Ex-Kerelaw staff warned of further abuse claims


Ex-Kerelaw staff warned of further abuse claims Falsely Accused Carers and Teachers (Fact) June 29 2006 Source: The Herald DAVID LEASK A Campaign group has written to every former employee of the scandal-hit Kerelaw residential school warning they are at risk of prosecution for child abuse. The group, Falsely Accused Carers and Teachers (Fact) believes staff should unite against what it regards as malicious claims from former pupils. However, it has still to produce evidence to back its claims that two former Kerelaw workers convicted last month are innocent. Teacher Matt George and care manager John Muldoon were jailed for respectively 10 years and two and a half years for sexually and physically abusing children. Sentencing George, Lady Paton said he was guilty of "a horrifying catalogue of offences" and a "gross breach of trust". Several former colleagues and friends of the pair have protested their innocence and both are expected to appeal. Fact is best known for supporting former Everton footballer and Southampton manager David Jones, who was cleared on allegations that he abused boys at a Liverpool children's home. The group is bitterly opposed by many professional experts in abuse. Kerelaw, which was run by Glasgow City Council but located in Stevenston, Ayrshire, closed earlier this year after years of controversy. The Herald last week revealed that a further 11 members of staff had been charged after the same two-year investigation that led to the conviction of George and Muldoon. The Fact letter to Kerelaw workers is signed by its chairman, Rory O'Brien, and its secretary, Michael Barnes. They wrote: "After Matt and John's conviction many of you will be concerned about your own circumstances and those of other staff who worked at Kerelaw. "We confidently predict many of the staff who have worked at Kerelaw will face difficulties similar to those which Matt and John and their families face. "As in similar cases in the UK and Ireland, former residents from Kerelaw and other care homes and schools will have smelled blood. Thoughts of compensation and revenge will be in their minds. Accusers will have been in touch with each other and shared stories about what they have alleged." Mr O'Brien and Mr Barnes claim both George and Muldoon are "factually" innocent but did not say why they believed this to be so, other than to insist that false allegations against care workers and teachers are commonplace. Their remarks will enrage people, most now adults, whose allegations against George and Muldoon have been proved in court. Insiders stress Kerelaw's residents were highly vulnerable. Some of the pupils were already offenders and all made easy victims, insiders say. A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: "It would not be appropriate for the council to comment on the claims of this group given the ongoing investigation into claims of abuse at Kerelaw." Fact's concerns were last night dismissed by one source close to the investigation. She said: "The sheer volume of similar allegations from across the decades and from children from completely different parts of the country makes a conspiracy impossible."
Go Back