot of Ampleforth, apologised to the victims.

He said: "Father Gregory has been reflecting on the offences he has admitted.

"While they took place more than 20 years ago, he regrets deeply the hurt he caused to the young men involved and to their families.

"His fall from the high standards expected of a man committed to a life of service to God is in no way diminished by the interval of two or three decades.

"As a community we continue to pray for and to care for our brother but our first concerns now are for the victims of his abuse of trust, who were boys in our care at the time.

"We publicly offer them our unreserved apology and deep regret."

http://www.timesandstar.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=190634

Priest facing 15 sex charges another view from the top of the church - the concert hall and gymnasium, now both demolished and rebuilt

A FORMER Workington priest has appeared in court charged with 15 counts of indecent assaults and five of gross indecency at a private school 32 years ago.

Father Gregory Peter Carroll, 65, taught at Ampleforth College between 1973 and 1983.

He was linked to the fee-paying school until 1987, when he moved to Workington’s Our Lady and St Michael’s Church, where he spent about 14 years as a priest.

The alleged assaults date back to his time at the college, and the alleged victims were all under 14 at the time.

The charges were brought after a 12-month police probe into Ampleforth Abbey, which is attached to an independent school run by Benedictine monks.

Fr Carroll appeared at Scarborough Magistrates’ Court. He did not enter a plea and was released on bail.

Fr Cuthbert Madden, elected Abbot of Ampleforth last month, said: “We consider that the safety and protection of children in our care is a sacred responsibility.

“Even though these events are alleged to have occurred a quarter of a century ago, the passage of time does nothing to lessen that responsibility.

“We have given the police our complete co-operation at every stage.”

Fr Carroll was a well-known face in Workington.

He started the town’s credit union and was a chaplain to the town’s old infirmary on Honister Drive.

He was also instrumental in setting up a home for released prisoners in the town.

Fr Michael Phillips, of Our Lady and St Michael’s, who worked with Fr Carroll, said he was much-loved in the parish and was down-to-earth.

The Reverend Ken Wright, former Workington chaplain, said Fr Carroll was very community-minded.

He said: “He came up with the idea for the credit union because he had never had a bank account. He was deeply involved in social justice. I worked with him through Churches Together and he was a strong supporter of that.”

I can't believe that when he admitted his abuse towards boys he was just moved out.

Then he returned and admitted that it was worse than before! and STILL they did fuck all about him.

Then they have the audacity to not release their assessment to the psychologist. Just who do the Catholic church think they represent? Its certainly not their parishoners or the local commununity they proffess to be a part of.

Then the lawyers for his defence say he was ""naive and unworldly". - what kind of defence is that? And if he's done all these 'wonderful things' for the local community and the college then I just don't believe that anyone could be that ""naive and unworldly" and still do these things.

"Father Gregory has been reflecting on the offences he has admitted."

I don't think so, he's only reflecting on getting caught and not being able to carry on abusing anymore.

Let him rot in jail. Sorry, but perverts like this piss me off.

Dave [Mad]

-------------------- view of St. Cuthberts and Junior House

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler. Henry David Thoreau

CHILD SEX PROBE AT STARS' SCHOOL #37583 - Sat Sep 11 2004 03:16 PM

CHILD SEX PROBE AT STARS' SCHOOL Sep 11 2004

EXCLUSIVE: Ampleforth monks accused By Steve Dennis

A CHILD sex abuse inquiry is going on at Britain's top Catholic boarding school after a number of ex-pupils claimed monks assaulted them.

The old boys from Ampleforth College have been questioned by detectives about "traumatic and terrifying incidents" they say happened to them from the age of six to 13.

At least two monks, who no longer teach at the Ł20,000 a year independent school, are at the centre of the investigation which revolves around the prep and former junior school.

The abuse is alleged to have happened in the late 1960s and early 1970s when pupils included actors Rupert Everett and Colin Firth, Tory deputy leader Michael Ancram and Radio 4 Today presenter Edward Stourton.

Ex-England rugby international Lawrence Dallaglio is also a more recent Old Amplefordian.

A police source said: "This is a delicate inquiry which is asking some searching and distressing questions about the childhoods of former pupils.

"The allegations date back as far as the 1960s and there is consistency in what we are being told by separate individuals. More than one monk's name has been mentioned.

"This is potentially widespread abuse of children who had not even reached adolescence at one of the country's most eminent educational institutions."

The investigation came after a former housemaster was questioned in February in a separate inquiry.

Now around 80 schoolmates are being contacted for information about claims of physical and mental abuse.

The source said: "This is not a fishing exercise. Not every pupil who has been at Ampleforth has been contacted. It is a concentration on specific individuals from one year group."

They will be told that police are "conducting an investigation into allegations of historical abuse at Ampleforth College". Already, numerous ex-pupils - many now middle-aged businessmen in the arts, business and finance - have responded and are due to be interviewed by detectives within the next few weeks.

And Father Gabriel Everitt, headmaster at the College which has been run by Benedictine monks for 200 years, has promised the school's full co-operation.

The inquiry includes Ampleforth College's preparatory schools, the former Gilling Prep - now known as St Martin's - and the now defunct Junior House.

Ampleforth is set in an idyllic location on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors near Helmsley.

It takes boys from age 13 to 18 and girls in the sixth form.

Its ethos is to educate the intellectually gifted.

And its teachings are based on the Benedictine tradition that the sons of the rich and influential should receive an education to ensure an elite place in society.

Two years ago, a monk quit the school after he had a sexual relationship with a pupil.

Father Christian Shore, 53, admitted "improper physical conduct" with a sixth former.

Last year, the college was the subject of ITV1 documentary Ampleforth - My Teacher's A Monk.