Compensation awarded for historical sexual abuse
While the scouting movement has brought opportunities, development, and fun to millions of children around the world, the organisation has had its darker side, with a number of former volunteer scout leaders being convicted of sexual offences against the children in their care. We specialise in scout abuse compensation claims and have recently succeeded in an historical claim, recovering a significant award for a man who was abused as a child.
Now in his 40s, our client had found the scouts a refuge from a very difficult home life. His Scout leader exploited his vulnerability and groomed him with attention, affection, and gifts. The grooming progressed into physical sexual abuse of the most serious kind. He was subjected to terrible acts of abuse at the scout leader’s home, in his car, and on scout camps.
Our client felt unable to disclose the abuse he had suffered at the hands of the scout leader, and was left to suffer the terrible psychological consequences of what he had endured all alone.
When he was in his 30s he had a breakdown and at that point told a police officer about the abuse. This led to a lengthy police investigation which ended with a crown court trial. The scout leader was convicted of the offences and sent to prison.
Our client was exhausted and traumatised by the court process and it was not for another few years that he felt able to contemplate bringing a civil action for compensation.
When he got in touch with us, specialist abuse lawyer Elizabeth Duncan took on his case and agreed to work on a No Win, No Fee basis.
Elizabeth formed the view that the Scout Association was ‘vicariously liable’ for the abuse. Vicarious liability is where someone other than the perpetrator is held to be legally responsible. It applies to employers, as well as “roles akin to employment” such as voluntary Scout leaders.
While the Scout Association accepted that it would be vicariously responsible for the acts of abuse that were carried out in the course of his role as a Scout leader, it did not accept that all the abuse was as a result of this. The Scout Association also did not accept that all of our client’s psychological harm had been caused by the abuse.
Elizabeth enlisted the support of a specialist barrister and also obtained supportive psychiatric evidence about the harm that the abuse had caused.
After a period of negotiation a significant out-of-court settlement was reached. Our client was delighted with the result, particularly as it enabled him to obtain the specialist treatment he needed to change his life.