UNITED KINGDOM
Bedfordshire on Sunday
Written by STEVE LOWE
A COMPLAINT to Bedfordshire police has been made by a former resident of a boys home concerning missing files relating to previous inquiries.
Former residents of St Francis Boys Home in Shefford, which was run by the Catholic Church, are taking a ‘class action’ against the church over claims they were both physically and sexually assaulted.
As reported by Bedfordshire on Sunday, one of the priests alleged to have abused children in the 1950s and 1960s, Father John Ryan, was twice interviewed by police concerning these allegations, in 1997 and 2003.
This newspaper interviewed Father Ryan in 2006 and put these allegations to him but he made no comment. He died in 2008.
We also reported that there were accusations that boys who had run away from the home were taken back by police officers, and subsequently received even greater punishment and abuse.
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