Cops probe claims of child abuse at approved school run by the Salesian Fathers
Priests & teachers quizzed by police
CLAIMS of historic child abuse at a school run by a Catholic order are being investigated by Police Scotland.
Detectives are quizzing former pupils, priests and teachers from the St John Bosco’s school.
It is understood the allegations into the residential facility , in Aberdour – run by the Salesian Fathers of Don Bosco – date from the 60s until the facility closed in 1982.
The Fife site is currently used by the Hillside School for boys with additional support needs – it has no links with the Salesians or the old regime and is not under investigation.
The Salesians were founded in Italy in the 19th century to help poor youngsters and have 16,000 priests worldwide, including 63 in eight communities in the UK.
Their website says they are involved in “schools of all kinds, youth clubs and homes for homeless or abandoned children”.
The Record has heard details of one former pupil who started going to the school in 1960, aged 12.
The man, now 70, claims he and other pupils suffered sexual abuse and severe beatings.
One such attack was noted in the “punishment log” which showed he was “beaten with a cane for wetting his bed”.
We have been told the names of his alleged abusers – one is in prison, another is working for the Salesians in England and a third has since died.
A Police Scotland spokesman confirmed the probe was into reports of non-recent abuse.
A spokesman for the Salesians, whose UK base is in Bolton, added: “The Salesians of Don Bosco are cooperating fully with the Police Scotland investigation.”
Graham Wilmer, who was awarded an MBE for his work as director of the Lantern Project that supports abused children, has appealed for information from those who attended the school.
The former Met police officer said: “A significant number of victims – including myself – attended Salesian schools from the 50s onwards.
“I urge anyone who has been abused in a Salesian school, or elsewhere, to contact police.” In 2013, the Salesian College in Battersea, London, which closed two years earlier, was a key focus of another abuse investigation. Its ex-pupils include Catherine Tate Alfred Hitchcock.
Were you or a family member a former pupil at St John Bosco’s School, in Fife? If you were and feel able to talk about your experiences, please call the Record on 0800 132364.
I urge those who were abused to contact police GRAHAM WILMER EX-COP AND SALESIAN PUPIL