How do I get compensation for child abuse?

[johnssmith]

Who to you turn to if you can't trust the police?

Back in the 1980's I was among numerous small boys who were horribly sexually abused by Mr. Simon GILVEAR – full name Simon Ward GILVEAR.

Simon GILVEAR was (and still is) married to a police officer Elizabeth GILVEAR, known as Liz GILVEAR. He is deeply integrated into religious networks, proclaiming himself to be 'resourced by the Lord'. He has used this background to win the confidence of small boys, to my knowledge as young as 13 but possibly younger, and that of their loving parents. These small boys were groomed by Simon GILVEAR over periods of years, culminating in them being plied with massive amounts of alcohol and sexually assaulted for hours in every imaginable way and buggered. Some carefully calculated violence and death-threats were also used to coerce and control the children.

In 1992 I went as a young man to the police with two other victims of Simon GILVEAR to make a complaint. Shortly after the complaints were made a series of events led me to believe that one of the witnesses came under great pressure from Liz GILVEAR, Simon GILVEAR and their social circle, resulting in the withdrawing of their complaint, leaving me and one other complainant.

Simon GILVEAR admitted all remaining charges (which is why I can write all of this without fear of a libellous claim) and was taken to court. The sentencing guidelines for his offences directed the judge to pass down a sentence of up to 14 years in prison. Simon GILVEAR received a 2-year Conditional Discharge, which I understand is the court's way of saying 'we'll let you off this time but don't get caught for at least two years or we'll have to take the current offences into consideration on top of any further offences'.

Simon GILVEAR's offence was then filed under a false name (Simon WARD) so that, on top of his being effectively let off the crime, anybody (including other members of the police) who did a background check on Simon GILVEAR for any reason, would find no trace of conviction for his crimes. This theoretically left Simon GILVEAR free to integrate into new networks and, if any concerned adults subsequently attempted to retrieve disclosure under Megan's Law or Sarah's Law in the interests of child protection, they would have found nothing under the name of Simon GILVEAR.

Through her position as a police officer, Liz GILVEAR has directly involved herself with child protection services, acting as an adviser to child protection professionals who are involved in suspected abuse cases. It could be reasonably argued that this proactive involvement gives Liz GILVEAR the ability not only to influence cases from the police side of investigations, as she appears to have already done, but also to cross the bridge into social services in order to have a hand in the outcome of cases before they are ever officially reported. It is unclear whether or not Liz GILVEAR has any access to influence victims of abuse or to troubled boys through her work and whether or not she may use that access to source further victims for Simon GILVEAR. Furthermore, one can only wonder whether or not to allege that Liz GILVEAR has assisted Simon GILVEAR influence other victims who have come forward to either the police or social services or to influence the processing and outcome of their complaints.

The pattern that Simon GILVEAR appears to follow is that of integrating himself into religious communities such as Horfield Baptist Church and Woodlands Church and other youth-rich environments in Bristol and beyond. These include his running a youth club in Lockleaze, Bristol and working as manager of Forbidden Planet – a large Dungeons & Dragons type store based in Bristol, which presumably would have brought in children of a particular character from across Bristol and beyond. Through these roles, Simon GILVEAR identified and groomed vulnerable children over periods of years, getting to know the children's families and helping the parents out by letting the children stay with him for periods of time in order to assist with the home issues that many teenage boys have.

To this end their appears to me to be no change in Simon GILVEAR's method of sourcing victims as he still attends Woodlands Church in Bristol. I visited this church recently. It is difficult to imagine a church or, for that matter, any organisation that has a higher concentration of young people in the vulnerable and formative state of mind that a noisy, happy-clappy religious environment engenders, anywhere.

I recently contacted the police who have re-confirmed the above information in writing. Because Simon GILVEAR's offences were filed under a false name, it took the police over two months of mining through their archives in order to recover the case, despite the full details on Simon GILVEAR that I had given them. During that time it was assumed that the case had disappeared or had never been brought to trial and I was asked to initiate a new complaint and undertake a video interview, which was a traumatic and moving experience.

The recent birth of my two beautiful sons has prompted me to examine my responsibility towards other small boys. If I were to fail to warn people in Simon GILVEAR's community of what he is, then moral responsibility for any further offences committed by Simon GILVEAR falls on my shoulders. To this end I have since begun action to expose Simon GILVEAR to his local community and have sought compensation.

My actions were akin to hitting a hornets' nest with a big stick and, within days I was arrested by Liz GILVEAR's police colleagues on trumped up charges of harassment and blackmail and taken to a police cell 50 miles outside my home town, where I was left in a locked cell for 14 hours. The pretext for me being taken so far away from home was that of police impartiality – an admission in itself that Liz Gilvear can and does influence proceedings in Bristol – but it was obvious to me that I was being kept out of the way in order to protect Liz GILVEAR's 'good name' with her colleagues in Bristol.

Neither I, nor my lawyer could find any legal basis for my arrest and, when the police eventually presented their case to the UK Crown Prosecution Services, they were told by the CPS to let me go with no further action. Whilst I was in the cell the police forced their way into my home and conducted an extensive search of every inch of the property in front of my three-year-old son, my baby son and my partner. I suppose they were taking a long shot by looking for any evidence of any possible crime in order to prosecute and intimidate me further. They found none but took my laptop nonetheless.

When I contacted the police station to retrieve my laptop the police officer that I spoke with said something along the lines of 'oh, is this about that top secret case? We're all being kept in the dark about this one'. I was happy to fill her in with the details.

Beyond my obvious fury and frustration at how I have been treated, I feel a continued responsibility to expose Simon GILVEAR and expose him for what he is. I realise that there is no point in contacting the police. I am afraid of what will happen to me if I continue to expose Simon GILVEAR but I am more afraid of what will happen to little children in the community if I do nothing.

Feel free to verify this by contacting Simon GILVEAR and / or the police and pass the information on to whoever you see fit and to take whatever other action, which is legal, you feel should be taken.