GREEN FIELD HOUSE CHILDRENS HOME MAIDENHEAD PAEDOPHILE RING VICTIMS RECEIVE £300,000 SETTLEMENT

In a significant development related to historical child abuse, nine men who endured horrific treatment at the Green Field House Children’s Home in Maidenhead have been awarded a civil settlement exceeding £300,000. This payout comes despite the fact that no individual has ever faced criminal conviction for the abuse that took place at the council-operated facility during the years 1964 to 1970.

Green Field House, located in Maidenhead, Berkshire, was under the management of Don Prescott, a former soldier who passed away approximately 19 years ago. Prescott’s tenure at the home was marred by allegations of severe abuse, including the exploitation and mistreatment of the boys placed there. It has been reported that Prescott not only abused the children himself but also engaged in renting them out to other paedophiles, extending the reach of the abuse to locations as far as Leicester, London, Cambridge, and Reading.

The boys who were sent to Green Field House were often considered, by the standards of that era, to be “maladjusted,” typically because they faced difficulties at school or at home. Many of these vulnerable children became victims of a widespread and deeply disturbing paedophile ring operating within the home’s environment.

The victims’ claims were scheduled to be heard in a civil trial at Winchester on the upcoming Monday. However, the successor authority of the 1960s Berkshire County Council, now known as the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, opted to settle the case out of court, agreeing to provide compensation to the victims. The amount of over £300,000 was agreed upon as a form of redress for the suffering endured.

Alan Collins, the solicitor representing the victims, described Prescott as a violent man who humiliated the boys, especially when they wet the bed. However, he emphasized that the most serious allegations centered around the sexual abuse inflicted upon the children.

“Unfortunately for the boys staying at Green Field House, it was the centre of a paedophile ring involving so many men that some of the boys lost count of who was involved,” Collins stated. “They suffered the most horrendous abuse – it was the worst type of sexual abuse. Prescott rented them out to other paedophiles in Reading, London, and other locations. They were filmed, photographed, and forced to participate in the abuse.”

He further revealed that the abuse persisted for a period of six years, which was particularly shocking given the duration and the extent of the exploitation.

According to Collins, Prescott and his wife, Doris, left the home abruptly in 1970. Police at the time had suspicions about the activities occurring within the home, but no charges were brought against Prescott or any other individuals involved in the abuse. A man from Reading was convicted in 1968 for taking indecent photographs of some of the boys, but Collins noted that police failed to connect this case directly to the abuse at Green Field House.

The allegations only surfaced publicly in 2000, when one of the former boys, now in his 40s and having built a distinguished career in the Army, experienced a nervous breakdown linked to the trauma he endured. This prompted him to report the abuse to the police, who responded with sympathy and launched an investigation.

As a result of this inquiry, one man was charged with sex abuse, accused of visiting the home to commit acts of abuse. However, the Crown Prosecution Service decided to drop the case before trial due to insufficient evidence, as only two victims had come forward at that time. The case remains unresolved in the criminal justice system, but the civil settlement signifies acknowledgment of the suffering inflicted upon the victims.