An 83-year-old paedophile, who was serving a life sentence for sexual abuse in north Wales children’s homes, has passed away in prison. John Allen, responsible for running several homes, including Bryn Alyn in Wrexham, was sentenced to a minimum of 11 years in 2014 for sex crimes dating back to the 1960s to the 1990s. In 2019, he was found guilty of seven additional counts of indecent assault and a serious sexual offense against children as young as 13, after more victims came forward. This announcement of Allen’s death at HMP Bure in Norfolk on May 3 was confirmed by a Prison Service spokesperson, who mentioned that an investigation by the Prison and Probation Ombudsman will follow, as is protocol for all deaths in custody.
Founded in 1968, Allen established the Bryn Alyn community of children’s homes, which housed over 150 young individuals from across the UK at its peak. Unfortunately, many of these residents were subjected to repeated abuse by Allen between the years 1976 and 1992. Jurors from a 2019 case heard a victim recall being dragged to Allen’s office after a physical altercation, only to be pinned down and sexually assaulted by him. Another former resident described their time at the Bryn Alyn children’s home as nothing short of hell, stating that Allen had groomed and manipulated them with gifts before the abuse took place. This survivor also expressed how the system had ultimately failed them. The 2014 trial against Allen marked the beginning of the legal repercussions stemming from the Operation Pallial investigation into historic sexual abuse at children’s homes, initiated by the National Crime Agency in 2012
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