A former prison officer and church minister has been revealed as possibly the most prolific sex offender in British criminal history.
Sunday school teacher and scout troop leader Neville Husband carried out the wholesale rape and abuse of boys at a detention centre from 1969 to 1985 – committing at least 388 offences.
But a report by the Prison and Probation Ombudsman released today reveals that it is likely Husband raped many more in previous and subsequent roles.
It means he is likely to have committed even more offences than the 450 attributed to Jimmy Savile.
The former prison caterer, who died in 2010, made the kitchens at Medomsley Detention Centre in County Durham a living hell for the ‘trainees’ – aged 17 – 21 – who had been sent to the institution for their often minor offending.
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Grooming and abusing the boys and young men became part of Husband’s daily routine as he made the kitchens his own domain, where even other staff members felt intimidated into turning a blind eye.
The probe into abuse at Medomsley Detention Centre
A report into a two-year investigation into the abuse at Medomsley by the Prison and Probation Ombudsman Adrian Usher found that Husband probably abused others at Portland borstal in Dorset, Deerbolt youth custody centre in County Durham and HMP Frankland.
Mr Usher says: ‘Neville Husband was possibly the most prolific sex offender in British history.
‘He was a powerfully built man and an arch-manipulator. He physically intimidated, and in some cases assaulted, other members of staff as well as trainees.’
‘The drive from Newcastle or Durham magistrates’ courts up to the training centre is across many miles of bleak and barren moorland. That journey will have compounded in the minds of the trainees, many experiencing custody for the first time, their separation from those who cared about them.
‘When Husband told them that if they spoke out, he could make them “disappear”, it would have been easy for them to believe it.’
When he retired in 1990, Husband was awarded the Imperial Service Medal for meritorious duty in the prison service, and he was welcomed into the church as a minister.
It was only when Durham Police began a massive probe into abuse at Medomsley in 2002 that Husband’s reign of terror was revealed.
In February 2003, Husband was convicted of 10 counts of indecent assault and one count of rape against five teenagers at Medomsley and was initially sentenced to eight years in prison.
In 2005, following more victims coming forward, Husband admitted to four further attacks and his total sentence was increased to 10 years.
Subsequent investigations have found there were 549 documented abuse cases at Medomsley, and of those, Husband committed 388, mostly alone but some with an accomplice.
A timeline of Husband’s abuse
Husband joined the Prison Service in December 1963, working at HMP Durham from December 1963 to 1964.
After completing his training at Leyhill officers’ training school, he was posted to Portland borstal in April 1964. While still at Portland borstal, Husband was investigated by police under the Obscene Publications Act relating to indecent images depicting sexual activity between men.
When questioned by the police, Husband stated he had obtained the material as research for a book he was considering writing on the nature of homosexuality and no police action was taken.
In May 1969, Husband was posted to Medomsley as a catering officer, where he was in sole charge of the kitchen.
In August 1985, Husband transferred from Medomsley to HMP Frankland, where he worked as the senior cook and baker for approximately two years. In May 1987, he transferred to Deerbolt youth custody centre, where he worked for three months before finally transferring back to HMP Frankland.
Victim accounts indicate that Husband continued to sexually abuse victims at both Deerbolt youth custody centre and HMP Frankland throughout his service.
In 1990, Husband began training as a minister in the Waddington Street United Reformed Church and was inducted as a minister in June 1994.
In July 1999, Husband was arrested as part of Operation Voice, a Metropolitan police-led UK-wide investigation into the distribution of child sex abuse materials.
Husband was arrested, charged and suspended from his ministerial roles within the Waddington Street United Reformed Church.
However, the case was later dismissed at court due to a delay in the production of a specialist witness for the prosecution. The church reinstated Husband as a minister in June 2000.
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