Late BBC presenter abused 60 people at hospital: report
Xinhua, February 27, 2015 Adjust font size:
Jimmy Savile, famous British TV presenter and charity fundraiser, sexually abused 60 individuals at a hospital from 1968 to 1992, an independent report said Thursday.
The report said Savile sexually abused 60 people connected with Stoke Mandeville Hospital, located at a town called Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, between 1968 and 1992.
He had been widely praised for his personal qualities and as a leading fundraiser who was estimated to have raised about 40 million pounds for charity. However, hundreds of allegations of sexual abuse were made against him after his death in October 2011.
The latest report released on Thursday showed those 60 victims at Stoke Mandeville Hospital included patients, staff, visitors, volunteers and charity fundraisers. Their ages ranged from eight to 40, and almost half were under 16, with ten under the age of 12.
Androulla Johnstone, lead investigator for the report said around one-third of his attacks were against patients, and over 90 percent of the victims were female. It also revealed the sexual abuse ranged from inappropriate touching to rape.
Johnstone said Savile came to the hospital as a voluntary porter in 1969. He was given accommodation on the hospital site and had access to all parts of the hospital building complex.
Nine informal verbal reports were made about the abuse by his victims and one formal complaint was also made. However, investigation found those complaints failed to reach senior managers, which resulted in no actions was taken to stop Savile's behaviors. Witnesses said it was an open secret within the hospital that Savile was a lecher and general nuisance, but that was being explained as his eccentric celebrity persona.
Johnstone said reasons that Savile's poor moral behaviors continued were because "adherence to policy frameworks was poor, leadership was weak, supervision and monitoring processes in relation to Savile were absent."
"It must be noted that all NHS services should be alert to predatory sexual offenders like Savile who can be placed in a position of trust and authority," he added. Endit