Inside UK’s ‘Paedophile Island’ where children were sexually abused ‘at industrial scale’ for YEARS & no one stopped it
Share:
CHILDREN, many of whom were orphans and particularly vulnerable, were coaxed to one of Britain's holy islands where they were systematically sexually abused. Brave victims have revealed the harrowing experiences children suffered on Caldey Island, a short boat trip from Tenby, Wales, every month.
![[Father Thaddeus Kotik never faced criminal charges for his alleged abuse of children]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/father-thaddeus-kotik-caldey-island-905681050.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Kevin O’Connell, who created the Caldey Island Survivors Campaign after many wrote to him about their abuse, says he has so far collected 59 victim accounts. Yesterday, a safeguarding review authored by consultant social worker Jan Pickles concluded victims of sexual abuse there were treated in a hostile, heartless and cruel way.
![[Six victims were paid compensation after a civil case found the Cistercian priest had abused them]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/father-thaddeus-kotik-caldey-island-905681047.jpg?strip=all&w=624)
In response, Caldey Abbey, which commissioned the report, apologised for the suffering caused. And now, following renewed calls for a public inquiry, renowned public enquiries lawyer Michael Imperato says he would be prepared to take on the case and believes children could have been sexually assaulted on the island at "industrial scale".
![[The island's monastery, where monks continue to live]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/view-caldey-abbey-caldey-village-905509405.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Evil monk Father Thaddeus Kotik, stationed at the island's monastery from 1947 until his death in 1992, never faced any criminal charges despite countless claims against him. However, six victims were paid compensation after a 2016 civil case found the Cistercian priest, from Poland, had sexually abused them between 1972 and 1987.
One victim - who received a £19,000 payout - told The Sun said she was advised against taking action by her mum and some former islanders who didn’t want her to “blacken the good name of Caldey”. She made the trip to the island over school holidays and was preyed on almost every day by Kotik - and claims she saw him also abuse others, including babies.
![[Caldey Island sits just two miles south of Tenby in Pembrokeshire]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/aerial-view-caldey-island-2-905509756.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
