Top Catholic school ‘hushed up sex abuse by teacher’
FORMER pupils allegedly abused by a teacher at Britain’s top Catholic school claim they have been denied justice twice.
Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire ‘hushed up’ complaints against staff member Paul Sheppard in 1989, it has been claimed.
He was asked to leave after one term because of ‘unnecessarily affectionate’ behaviour towards young boys. But the school did not pass these accusations on to police.
It was only the suicide of an ex-pupil decades later that led to police being told of the historic sex abuse claims and to Dr Sheppard standing trial.
However, six of the seven indecent assault charges against the teacher were withdrawn in court.
Judge Colin Burn effectively derailed the case by ruling that the physical contact said to have taken place was not, in law, indecent.
It meant jurors believed there was only one complainant and were not told the circumstances of why Dr Sheppard left the school or of allegations by four other ex-pupils, an investigation by The Times revealed.
Dr Sheppard, now 53, was found not guilty last September.
It has been claimed police did not speak to all potential victims in the inquiry. Yesterday, North Yorkshire Police promised to investigate ‘any new evidence if offences have been committed involving other pupils’.
In 1989 Ampleforth – a private school run by Benedictine monks – ‘hushed up’ a potential scandal after several young pupils complained of Dr Sheppard stroking, touching and kissing boys, according to The Times.
Headmaster Father Dominic Milroy interviewed 11 children and is said to have asked the teacher to leave the school because of the way he touched boys. The science teacher’s habit of overfamiliar touching of boys aged 10 to 13 was said to be an open secret in the Junior House before he was reported by another staff member.
But Dr Sheppard was given a glowing reference by Fr Milroy and became a headteacher in his native Canada.
The case resurfaced after the suicide of ex-pupil James Glynn in 2013 aged 35. He had spoken about his schooldays and his family went to the police after talking to contemporaries at his funeral. Abuse claims relating to Mr Glynn were not pursued but allegations by fellow ex-pupils led to Dr Sheppard being charged.
However, Judge Burn ruled that offences involving two 11-year- old boys – in which the teacher allegedly stroked and kissed a sleeping boy and pinned another to the ground by straddling him – did not amount to ‘circumstances of indecency’.
The jury was told only that the teacher spanked a boy of 11 on his bare bottom as punishment for misbehaviour. Dr Sheppard told jurors he could not remember punishing the boy. He said it was possible he could have used corporal punishment but that he would never have removed the boy’s trousers or pants.
A former pupil told the Times the case was a ‘travesty’. He said he was ‘amazed that anyone is ever convicted in a British court of historical sex offences against children’, adding: ‘The jury had to choose between the word of an experienced teacher and that of one former pupil.’
Yesterday, Assistant Chief Constable Lisa Winward of North Yorkshire Police said officers carried out a complex two-year investigation and it was ‘hugely disappointing’ not all the alleged offences were heard in court.
She added: ‘If there is new evidence to consider, and new matters to investigate, then we will do so.’
A spokesman for Ampleforth College said claims investigated by Fr Milroy in 1989 ‘did not yield allegations of sexual impropriety’ and the teacher left when his supply contract ended. Since 2005 two staff members have been jailed for abusing pupils.
The school added: ‘Ampleforth has publicly accepted its responsibilities for past failings and once again would like to offer its sympathies, prayers and thoughts to all survivors and their families.’
Judge Burn declined to comment. Dr Sheppard is believed to be abroad and is unavailable for comment – but has been reported as denying any misconduct.
‘Hugely disappointing’