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	St Benedict's Head Apologises for 'Terrible Legacy' of Abuse at School By Martin Bentham London Evening Standard November 9, 2011 www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-24007804-st-benedicts-head-apologises-for-terrible-legacy-of-abuse-at-school.do The head of a London Catholic school today apologised for the "appalling abuses" that pupils had suffered as a report criticised its failure to protect them from paedophile monks. Chris Cleugh, the headmaster of St Benedict's School in Ealing, said that "serious mistakes" had left a "terrible legacy" for the young victims and "tarnished" the reputation of the school. His admission came as a report by the leading QC Lord Carlile of Berriew published today described how monks teaching at the school had inflicted "punishments" on pupils in sexually motivated attacks. Lord Carlile said the incidents ranged "across the spectrum of such behaviour" and had left "a permanent psychological mark" on the victims. The peer said the abuse, which took place from the Sixties to 2009, was the result of a "lengthy and culpable failure" by Ealing Abbey, which has run the school for more than 100 years. He also blamed the school for failing to implement proper child protection precautions to prevent "unpalatable" activities by staff, and highlighted a series of other errors including a decision to allow one priest named in court as a paedophile to return to the Abbey - where he remained able to target pupils. Unveiling today's findings with Lord Carlile, Mr Cleugh said that Ealing Abbey would be stripped of its role in running St Benedict's as part of a package of measures to prevent any future abuse. He added: "Past abuses at the school have left a terrible legacy for those affected and have tarnished the reputation of St Benedict's. "We know that the school has made serious mistakes. We are determined that safeguarding procedures should in future be exemplary and the appalling abuses of the past should never happen again." Today's report follows the jailing of Father David Pearce, the former head of the junior school, for paedophile offences. There were also allegations against at least seven other staff. One, the former head of the school and Abbot of Ealing Abbey, Father Laurence Soper, is on the run after failing to return from Rome for questioning by police. Lord Carlile's report says that as a result of the reforms being put in place, he believes that St Benedict's is now an "excellent place" for boys and girls to be "educated in safety". St Benedict's was founded in 1902 and is the only Benedictine day school in Britain. The mixed school has more than 1,000 pupils.
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