06/06/2005
Belfast school reaches out of court settlement in sex abuse case
The Belfast prep school at the centre of sex abuse allegations has reached an out of court settlement for an undisclosed sum with a former pupil who claimed he was abused at the school.
The boy, who was 10-years-old at the time, was a boarding pupil at Cabin Hill in east Belfast when the abuse took place in 1992 and 1993.
Welcoming today’s decision the boy’s family said their son had shown tremendous courage in facing up to what had happened to him.
The Human Rights Commission also welcomed the decision reached today. Speaking on behalf of the Commission, Peter O’Neill, Head of Information said: “The Human Rights Commission has supported this case since we first met with the father of this young man back in January 2002. At that time the school completely denied the abuse had taken place and the government had to be convinced to hold a statutory enquiry.
“We firmly believe that only for the determination and courage of this family they would not be in the position today where they can finally begin to rebuild their lives.”
Commenting on their decision which was reached before the case was due to be heard in court, a spokesperson for Cabin Hill said it welcomed the opportunity to make it clear that the college had always regretted what happened and also the manner in which it was dealt with at the time.
Today’s settlement saw the school admit that the abuse happened; that it was negligent in investigating it and in the supervision the pupil.
(MB/SP)
The boy, who was 10-years-old at the time, was a boarding pupil at Cabin Hill in east Belfast when the abuse took place in 1992 and 1993.
Welcoming today’s decision the boy’s family said their son had shown tremendous courage in facing up to what had happened to him.
The Human Rights Commission also welcomed the decision reached today. Speaking on behalf of the Commission, Peter O’Neill, Head of Information said: “The Human Rights Commission has supported this case since we first met with the father of this young man back in January 2002. At that time the school completely denied the abuse had taken place and the government had to be convinced to hold a statutory enquiry.
“We firmly believe that only for the determination and courage of this family they would not be in the position today where they can finally begin to rebuild their lives.”
Commenting on their decision which was reached before the case was due to be heard in court, a spokesperson for Cabin Hill said it welcomed the opportunity to make it clear that the college had always regretted what happened and also the manner in which it was dealt with at the time.
Today’s settlement saw the school admit that the abuse happened; that it was negligent in investigating it and in the supervision the pupil.
(MB/SP)
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