Former foster family paid compensation in sex abuse case

A former foster family have received around £190,000
compensation in an out of court settlement after a teenage boy with
a history of sex offending was placed with them and assaulted the
children, writes Katie Leason.

In 1993 Essex council placed the boy with the foster carers who
had four of their own children under the age of 12, even though he
was considered dangerous and was thought to have abused his
sister.

The social worker involved in the placement claimed that the
family had been fully informed of the boy’s past, but the
foster parents maintained this was not the case.

The team leader and social worker involved in the placement were
sacked in 1994.

Most of the compensation will go to the four children, who were
all abused, with only a small proportion going to the foster
parents.

Mike Leadbetter, director of social services at Essex council,
said that what happened should never have done so.

“Many additional measures have been put in place to ensure as
far as is humanly possible that it doesn’t happen again. We
hope that finalising this matter in the out of court settlement
will enable the family to move on now, and at least put some of the
pain behind them.”