A former “housefather” at Berrow Wood School in Worcestershire has been sentenced to 27 years in prison after being found guilty of abusing boys. Keith Figes was supposed to care for children with behavioral problems but instead groomed and abused the most vulnerable pupils in the 1960s and 70s. Co-accused Maurice Lambell failed to appear in court, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. The school was opened in 1966 for “maladjusted” boys who were sent there by social services from across England, sometimes more than 100 miles from their homes.
Figes is the third person to be brought before a court for sexually abusing children in Berrow Wood School, with nine members of staff in total having been convicted for either physical or sexual abuse of pupils. The school closed in 1992 in disgrace. Figes was accused of 46 separate offences against four victims, but he pleaded guilty to 11 offences against the same number of victims on the first day of his trial, which was accepted by the court. This was the third time that Figes had been brought into court for sexually abusing children, with the last instance having been in 2000 when he was given a suspended sentence after a previous prison sentence.
Judge Martin Jackson, who told Figes that he was responsible for a “campaign of rape against children” that destroyed the mental and physical health of many of his victims, also indicated that Figes is likely to die in prison. Detective Inspector Mark Walters, who led the investigation, has urged people who had been victims of non-recent child abuse to report to the police. He said that many of the victims of Figes and Lambell’s institutionalized abuse have experienced long-lasting effects on their mental and physical well-being, and this is something that will affect them for the rest of their lives
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