The sex beast of Barnardos
The Evening Press,
15th Dec 1998
A SADISTIC pervert who abused 13 children during a five-year reign of terror at a North Yorkshire children's home today started an 11-year jail term with the angry cries of his victims ringing in his ears.
Many of those victims and their supporters were at York Crown Court today to see Philip Anthony Dunne, 52, punished for his crimes against them.
They hurled abuse as he was led away to the cells.
York Crown Court heard how Dunne inflicted a regime of caning, humiliation and threats on children at Springhill Residential School, Ripon, to make them undergo sexual ordeals.
As an untrained house parent in the late 1960s and early 1970s he had almost unfettered control over his victims. He put together a group of boys and put himself in charge of them. He gagged and bound one boy to carry out a serious sexual offence.
Dunne, 52, of Checketts Lane, Worcester, was jailed for a total of 11 years for three serious sexual offences on boys under 14, 13 indecent assaults on boys, one on a girl and two offences of cruelty to children.
He had pleaded guilty to all the offences at an earlier stage.
After the court case Dunne's former employers, Barnardos, said that for legal reasons they could not say why he was not detected when one of his victims first spoke out more than 20 years ago, nor why he had been allowed to work in a position of responsibility over the children without any training.
Judge Arthur Myerson QC, sentencing, said that Dunne had used physical violence to compel the children's obedience and for his own sexual gratitude.
"The extent of such sadistic behaviour towards small children is an unhappy feature of these offences."
He added: "It is abundantly clear that only a substantial sentence of imprisonment can punish you for the way in which you have behaved and drive home to yourself and also to others that those who take advantage of children in this way but expect to receive long sentences of imprisonment."
John Tebbett, Director of Children's Services for Barnardos, said it was devastated by the case and charity workers' hearts went out to the victims.
Detective Inspector Phil Metcalfe, who led the investigation, said Dunne's victims were all very upset following the court hearing, but he hoped they could now put the abuse behind them.
Prosecutor James Spencer QC, said Dunne arrived at the school as an assistant house parent without training in 1967 and left in 1974 to go to another children's home.
Shortly after he left, one of his victims spoke out about the abuse and staff started discussing his behaviour towards the children.
But although the allegations indirectly led to him being refused a job with the National Children's Home it wasn't until 1998 when another boy spoke out that Dunne was finally arrested.
For Dunne, Nigel Sangster QC said he had lived in fear of the knock on the door for 25 to 30 years.
He had led a respectable life working in the retail trade and later in the computer business.
His offending had stopped when he met his wife and realised that it was wrong.
He handed in 25 references on behalf of Dunne.