Please be advised that some details of this report may be upsetting.
THE COUNCIL sent a sexual attacker confidential “personal” information about a Wokingham girl he sexually assaulted in a major data breach.
The error comes after a string of failings from Wokingham Borough Council (WBC), in which the authority was found to have failed to offer “sufficient help and support” to the survivor before and after the attacker was convicted in 2014.
Speaking exclusively to the News, the survivor’s mother said: “Wokingham is supposed to be the best place for families and children to live in the UK - to my mind, what is going on in children’s services is negligence.
"The suffering they have caused is immeasurable, life-changing and ongoing.
“I think Wokingham Borough Council’s children services needs to be put into special measures.
“I believe what they have done to my family is dangerous - it would have been much better had they had absolutely nothing to do with my children whatsoever.”
The survivor, who cannot be named for legal reasons, first reported “behaviour that suggested potential physical and emotional abuse” by the attacker in June 2011.
WBC, however, took no action after several other referrals were made to the authority, including a report in October 2011 the survivor had been going to bed with a knife by her side because she felt at risk of harm from the attacker.
Two years later in July 2013, the council acknowledged “fault" and apologised after closing a case against the attacker, despite ongoing police investigations following his arrest.
In 2014, the attacker was convicted of sexual assault and was jailed for two years.
WBC was directed to pay the mother “£11,825” in legal fees after an independent investigator followed up on complaints made by the mother regarding the council’s handling of the allegations.
Upon his conviction, it was ordered the attacker should have a lifetime ban on contact with the survivor and that he could not have any unsupervised contact with any female under the age of 16 for at least five years.
Yet in September 2018 the attacker asked a Hampshire Police officer assigned to him under probation if there were any bars to contact in place relating to the survivor’s younger sister.
The council told the police there was not - despite having records of the offender having a lifetime ban on contact with the survivor and a sexual offences prevention order - and proceeded to send information, which included confidential details of the survivor, to the attacker.
WBC has been forced to apologise to the mother and her daughter again after a 2018 report by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO), which is due for publication, is set to claim they found fault with the council.
But the mother of the survivor told the News the council can “shove their apology”.
She continued: “Their latest bout of mistakes, to give a convicted sex offender personal data about his survivor, is disgraceful.
"To say sorry and think that’s okay is disgraceful.”
Wokingham Borough Council was contacted for comment, and in a statement councillor Pauline Helliar Symons, executive member for Children’s Services, said: “We cannot make a comment until the LGO investigation is completed and we receive its final decision.
"To do so would be inappropriate for us and unfair on those involved.”
Following the LGO’s report, the council is set to promise to give staff further detailed training in relation to information security, as well as developing a new redaction policy for documents.
Now the survivor’s mother is appealing for other Wokingham families who may have been affected by the council’s children’s services to come forward.
She said: “I don’t believe we are the only ones. I believe there are other families in Wokingham that have been struggling and been affected and they don’t know who to go to.
“If I’m going to incur legal costs on my own, I might as well take other families and work together collectively and sort this out once and for all.
”It’s still ongoing. They've had their chance and they’ve not listened.”
This comes after the News reported last month Ofsted sent a letter to the council noting there had been a "marked deterioration" in its services to children.
The NSPCC was contacted for comment and in a statement, it said: “It takes tremendous courage to report sexual abuse and it’s vital that authorities provide appropriate support to victims and their families.
“The best interests of children must always be paramount and it’s clear the council failed in their duty to ensure both children, in this case, were fully supported and their needs put at the heart of decision making.
“The local authority must act on the Ombudsman’s report without delay and ensure their safeguarding procedures are robust in protecting and supporting victims of child abuse and their families.”
Adults concerned about a child can contact the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000 for confidential advice and support or email help@nspcc.org.uk
If you have been affected by this report, support is available from:
The Survivor’s Trust - 0808 801 08180 | thesurvivorstrust.org
CALM - 0800 58 58 58
MIND - 0300 123 3393
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