Kevin Young: ‘I almost had a breakdown.’
Adults who were sexually abused are shocked to find they have little chance of claiming damages from their tormentors. Julie Hemmings reports on one man's fight to change the law. A CHANCE encounter with a man he believed had abused him many years earlier blew apart the life Kevin Young had built for himself.As a vulnerable teenager at a young offender institution in the North-East in 1977, Mr Young says he was among the inmates chosen by a senior officer to suffer repeated physical and sexual abuse.With a criminal record, he never complained at the time and many years later after the abuser was exposed Mr Young discovered he was unable to claim damages because of the time that had passed. Now York MP Hugh Bayley has taken up his case and is optimistic Ministers will alter the law by removing the time limit for such litigation in child abuse cases.When, two decades on, Mr Young came face to face again with the man he claims attacked him he was a self-made man running his own successful businesses and had managed to put that part of his life behind him. But the shock of the chance meeting in York city centre with Neville Husband – jailed in February 2003 for eight years for abuse committed at the County Durham detention centre where he was in charge of the kitchens – led to the collapse of all Mr Young had worked for.Husband, now 68, from Shotley Bridge, Co Durham, admitted systematically raping young men at Medomsley in the 1970s and 1980s and publicity surrounding his trial led others to come forward. He was jailed for a further two years after admitting attacks on four more teenagers, although no charges were brought against him in connection with Mr Young's claims."I had built myself a new life, I was running my own businesses," Mr Young said of the time when he ran into Husband in the street."At that moment what I had put in a box for nearly 30 years exploded out. I went from being a company director to hardly being able to get out of bed in the morning. I almost had a full mental breakdown for the next two years."Mr Young, now 47, was abandoned by his parents and brought up in children's homes from the age of two. He encountered what he describes as lesser forms of abuse before he was sent to Medomsley in April 1977 for three months after being convicted of handling a stolen watch. Mr Young turned 18 the day after he left Medomsley, now shut, and never spoke about what had happened.It was only when police contacted him in 1999 over a probe into abuse of children at the St Camillus home in Tadcaster, where he had lived for a time, that Mr Young told them what he claimed happened in 1977, although not expecting any action to follow."I was sent to Medomsley because it was going to make me a better person," Mr Young said of his time in custody. "I had never complained – I just tried to deal with it myself."Last November Mr Young convinced a judge to set aside usual legal restrictions in his case to enable him to sue the Home Office for damages, although he said his case is not about the money, more to secure recognition of what had happened with a view to preventing it happening again. However, his case highlights how the system is stacked against anyone abused as a child.The Limitation Act 1980 was intended to ensure anyone starting legal action did so in a reasonable time – in child abuse cases a maximum of six years from the abuse or from the victim attaining the age of majority, if this is later. But many victims of abuse feel unable to confront what happened to them until much later in their lives, if ever.Replying to a question by Mr Bayley, Constitutional Affairs Minister Vera Baird told MPs Ministers expect-ed "shortly" to change the law to remove the barrier to child abuse victims claiming damages."There may be particular reasons why the claimant may not be able to sue until years after the event," said Mr Bayley. "This is an in-justice and where you have an injustice that needs to be righted through legislation." The Home Office said it was not in a position to comment about cases where litigation was ongoing.julie.hemmings@ypn.co.uk 08 July 2006 http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=55&ArticleID=1616305
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Dossier of Depravity
Nov 28 2006
By The Evening Chronicle
Grim revelations today lift the lid on the shocking scale of sex abuse at a former North East Borstal.
It was meant to give young offenders a short, sharp shock. Instead, many were left scarred for life, haunted by a brutal catalogue of sex attacks.
The abuse of inmates at the Medomsley Detention Centre, in Consett, County Durham, came to light when former kitchen officer Neville Husband was convicted of molesting a string of young lads in the 1970s and 1980s.
But today, fresh revelations expose the shocking scale of the abuse suffered behind the bars of the now-closed juvenile jail.
Secret papers obtained by the Chronicle state that prison officers suspected married father-of-one Husband was preying on inmates but did nothing.
Documents hidden for nearly 40 years reveal Husband, who went on to become a church minister in Gateshead, had been investigated for importing child pornography a decade before he staged his attacks.
Statements by ex-colleagues tell how the 69-year-old, currently serving a 10-year jail term, had regular shipments of hardcore porn sent to him at Medomsley.
