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Burying bad news: Church released child abuse report on same day Theresa May made PM

By Alix Culbertson
Express
July 14, 2016

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/689360/Child-abuse-Kendall-House-report-buried-Theresa-May-PM

The girls were plied with drugs and raped, the report revealed

Kendall House children's home was a hell hole for girls for almost 20 years

The Bishop of Rochester was accused of burying the report in Wednesday's news agenda

The report was released on the same day Theresa May became Prime Minister

[with video]

CHURCH of England ministers have been accused of trying to “bury bad news” by publishing a highly critical report into child abuse on the same day Theresa May was appointed Prime Minister.

The independent review yesterday revealed how it became standard practice for girls at Kendall House children’s home in Gravesend Kent to be drugged, raped and physically abused for almost 20 years between 1967 and 1986.

Critics hit out at the Church for not delaying its publication, considering what happened at Westminster took over the world’s news agenda.

The review, ordered by the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev James Longstaff, revealed how girls as young as 11 were habitually plied with strong anti-depressants, anti-psychotic drugs and sedatives, mostly without any medical assessment.

Any girl who resisted or did not react to the effects of the drugs were punished, which included being emotionally abused or locked in solitary confinement for days.

Others said they were raped after being placed in isolation.

The review said: “The findings are harrowing.

“They reveal an institution which had weak governance and oversight, a place where control, containment and sometimes cruelty were normalised.

“It was a place where vulnerable girls, many previously and repeatedly let down by their parents, social services and other agencies, were caught in a regime that in many ways sought to rob them of their individuality, of hope, and in some cases of their liberty.

“The evidence we have heard and read during this review tells of a place which was, on the whole, toxic and destructive to he girls placed there.”

Critics accused the Church of being insensitive towards the victims by deciding to publish the report on such a historical day.

Keith Porteous Wood, of the National Secular Society, said: “Only the naive will believe this is not an attempt to bury bad news, especially as the Church as form on this.”

A spokesman for the Bishop of Rochester insisted the timing had nothing to do with when it was released, saying it was too important to delay any further.

He said: “We were mindful of the impact the Brexit vote may have on the news agenda, and factored in the media interest in the Chilcott report.

“Had we not gone ahead with the planned press conference, other diary commitments would have meant a delay until September.

“We felt this was too important to delay.”




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