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The long running trial of three former child care officers accused of historic sex abuse spanning 30 years at a residential school has ended with convictions.
Colwyn Baker, David Hennessy and Nigel Putman will be sentenced next Wednesday.
Baker, 70, and Hennessy, 73, have been remanded in custody, while Putman, 61, was allowed bail to deal with “domestic issues”.
Baker was found guilty 17 charges of indecent assault, one of indecency with a child and two other serious sexual offences.
He was acquitted of five charges of indecent assault and another serious sexual offence.
Hennessy was convicted of six offences of indecent assault. He was acquitted of 10 charges of indecent assault.
Nigel Putman, 61, was convicted of two charges of indecent assault and acquitted of one similar charge.
The jury of eight men and four women was discharged from returning verdicts on two charges of indecent assault and one of indecency with a child against Hennessy and one of indecent assault against Baker after reaching deadlock.
The last verdicts were returned after a total of 72 hours covering three weeks, the jury having retired on April 29.
The three paedophiles molested children at Swaylands School in Penshurst. The 49 charges involved 24 boys.
Prosecutor Philip Bennetts QC said Swaylands was a residential school for boys aged seven to 16 with moderate learning difficulties until 1989.
"They were all in a position of authority at the school and their role was to care for the boys. They abused the trust placed in them in an appalling way... - Nigel Pilkington, CPS
It was re-designated as a 60-pupil residential school for boys aged 11 to 16 with emotional and behavioural problems.
The school was closed down in 1993.
Mr Bennetts said Baker was convicted in February 1994 of four offences of indecent assault and one of gross indecency involving three boys at the school.
Hennessy was convicted in December 1993 of four offences of indecent assault and two other serious sexual offences on one boy.
Baker was employed at the school from May 1967 until his suspension and arrest in January 1993.
Hennessy was employed from March 1969. He resigned in April 1977 but was re-employed in April 1979.
Baker, of Morningside, Edinburgh, denied 22 charges of indecent assault, one of indecency with a child and three other serious sexual offences.
Hennessy, of Westfields, Narborough, Kings Lynn, Norfolk, denied 18 charges of indecent assault, one of indecency with a child and one other serious sexual offence.
Putman, of Kings Road, Slough, Berkshire, denied three charges of indecent assault.
Only Hennessy gave evidence during the trial which started on March 4.
Speaking after the verdicts came in, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service's complex casework unit in the south east, Nigel Pilkington, said: "These three defendants have today been convicted of a series of sexual offences against boys at the school. In the case of two of the defendants, these are not the first convictions against them.
"They were all in a position of authority at the school and their role was to care for the boys. They abused the trust placed in them in an appalling way.
"It was clear from the evidence in the case that abuse by these men at the school was almost the norm, with offending on a daily basis.
"Baker, Hennessy and Putman were supposed to look after the boys out of class. Instead they exploited the pupils in their care and committed horrible acts over a long period of time..." - Det Supt Paul Fotheringham
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank the victims in this case for coming forward and reporting what happened to them all those years earlier.
"We appreciate how difficult this must have been for them to relive what happened to them decades previously as children, but now their perpetrators have been brought to justice.
"This has been a highly complex case, given the number of victims, and offences and the length of time that had elapsed since the offences were originally committed.
"Our rape and serious sexual offences team have worked hard with Kent Police on behalf of the victims in this case to ensure that the defendants were brought to justice."
Detective Superintendent Paul Fotheringham from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate added: "As residential child care officers Baker, Hennessy and Putman were supposed to look after the boys out of class.
"Instead they exploited the pupils in their care and committed horrible acts over a long period of time.
"The first victims in this case came forward in 2011. But it soon became apparent there had been others affected and officers went to great lengths to ensure no stone was left unturned.
"We reviewed old school registers and visited potential victims or witnesses in person across the UK enquiring whether they wished to assist with the investigation.
"Officers heard how some children who tried to resist the offenders’ abuse would be beaten or refused food.
"At other times, classmates of uncooperative victims were denied leisure activities - to make the victim unpopular and feel guilty.
"Despite the weight of this corroborative evidence the three men refused to admit to their crimes.
"Instead they forced their victims to appear at court and recount the abuse they had suffered all those years ago.
"We had 65 ex-pupils make allegations, and with the victims and CPS we have put forward the strongest case to the court.
"All the victims were involved in the process and have been kept fully up to date; this is justice for all of them and I’d personally like to thank all those who have helped bring this case to a conclusion."
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