And a second officer was also convicted of indecently assaulting a male prisoner, who had been introduced to him by Husband, of Shotley Bridge.
The pair continued to visit and abuse the same boy after he was released from custody.
Transcripts of police interviews also reveal thousands of indecent pictures of children were found on computers seized from Husband's home and his United Reformed Church office.
Medomsley Detention Centre was built in 1898 but wasn't acquired by the Prison Commission until 1959.
Employing just 11 staff, a 1977 inspection report described Medomsley as `Dickensian' and read: "The detention centre has never hit the headlines and within the Prison Department has apparently been accepted as a place where nothing of any import ever occurs and one which is unlikely to cause any problems."
Husband, now dubbed the `Medomsley monster', worked at the jail as a kitchen officer. After 27 years in the prison service, he became a United Reformed Church minister in Gateshead in 1994.
But it was not until 2001 that his perverted past came back to haunt him. Previously silenced by shame, some of his victims spoke out about the ordeal they suffered decades earlier.
Husband was convicted by a Newcastle Crown Court jury of molesting five boys and jailed for eight years. Publicity surrounding the trial encouraged others to come forward and he was jailed for a further two years on additional charges.
But now we can reveal Husband's depraved interest in young boys was apparent years earlier.
A report reveals police probed Husband for importing homosexual pornographic pictures while working at a borstal in Dorset.
The document, signed by the governor of HM Borstal Portland, reads: "The police showed me sample photographs of men in obscene and lewd postures, a signed order form and a signed cheque for 20/- which they allege was sent to an address in Sweden by Officer Husband.
"The police interviewed Officer Husband at Portland police station and he admitted sending for a series of photographs, the sample of the series he ordered pictured two naked men, apparently engaged in homosexual activity. Immediately following the police interview Husband saw me privately and informed me of the statement he had made to the police. He told me - and the police - that he was considering writing a book on homosexuality and he had sent for the photos to assist to this end. Officer Husband is a good cook and baker, a married man with one child, buff, hearty and something of a comedian."
A second document dated July 1967 reveals no further action was taken by the police and Husband was allowed to continue working with children in the prison service.
The allegations made against him in 1967 were brought up again when he was quizzed regarding sex abuse claims in 2001. We have accessed a transcript of a police interview with Husband, during which he admits the pornography he imported showed images of children.
An officer from Consett police station asks him: "And I understand that while you were in Portland, an investigation took place regarding you importing pornographic pictures of teenage boys, is that correct?"
Husband replies: "There was, yes there was." Seconds later, Husband, who claimed he was writing a book about homosexuality, adds: "The pornography at that time was, it was soft porn, but again I wasn't aware that it was boys because you got sent what you got sent."
The deputy governor at Portland while Husband was investigated, James Millar Reid, went on to become the governor at Medomsley.
Statements given to police by prison officers who worked with Husband suggest suspicions were rife about his cravings for young boys, who he went on to molest in the kitchens he ran.
One by an officer who served at Medomsley in 1978, reads: "I don't know why but all the governors thought very highly of Husband and seemed to look after him.
"For example, on a regular basis on rotation we would thoroughly search various areas within the centre. This was to look for cigarettes and alcohol. All main areas of the prison were searched except for the kitchen area. The prison management would not allow anyone but Husband to have access to the kitchen area."
After Husband left Medomsley, a search of the kitchen quarters discovered sex toys, pornography and rubber underwear in a filing cabinet. Victims' statements, many of which are too distressing for us to print, detail how Husband abused them in the kitchen area.
The officer's statement adds: "There were always very strong rumours that Neville Husband was homosexual and that he was sexually abusing boys who were working with him in the kitchen. This was general knowledge among staff and boys in the centre.
"On a night time Husband would usually keep one boy back with him after the others had been dismissed and we all felt sorry for that boy. Nobody reported their suspicions to anyone because Husband was so close to, and seemed to be supported by the governors and senior management." Another officer told how he had to take time off work because of Husband's "overbearing attitude" and that he was "too scared" to report rumours of him abusing boys.
Our dossier also reveals Husband arranged for pornography to be sent to him. A statement given to police by one of his ex-colleagues reads: "For some time I was employed as a gate officer and was surprised to see Husband was receiving large quantities of post containing homosexual pornography.
