Britain’s most prolific sex offender was able to rape and torture boys at a borstal where abuse was ‘ignored and dismissed’ by the prison service, police and the Home Office.
Neville Husband led a reign of terror where he and other staff systematically raped and abused hundreds of young men and boys who they were supposed to be helping.
A damning report released today lays bare the horrors which took place at Medomsley Detention Centre – where Husband worked as a caterer – in County Durham between 1961 and 1987.
The report today brands Husband – who died in 2010 – ‘possibly the most prolific sex offender in British criminal history’.
The scale of offending would surpass even the likes of Jimmy Savile, with the prison ombudsman’s investigation revealing that the ‘voracious’ sexual predator would often target two or three young men every day during his 16 years at Medomsley.
More than 2,000 young men and boys say they were sexually and physically abused at the former Victorian orphanage over nearly three decades.
And the appalling crimes were covered up to such an extent that Husband was even given the Imperial Service Medal for his role in prison services and was welcomed into a church as a minister.
Victims also claimed they were taken to a ‘posh house’ to be abused by Husband and several other men. One claimant said the magistrate who sent him to Medomsley was present at the house. It is alleged a local serving prison officer was also involved in the abuse.
The scathing report from the Prisons Ombudsman, Operation Deerness, unearthed the ‘widespread physical and sexual abuse’ at the facility, which was fuelled by ‘a familiarity with violence’ towards young offenders.
From the moment detainees arrived at the centre, they were physically abused and introduced to the ‘short, sharp, shock’ punishment that became embedded as practice at the facility.
Hellbound and Down 