Thursday 15 November 2012

£185,000

That is what The BBC is paying Lord McAlpine in compensation for its libel of him, promptly corrected. And there may be more coming to him as his lawyers search the internet for more people to sue.

How much compensation have Jimmy Savile's victims received from the BBC so far? Zero.

How much will they receive? An awful lot less than McAlpine did.

Payouts of as much as £50,000 in child sex abuse cases are rare, and require proof of loss of earnings capability directly attributable to the abuse, or some diagnosed mental or physical condition that can be proved to have been solely caused by the abuse.

Most child sex abuse cases get settled for £5,000 to £15,000, with more towards the lower end of that scale.

So a retired politician's hurt feelings are valued by this society as being about twenty times as valuable as a life wrecked by childhood sex abuse.

Am I angry about this? You bet I am!

11 comments:

  1. And rightly so. But then the law is made by...who?!
    Didn't I read somewhere that a statement was read at masses at Ealing Abbey about the apostolic visitation into the monastery & its outcome? Is this even true? - I have been unable to find anything online as to what was said.

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  2. It just goes to show that the rich and powerful have greater access to justice than the poor. The hurt feelings of a former politician are more quickly compensated than those who suffered abuse, and their entitlement runs into many more thousands.

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  3. I seem to remember that the church promised to publish the Apostolic Visitors' report on Ealing Abbey.

    Has anyone seen it yet?

    Where can I get a copy?

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  4. Does anyone know when St Benedicts voted in 5 new Governors on to the board , 2 are parents, but I don't recognise their names, and I am not sure where the other three came from or how they got elected.

    The parents were given a vote of four possible candidates. The person voted in by the parents is not listed or on the school website under 'Governors'.

    Can anyone clarify this,St Benedict's have their ISI Inspection this week - no one seems to be around to ask.

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  5. Thank you for your posting. I wholeheartedly share these sentiments.

    One question that may need to be asked ragrds Savile's relationship with the Roman Catholic Church. To what extent if any did they grant Savile access to its own schools, insitutions and so facilitate opportunities for Savile to groom and to attack children? Where did Savile visit and who did he see? Did Savile fundraise for the Catholic Church and for who? Did this fundraising involve sites where children were present?

    On another matter it is a great pity that the media feel on safer ground talking about Savile and Cyril Smith; who are very conveniently dead. Money and power does have a tendency to silence those who want to investigate the living especially those who have access to power and will use it to bludgeon the media into silence for fear of litigation.

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  6. I understand that a few weeks ago the Independent Schools Inspectorate carried an inspection of St Benedict's and that their report will be published in January.

    I hope that this time Mr Cleugh was careful to provide the inspectors with ALL of the relevant information regarding safeguarding issues at the school.

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  7. Someone ought to make a documentary about the Ealing Abbey abuse scandal.

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  8. After Father David Pearce was convicted, Ealing Abbey approached former pupils and asked them to write references for the pervert in order to persuade the judge to impose a lenient sentence.

    It is clear that the abbey's real priority was protecting Father David rather than ensuring that his victims received justice.

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  9. Perhaps if the monks at Ealing Abbey had been allowed to enter into civil partnerships with each other (like the C of E clergy), then they would have kept their hands off the boys at the school.

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  10. If there really is an afterlife then St Benedict must be looking down from heaven at Ealing Abbey in horror and shame.

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  11. Was Laurence Soper in Father David's ring?

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