Charity to sue vile paedophile who preyed on little girls while managing a ... trends now
A national charity is suing a vile sex offender who preyed on little girls in a children’s home he managed in the 1970s and 80s.
Paedophile Maurice Berry, 67, was jailed for thirteen years in 2019 for seventeen counts of indecent assault, indecency with a child, and two rapes, after a trial at York Crown Court.
The jury heard he prowled corridors at night ‘like the Gestapo’ and enforced rigid discipline.
Two of the victims were little girls when he sexually abused them at May Lodge children’s home near Scarborough, where he was deputy manager, according to a High Court writ.
Maurice Berry, 67, was jailed for thirteen years for seventeen counts of indecent assault, indecency with a child, and two rapes
He climbed into their beds at night and touched them, exposed himself to them, and also tried to rape one of the little girls.
Judge Sean Morris told Berry: ‘You were preying firstly on two little girls. They were all alone in the world… in a big, rambling Victorian children’s home. And you were wandering around, with your keys, taking your pleasure from these little girls in their beds at night. It was wicked.’
He said Berry had ‘conditioned and manipulated’ a third victim - an older teenage girl who was raped - ‘to such an extent that it was submission’.
The judge said although Berry had ‘moved on’ in his life and had not offended since, he had ‘left damaged lives behind’.
After his conviction, the two younger victims – now grown women – claimed damages for personal injury from charity Action for Children, formerly called the National Children’s Home, saying it was vicariously liable for Berry’s offence.
Now the charity whose patron is Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, is trying to get back the nearly £160,000 compensation and legal fees compensation from Berry.
If it wins the legal battle, the charity will be able to enforce any judgment against his
