December 2001 Torment of a sex victim A BLACKPOOL man today spoke of his relief at seeing the man who abused him as a child jailed for 10 years for a series of serious sex attacks. A London court heard how John Moseling, 61, an ex-boss at the Ivydale children’s home in Peckham southeast London, used to ply children as young as nine with alcohol before molesting them. Among his victims was 35-year-old Tony Lewis, now living in Elizabeth Court, Layton. Today Mr Lewis courageously waived his anonymity – a legally-binding right for all victims of sexual assault – to tell the harrowing story of the abuse he suffered under the hands of the cruel Moseling in his paedophile ring. He hopes that by reliving his past it will empower those who have or are living through abuse to have the confidence to speak out. Mr Lewis was just ten when he first transferred to Ivydale in 1976. He said the abuse first began when he was cleaning his teeth one day. This soon escalated, and Moseling began to routinely sexually abuse Tony on a daily basis. Even after Mr Lewis was transferred from Ivydale to a care home in North Wales, he still continued to be assaulted by Moseling during return visits during holiday time at the London home until he was 17. Today he spoke of his relief as Moseling was jailed yesterday at the Inner London Crown Court for 10 sexual offences relating to three boys, including Mr Lewis. On Moseling today, he said: “I feel nothing but pure hatred for him – that man has ruined my life.” Detective Inspector Tim Duncan, who led the investigation, said: “I pay tribute to the three victims in this case who were very courageous in reliving their traumatic experiences in court in order to expose John Moseling. Mr Lewis, currently on sickness benefit, has lived in Blackpool with his partner David for the past three years. He said: “It feels like I can put my life back together.” Moseling was the third member of staff at Ivydale to be convicted of abuse. In March, his deputy George Simpson, 60, from North Shields, and Alan Essex, 59, from Hampshire were both jailed for six years. Judge Austin Issard-Davies told Moseling yesterday: “You were appointed by social services of the London borough of Southwark to a position which carried with it great responsibility. You greatly abused that responsibility. “The impact of these offences has been to disadvantage or wreck the lives of your victims. “You put them through the ordeal of giving evidence and there is almost no mitigation that I can see.”