THE shocking scale and severity of sexual abuse and violence faced by children in custody for decades has been exposed – as an inquiry chairman declared vulnerable youths are still at risk today.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse today published its report examining evidence of appalling abuse and failures to protect children in the youth secure estate, including at two County Durham institutions.

Harrowing accounts from adult survivors were said to be among the worst the inquiry had heard, during two weeks of public hearings last July.

Colin Watson, who waived his right to anonymity, gave at least 35 examples of times when he was raped and sexually assaulted by staff and a former pupil at Stanhope Castle Approved School. On several occasions he was choked unconscious while being abused.

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Stanhope Castle Approved School

Another man spoke of living in constant fear of being raped and said, after such an attack at Stanhope in the mid-1960s, he carried a concealed nail in his sock so he could fight back.

Witnesses spoke of a "culture of violence" and how they faced reprisals or accusations of lying if they reported incidents.

The inquiry discovered many more complaints of recent child sexual abuse in custody than official figures previously suggested – with more than 1,000 incidents reported between 2009 and 2017.

One example given was from February 2016, when a 15-year-old female resident of Aycliffe SCH said a member of staff touched her breasts and vagina during restraint.

Inquiry chairman Professor Alexis Jay said: “The harrowing accounts of non-recent child sexual abuse within custodial institutions were some of the worst cases this inquiry has heard.

“But I am also deeply disturbed by the continuing problem of child sexual abuse in these institutions over the last decade. It is clear these children, who are some of the most vulnerable in society, are still at risk of sexual abuse.

“I hope our report and recommendations can help protect them better in future.”

There are currently about 900 children in young offender institutions (YOIs), secure training centres (STCs) and secure children’s homes (SCHs) across England and Wales generally from unhappy and disrupted backgrounds, with some having become involved in regular offending, the report said.

The inquiry team acknowledged the difficulties involved in managing vulnerable children who often have challenging behaviour including violence towards staff and their peers.

“Nevertheless, we concluded that children in YOIs and STCs are not safe from harm, either physical or sexual,” it added.

“The culture of these institutions, particularly their closed nature and focus on containment and control, has not provided an environment that protects children from either physical or sexual abuse.”

Among the report’s recommendations are calls for a full review by the Department for Education and the Youth Custody Service into whether putting children for justice and welfare reasons together in secure children’s homes actually increases the risk of child sex abuse.

It also calls on the Ministry of Justice to stop allowing the use of pain compliance techniques including bending a child’s thumbs and wrists, saying the technique should be seen as a form of child abuse.

There are also recommendations about staff training and professional and independent regulation.

Following the IICSA report’s publication, Margaret Whellans, Durham County Council’s corporate director of children and young people’s services, said: “The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse was set up to consider current practice at custodial institutions around the country and make any recommendations as to how processes and procedures at all centres may be improved.

“We were invited to take part in order to share our experience at Aycliffe Secure Centre and welcomed the opportunity to do so.

“The report highlights a wide range of positive work at Aycliffe, reflecting recent feedback from Ofsted which highlighted its outstanding leadership and rated it as good.

“We accept the report’s comments in relation to language used when recording complaints at Aycliffe and planning post-disclosure and have already taken steps to address these.”

Imran Hussain, Labour's shadow justice minister, said: "This is an extremely damning and disturbing report which shines a spotlight on manifest failings in youth justice.

"The state has a special responsibility for the welfare and safety of the children detained in its custody and it is failing to meet those responsibilities.

"The report is clear that management instability along with staffing and budget cuts have played a role in these failings.

"We need urgent answers from the government on how it will address those issues and urgent action to set out how it will implement the recommendations of the report needed to keep children safe.