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JUNE 21, 2012
By RICHARD EVANS Tel. 01492 574481 CLAIMS of repeated sexual abuse at a Colwyn Bay boarding school during the 1970s have led to an internal investigation by the current headteacher.
Several former pupils of Rydal School on Pwllycrochan Avenue have contacted the Weekly News claiming they were either victims or witnesses of sexual, physical and mental abuse between 1970 and 1980. Current headmaster Patrick Lee-Browne has stressed that none of the members of staff allegedly involved are now at the school, and that an investigation is being carried out. Four former pupils claim that one member of staff was so brazen with his behaviour that he would openly man-handle and fondle boys in full view of classes. Another man, Alexander Curzon, says he was abused by several different members of staff. Despite the matter being reported to North Wales Police, the complainants say that all the members of staff involved in the abuse are now deceased, and they do not wish to proceed with a criminal case to be played out in the courts. Father-of-three Alexander Curzon, 50, of Weybridge, who runs a manufacturing business, boarded at Rydal between 1970-80 and says he wants to expose what went on in the hope others will come forward and find closure. “It was hell. My school days were a living nightmare for 10 years of my life. “Sexual abuse and mental degradation was meted out by vindictive staff. It was abhorrent. It was the worst type of sexual abuse,” he said. “I want other people to come forward now. There are significant others who are victims who are not prepared to fully address it and I want them to find closure too. “But 32 years later I feel I want to expose what happened. I feel nothing but contempt for the people who abused me. I don’t regard them as people, just a poor excuse for humanity.” Alexander, who was known at school as Sandy, says the members of staff who abused him all those decades ago are now dead and says he does not want a formal police investigation. “I reported it to police in February after complaining to the school. That’s what the school wanted me to do. But the ones that abused me are dead. There is no path of justice to pursue,” he said. “My view is that police time is valuable and an investigation is only worthwhile if there is a satisfactory conclusion. “We can’t dig them up and put them in court and I didn’t have the emotional resources for this until the last three
JUNE 21, 2012
MY LIVING School investigates claims of sexual abuse made by former pupils
Have you been affected by this story? Contact Richard Evans on 01492 574481 or email richard.evans@ northwales PHOTO: Alexander Curzon pictured in the summer of 1975 (bottom row, third from left). news.co.uk years. The police were prepared to do it He would then unbutton your shirt in front of the whole class and put his right until I put the brakes on.” Jonathan Andrews, 50, is a medical hand down your shirt and underpants. professional who lives in Harrogate and You couldn’t move as you were rigid with attended the school between 1975-80. He fear. I tried to stop him by trying to scar him with a ballpoint pen in his arm but it claims he was abused daily. didn’t make any difference.” “I was abused over three times a day for three years. My abuse Jonathan added: “I bumped into him was happening through lesin the post office a few years ago. I sons right up until my looked at him face to face and O-levels,” he said. shuddered. I should have punched “I was one of the young him in the face – he still had power pretty boys targeted in front over me. of the whole class. I used to “He was a shrivelled old man and I shiver with fear – whenever the was 47 – in my prime – but all I boy two desks behind me could say was ‘hello sir’. was targeted, I knew I This is the power these was next. people have over you. “‘X’ would put his ABUSED: Jonathan Andrews, 50, is It never goes away.” Another former puleft elbow under now a medical professional who lives pil, who now lives your chin and lift in Harrogate and attended Rydal overseas, joined the you up from your between 1975-80. Jonathan claims school in 1978 aged 16. desk with his arm. he was abused daily.
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He claims to have walked in on a member of staff abusing a “small blond boy”. “I was shocked and horrified by what I saw, as there was clearly some form of sexual activity going on between the boy and ‘X’,” he said. “I tried to keep my distance from ‘X’ as much as possible, but inevitably I would have to interact with him. He was in a position of authority and abused this authority to feed his own desires, in a way that was perverse and humiliating. “I must stress I was never personally sexually abused, although I was aware it was occurring with other pupils.” Another former pupil, Alan Davies, 49, is now a London police officer, and added: “I was witness to many occasions when ‘X’ would emerge from his private rooms and fondle one of my dorm mates, while we sat attempting to do our prep in our pyjamas and dressing gown. “He would grab whoever it was by the
shoulders as we sat on the laundry baskets and pull that person backwards until the boy’s head was resting in his crotch, all the while grinning as if it were just a bit of harmless fun. “We were, as young boys, powerless to stop his predatory behaviour as he loosened upper clothing and placed his hand inside to ‘play’ with the victim.” Another former pupil, now a 50-year-old father living in Maidstone, added: “I saw ‘X’ man-handle younger weaker boys on a daily basis. “The behaviour consisted of undoing top clothing and placing his hands inside the back and front of boys’ shirts and then sliding his hands down inside trousers to fondle their nether regions. “This behaviour was never welcomed by the victims, who would squirm in embarrassment as this sordid behaviour took place in full view of others but who were too scared or feeble to prevent it.”
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ALLEGATIONS: Alexander Curzon outside Rydal Penrhos in Colwyn Bay. North Wales Police confirmed that a complaint had been made but said that they were waiting for an official statement from a victim to proceed. Rydal Penrhos headteacher Patrick Lee Brown commented: “Mr Curzon has made allegations about abuse while he was at Rydal School in the 1970s. “There has been no suggestion that the allegations relate to any pupils or staff currently at the school, or that there are any concerns for the wellbeing and protection of current pupils. “The fact these are historic allegations
does not, however, make them less serious. We have invited Mr Curzon to formalise his complaint by initiating a police investigation, and we have provided the police with all the relevant information and are giving them every assistance we can. “As yet, no formal police investigation nor any civil proceedings have been initiated, but the school is carrying out its own investigation into the allegations and while that process is underway, it HEADMASTER: would not be appropriate for me to say Patrick Lee-Browne. anything further.”
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It was hell. My school days were a living nightmare for 10 years of my life. Sexual abuse and mental degradation meted out by vindictive staff. It was abhorrent. It was the worst type of sexual abuse.
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RYDAL Mount School was founded by Thomas Osborn in 1885. The school, a boys’ boarding school in the Methodist tradition, was named after the house on Lansdowne Road which Osborn had acquired from Rev Frederick Payne, a wealthy benefactor and Wesleyan minister who lived in Colwyn Bay. Five years earlier, in 1880, Penrhos College had been founded as a Methodist girls’ boarding school, also a result of the generosity of Rev Payne. The building presently occupied by Rydal Penrhos Preparatory School was first occupied by Rydal Prep School in 1953. The oldest part of the building was originally the property of Lady Erskine, owner of the Pwllycrochan estate in Colwyn Bay. Rydal Prep School merged with Penrhos Junior School in 1995 to become Rydal Penrhos Preparatory School. In 2003, Rydal Penrhos Prep School underwent a further merger with another well-established junior school in Colwyn Bay, Lyndon School. Lyndon moved to the Rydal Penrhos Prep School site and initially preserved its name. However, in 2010, the school was renamed Rydal Penrhos Prep School, and the school’s library is now known as the Lyndon Library. The Prep School offers co-education from age 2½ to 11. Like the Senior School, the Prep School has a Christian ethos with chapel and prayers daily. ● Source: rydalpenrhos.com
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