Woman secures compensation after alleged Church of England abuse
08 Jul 2010
A woman has been awarded compensation after claiming that she
suffered abuse during her time in a Church of England children's
home.
Teresa Cooper, now 43, spent three years at Kendal House children's
home in Gravesend, Kent from the age of 14 and said she was
regularly forcibly sedated and sexually abused when she tried to
refuse.
She left the home at age 16 and it closed down in 1986 after the
authorities became concerned about the drugs prescribed
there.
Ms Cooper went on to have three children with birth defects and
insisted that it was the drugs she was given that caused
them.
She took legal action against the Church of England for failing to
protect her and, after an 18-year battle, has now been awarded GBP
10,000 in compensation.
However, the church has not admitted liability, despite a BBC
investigation finding that Ms Cooper had been given medication
including tranquilisers 1,248 times.
Ms Copper now wants the government to launch an inquiry after
alleging that she has uncovered 18 more victims of abuse from the
children's home.
"I would like to see a genuine Christian will to help others who
suffered like me. Anything less will be seen as an attempt to brush
the scandal under the carpet in a cynical damage limitation
exercise," she commented.
The victim likened the abuse to that suffered by children at the
hands of Catholic priests.
In November last year, the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse
in the Dublin archdiocese held the Catholic church responsible for
failing to protect children from paedophile priests because it
feared negative effects on its reputation.
