An inquiry into the Scottish private boarding school, Gordonstoun, has unearthed historical child abuse cases. Lady Smith, the chairwoman of the inquiry, published her findings into residential care for children at the school; she concluded that children who boarded at the school and its associated junior school, Aberlour, were exposed to risks of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. Lady Smith stated: “I have no difficulty in finding that children were abused at Gordonstoun and Aberlour in a variety of ways over a long period of time.”
The perpetrators of the abuse were staff and teachers at the school. Andrew Keir, a former physics teacher at Gordonstoun, was jailed for a year in 2018 after being described as a “predatory paedophile” by Lady Smith. He had groomed boys, using his role at the school as cover, and the school failed to take the appropriate action after the abuse was brought to their attention. The report also highlighted six other teachers at the school who sexually abused children between the 1960s and 1990s.
Gordonstoun School has offered an apology to anyone who was abused while in its care. Lady Smith’s report stated that the abuse was allowed to continue for decades due to failures to prioritise child protection and insufficient oversight of pupils and teachers. The report claims that there was a significant failure of governance with no interest in child protection or pastoral care until the 1990s.
Former pupils have previously called for the school to set up a trust to help those who suffered abuse access mental health treatment. John Findlay, a former pupil, waived his right to anonymity and spoke to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry about his own experience of sexual abuse. He has welcomed the inquiry’s findings and says it’s now time for Gordonstoun’s insurers to compensate the victims of Andrew Keir
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