Prestigious Guernsey college opens investigation into child sexual abuse

A public school founded under royal charter by Elizabeth I has announced an independent review of allegations of historical child sexual abuse following investigations by The Observer.

Former pupils of the £15,000-a-year Elizabeth College on Guernsey have accused the school of repeatedly dismissing their allegations of physical and sexual abuse in the 1970s and 80s and again in 2012, 2021 and last year.

The school, which dates back to 1563, announced a review of the allegations last Monday after survivors of the alleged abuse submitted a series of information requests under data protection laws as part of this newspaper’s investigation.

One alumnus, who said he was 14 when a teacher attempted to sexually assault him, went to the police in 1980. Detectives interviewed several boys but found “a lack of corroborating evidence”. The case was dropped and the boy was denied his scholarship and left the school.

“It was the paedophile’s perfect setup because you’re trapped on this island, you know? You’re trapped – poor, hungry, trapped and vulnerable,” he said. A large number of pupils at the school, which did not admit girls until the 90s, were boarders from abroad or the UK mainland and on scholarships.

Now aged 61, the complainant said he had been lured to the home of Dr Morley Stuart, who has since died, on the promise of dinner. He said that when he was there, the teacher stripped down to his underpants. “He pulled me on to his bed and on top of him. I was terrified. Terrified.”

The complainant said that Stuart, who later joined a monastery and renamed himself Brother James Simon, had continued to try to groom him for months. Eventually he told the school matron and she sent him on to the police.

“I lost my childhood. I was happy, and overnight, instantly it changed,” he said.

Guernsey has had relatively few significant abuse scandals but in 2012 and 2015 allegations surfaced of abuse at children’s homes in the 70s and 80s. The witness is one of three men who boarded at the school and spoke to The Observer about their allegations, which include claims that at least 18 boys were part of a circle of “favourites” that Stuart groomed for abuse.

Another former pupil said he was plied with alcohol and forced into sexual touching by Stuart. “My brother remembers… grabbing me out of his [Stuart’s] office on one occasion, and I was, you know, half naked and drunk.

“There was no penetration… but we were drunk, we were kids, he paid us attention. He made us feel special. We probably knew enough to know it wasn’t quite right but we were drunk, we were kids and he was encouraging us.”

He said that although he has been very successful in life, the abuse has caused lasting damage to him.

In a statement released last week, the college announced that an “independent, expert-led review into disclosures of non-recent abuse” had been commissioned, designed to “ensure that anyone impacted has an independent process through which to disclose their experiences”.

However a third complainant, who alleged he was physically abused by two other staff members in the lower school, received an email chain as part of a subject access request that included the then chair of the school Dean Tim Barker, Guernsey’s most senior church of England minister, appearing to agree to deflect responsibility.

A partner from the college’s law firm advised the school to “close down the correspondence”, and said: “There is nothing we can feasibly do if he has the bit between his teeth, short of giving him what he is asking for which is not a suitable step.”

In the email last October, Barker wrote: “Any sort of investigation that we might attempt would inevitably be flawed and would be a distraction from other priorities (although I do not think that the last comment should be disclosed to the complainant).”

Barker has since stepped down as chair and as Dean of Guernsey, the leader of the Church of England on Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark.

He said in a statement yesterday: “I condemn any form of abuse and my thoughts lie firmly with anyone affected by such issues. I deeply regret that the language used  in discussing the question of further attempts at investigation by the College itself, when taken out of context, appeared insensitive or dismissive. That was never my intention.I offer the complainant an unqualified apology.”

In a statement, the school said: “We have been appalled and deeply saddened by these disclosures”, and that they had been contacted regarding “a number of disclosures… concerning the experiences of former pupils”.

A school spokesperson said Barker’s correspondence had been “mistakenly shared” and that “aspects of the language used were insensitive”, adding that they had met the complainant to discuss his experiences.

“It was never the intention of the college to diminish the seriousness of the complainant’s disclosures.

“The paucity of school records from the time, the fact that the alleged perpetrator was no longer alive, together with the lack of any other known disclosures concerning them, made it difficult to establish any facts around these matters. It was therefore appropriate for the college to seek legal advice and this is the context in question.”

Photograph by Lisa Strachan/Alamy