UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian
Press Association
Monday 12 September 2016
A “cruel and sadistic” carer molested boys at a Catholic children’s home and terrorised them with a punishment known as “the clappers”, a court heard.
James McCann, 80, is accused of 52 charges of violent and sexual assault on 26 boys aged between eight and 12.
The Old Bailey heard that McCann repeatedly abused the boys at St Francis children’s home in Shefford, Bedfordshire, in the 1960s and 70s.
The home, which was run by the Roman Catholic diocese of Northampton, was closed down in 1974 and the alleged victims are now aged in their 50s and 60s.
Judge Rebecca Poulet QC told jurors that McCann was not fit to stand trial and it was therefore their job to decide the facts alone.
Opening the case against McCann, John Price QC told jurors: “The prosecution alleges that during his nine years at the home and on very many occasions he violently assaulted and indecently assaulted or sexually abused many of the children for whose care he shared responsibility with the other members of staff at the home.”
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