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| Up to 40 staff involved in abuse | Up to 40 staff involved in abuse |
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| As many as 40 care workers abused children at an Ayrshire school for vulnerable youngsters. | |
| The claim is in a report by Glasgow City Council into the workings of Kerelaw Residential Unit in Stevenson. | |
| The local authority-run establishment, which closed last year, looked after youngsters with significant emotional, social and behavioural problems. | The local authority-run establishment, which closed last year, looked after youngsters with significant emotional, social and behavioural problems. |
| It was closed after allegations of abuse came to light in 2004 and a follow-up police investigation. | |
| The council has spent the last three years investigating allegations of abuse. | |
| Kerelaw was a secure unit which provided accommodation for up to 24 children, from throughout Scotland, with an open school for 50 others. | |
| The report's findings, which will be made public later on Thursday, said a significant core of staff at the unit had been involved in either sexual or physical abuse of youngsters. | |
| KERELAW - TIMELINE April 2004 - Care Commission produces a critical reportApril 2004 - Glasgow City Council alerted to abuse claimsJune 2004 - Police probe leads to staff suspensions and transfersDecember 2004 - Kerelaw Open School is closedMarch 2006 - Kerelaw Secure Unit is closedJune 2007 - Glasgow City Council's Kerelaw investigation report published | |
| It also said that a far larger number of staff had knowledge of the abuse and were unwilling to address the issue. | |
| The report does not indicate how many children were abused over the years. | |
| In a statement, the council said that 14 members of staff were sacked and others disciplined. | |
| It added that the names of former employees have been referred to the Scottish Executive under the terms of the Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003. | |
| 'External management' | |
| A council spokesman said: "Following an exhaustive investigation, it is clear there was a long standing failure within Kerelaw itself to provide appropriate care and education to its young people. | |
| "Within a culture of fear and collusion, it is evident that allegations from young people went unheard. | |
| "Deficiencies in the external management system that oversaw Kerelaw contributed to this failing. | |
| "A number of independent individuals and organisations with access to Kerelaw were also in a position to identify abuse but they too failed to do so." | |
| He added that as a direct consequence of the investigation, the council implemented "a wide ranging response to safeguard young people within our care system in future". | |
| The spokesman said: "Vital lessons around external management and monitoring have been learned and this has led to extensive measures being put in place to protect all the young people in our care. | |
| "We are now confident the kind of appalling abuse inflicted by those in positions of trust at Kerelaw should be prevented from happening again." | |
| Did you attend the Kerelaw open school or residential unit? Did you work at the unit? Tell us your stories by emailing newsonlinescotland@bbc.co.uk. |