In about an hour’s time, I shall watch the BBC drama “Appropriate Adult”, which won BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) awards for best actor and best actress in 2012. Why am I writing about this? Because the drama is based on the horrific story of Fred and Rosemary West (pictured left). Between 1967 and 1987, Fred alone, and later Fred and wife Rosemary, tortured, raped and murdered at least 11 young women and girls. Rosemary West also murdered Fred’s stepdaughter (his first wife’s biological daughter) Charmaine, while he was serving a prison sentence for theft. The majority of the murders occurred between May 1973 and September 1979 at their home in 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester, England.
The Wests’ story has been told in documentaries, song, books and drama. The Wests’ actions and their relationship have been dissected and analysed but, as so often in the case of high-profile horror stories like this, the media, including film-makers and novelists, have invariably failed to identify the story as fundamentally one of child sexual abuse or exploitation.
Until last night. Accepting his BAFTA for best actor for his portrayal of Fred West, British actor Dominic West made the point that the Wests’ story is a story of child sexual abuse. Both Rosemary and Fred sexually abused the girls they then murdered. Fred videotaped some of the incidents, reportedly offering the pornographic recordings to a local video store.
Good call, Dominic West! It is vital to keep the focus on the sexually abusive nature of crimes such as this, While the media and story-tellers treat the Wests as serial killers, psychopaths, murderers, we must not forget that they were above all sex abusers who killed to rid themselves of the girls they had abused (and who potentially also gained sexual satisfaction in this ultimate abuse).
Some 16 years ago now, when I was giving frequent interviews as Spokesperson for the first World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (see www.csecworldcongress.org), I was verbally abused by an angry radio interviewer for saying that Thomas Hamilton, who had killed 16 children and their teacher in the Primary School in Dunblane, Scotland, was a paedophile. I wanted to make this point because no-one else had said it out loud, In fact, even today the Wikipedia entry on the Dunblane massacre says, “Public debate subsequent to these events centred on gun-control laws, including public petitions calling for a ban on private ownership of handguns and an official enquiry, the Cullen Report. In response to this debate, the Firearms (Amendment) Act and the Firearms (Amendment) (No.2) Act 1997 were enacted, which effectively made private ownership of handguns illegal in the United Kingdom”.
While the media were whipping up public outrage at gun laws that had allowed Hamilton to join a gun club and purchase multiple weapons, and while politicians were focusing on gun law reform, no-one was looking at the reason WHY Hamilton had opened fire on that fateful day:
Thomas Hamilton displayed many of the characteristic behaviours of a paedophile. Indeed, one lone social worker had noted this years earlier in a report following complaints by parents that Hamilton was leading boys’ club camping trips at which he took photographs of the boys semi-naked. Hamilton, though, moved around and the report did not follow him.
But in hindsight we know that he collected photos of children, many of them naked. He organised boys’ clubs at which he treated the boys with severe discipline. He wrote up personal details of the boys and kept them in an indexed collection. when parents complained about his behaviour, he was summoned to the office of the headmistress of the school whose rooms he hired for his club. She noted that he refused to shake her hand and was uncomfortable in the presence of an adult female. These are all classic behaviours of the paedophile.
Hamilton had even come to the notice of the police and child protection services. There were a number of investigations and reports compiled. In 1991, following a summer camp Hamilton had run, complaints were made to Central Scotland Police and were investigated by the Child Protection Unit. Hamilton was reported to the Procurator Fiscal for consideration of 10 charges, including assault, obstructing police and contravention of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937. No action was taken
Eventually, in the face of student complaints and denied use of the club room, he moved to another town. The events largely repeated themselves and so at last he moved to Dunblane. There, when again faced with the likelihood that he would not be allowed to continue his privileged access to children, he wrote to the Queen asking for her help. Soon after, however, on 19 March 1996, frustrated at the fact that he could no longer access children, he walked into Dunblane Primary School with four handguns and opened fire on a class of six year-olds.
So why it is so important to shine the light on the paedophile underpinnings of Hamilton’s behaviour? Because we should expect, and must have an appropriate response to such crimes. While the reform of gun law in 1996 was indeed important, was anything done about the inter-agency sharing of information on suspected paedophiles or sex abusers? Were new guidelines put in place to help school principals and others who can give permission for school premises to be used for privately organised clubs? Did the police in Scotland hold an enquiry into the lack of follow-up of reports that Hamilton was behaving inappropriately with children?
Similarly, the Wests have gone down in history as serial killers but not enough has been studied about the sexual nature of their crimes. As a result, there has been little debate on the vulnerability of the Wests’ victims, or of what might have been done — and importantly might be done in future — to prevent these horrors.
This is not about semantics. It is about FOCUS, because only when we focus on the crime and the victims of that crime can we learn lessons that will help us to make sure that such crimes do not happen again.