Clapham: Lambeth Council care worker jailed for historic sexual abuse of children

A paedophile who abused boys in his care at a Lambeth Council children's home has been jailed for a further five years.

Leslie Paul, 70, preyed on children at the South Vale assessment centre in West Norwood, moulding the care home into a "brutal place where violence and sexual assault were allowed to flourish".

One police investigation identified 103 of his victims, including one case where the victim was subjected to "vile group sexual abuse" by Paul and other unidentified men.

He is one of six former Council employees to be convicted for child abuse offences, with many more alleged perpetrators believed to have subjected children in Lambeth's care to decades of cruelty and abuse.

Paul has now been convicted four times of sexually abusing children; in 1994, at the Old Bailey in 2002, when he was jailed for 18 charges of child abuse.

While behind bars, two more victims came forward to say they had been abused and Paul was convicted again last autumn of indecent assault, indecency and buggery without consent against them, boys aged 13 and 14 at the time.

Detective Constable Lisa Main, the investigating officer from Central Specialist Crime, said: "The two victims who contacted us are now men and have been carrying the trauma of what happened to them for an incredibly long time.

"They were young, in care and vulnerable, and they were preyed upon by Paul. He ruthlessly used and abused the trust placed in his position as a care worker in the most disgusting, evil and calculated way.

"He behaved as if he thought he could get away with it."

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) revealed last year how Leslie, who was employed by Lambeth Council between 1979 and 1991, used a "culture of cover-up" within the Council to get away with his actions.

A catalogue of concerns were raised about his inappropriate conduct and racist remarks made towards children during his employment, but instead of investigation Paul was promoted to the role of team leader at South Vale in 1989.

In her inquiry report, Professor Alexis Jay said children were "pawns in a toxic power game within Lambeth Council and between the Council and central government", subjected to decades of cruelty and abuse

"For many years bullying, intimidation, racism, nepotism and sexism thrived within the Council, and all against a backdrop of corruption and financial mismanagement", she said.

At the start of his sentencing, Paul appeared via videolink from prison and complained about a delay to the hearing, saying it had "stressed me out greatly".

Paul denied but was convicted of nine counts of indecent assault on a male person, two charges of indecency with a child, and one count of buggery.

He is also subject to a sexual harm prevention order for life, and must serve half of his current prison terms before being released on parole.