"Sometime the envelopes were not sealed and I used to look at the magazines and burn them without telling Husband. One package contained a video. I looked at this and found it was hardcore gay porn, again I burned it."
A number of former Medomsley workers have told how Husband's closest friend in the jail was a store man called Leslie Johnston who has also been convicted of indecent assault on an inmate at the detention centre. He revealed this while being interviewed by police in the run-up to Husband's trial.
It states: "After a while, Neville and I became quite good friends. We had a mutual interest in religion." He adds: "We joined the freemasons at Chop well and got on quite well together. We sometimes went out together with our wives to social functions."
Johnston's statement went on: "At one stage I think Neville suggested that he had a lad working in the kitchen who he thought would be suitable to assist me in the stores department. Whilst XXXX was working with me in the stores I developed a sexual relationship with him." He adds: "As a result of this I was convicted at court of indecent assault and subsequently left the prison service."
In the same statement, Johnston tells how he knew Husband had abused the same boy and that the pair both visited the victim once he had been released from prison.
Husband was interviewed by police on a number of occasions. The transcript of one quiz, seen by us, tell how explicit videos of children were taken from his house in 1999.
In September 2001, he was arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent photographs of children.
His home PC, disks, zip-disks and a laptop from the United Reformed Church office on Cromer Avenue, Gateshead, had all been seized.
During the interview, Husband is told detectives discovered thousands of indecent images of children, some of which were stored on disks labelled with phoney titles relating to church business.
The Home Office declines to comment on our investigation. No-one at the United Reformed Church was available for comment.
Victims of preacher
Victims of Neville Husband today told of their horror at the revelations about his past.
Kevin Young, of Jarrow, South Tyneside, suffered at the hands of Husband when he was sent to Medomsley for handling a stolen watch in 1977.
Mr Young, now 45, was brutally targeted by Husband, including being photographed while he lay bound, blindfold, and naked.
He said: "When I left that place I was shocked and shaken but I'm even more shocked and shaken at what has come out now.
"These papers show officers saying things like `I felt sorry for that boy', but I don't think sorry is good enough."
The true horror of the ordeal Mr Young suffered didn't hit him until he had a chance encounter with Husband in York in 1996.
He bravely spoke out against the pervert preacher and after watching Husband get jailed for the attacks, he launched a bid for compensation against the Home Office.
Despite winning a landmark legal victory allowing him to sue last November, the ruling was overturned earlier this month, meaning he will go without a penny.
Now, dad-of-one Mr Young is calling for a full public inquiry into the case.
Mr Young added: "The judge in November described this as a `serious case involving crown officers' and that's what it was.
"The truth of the matter is I should never have been subjected to the attacks I was subjected to in light of what was known about him in 1967 in that he had an unhealthy interest in young boys."
Mr Young is urging any other victims to contact his support group Justice4Survivors.
Another former inmate Richard Hall has also waived his right to anonymity to talk to the Chronicle.
Mr Hall, now 43, of Heaton, Newcastle, was sexually abused and beaten senseless by Husband in 1980.
Today, he said: "It never goes away but its right these things come out because people need to know.
"It seems from these papers that there are some people who might have suspected what was going on all along, which leaves a nasty taste to say the least.
"It's the other victims who perhaps haven't come forward I worry about."
Hello Anonymous:)
Thank you kindly for your important information and welcome to my blog:) This story of young boys sent to Medomsley Detention Centre leaves so very sad for the young boys in question it is an utter scandal that these monsters who abuse their power are the ones that need the sharp shock but not a short one but one for a very long time in fact imo for life for their abusive actions again we see others in authority imo cover up for the wrongdoings of these abhorrant abusers Grrrrrrrrrrrr:(
These catalogue's of abuses deserve at the very least a public enquiry as to why these abuses were allowed to carry on for so long and imo there should be one helluva public outcry into why a blind eye was turned even when others knew damn well what was going on it leaves me feeling sick in the pit of my stomache that countless institutions cover up and deny any wrongdoing for their attorcious cromes against the many surivors/victims leaving the many survivors/victims out here with no acknowledgement accountability or even resposibility taken for such appauling abuse metered out to so many who day in day out nite in and nite out stilkl carry the deep scars by the abuse that was done to them:(. I wish all the former lads who suffered from this terrible abuse every good luck and my best wishes to them all:)
With Love
~Maria~
xxx
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