We wondered where this story had gone. Here is an update thanks to Community Care:
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/social-work-blog/2010/02/former-calderdale-chief-pleads.html
And here: http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/Former-children39s-services-boss-in.6068073.jp
This story does go across UK borders – some weeks ago Wilt noticed search queries searching for “Rod Ryall” several times over as many weeks from Scandinavia arriving on Regulator Watch.
Perhaps he was on holiday there or otherwise there are others further afield interested in his alleged exploits.
And he not only an Oxford but also Cambridge graduate! That is no easy achievement, believe me.
Cambridge is the far nicer place! Far fewer American tourist plodding about and cluttering up the place, as in Oxford. And of course the second home of Wilt!
We await progress on this case.
Wilt
I've known Rod Ryall for over 40 years - indeed, since I was a 13 year old inmate at Aycliffe School. Whilst there was no shortage of disgusting abusers and bullies on the staff roll there, Rod Ryall was not one of them. He was one of the few truely decent human beings that I ever encountered during - or indeed, subsequent to - my incarceration.
ReplyDeleteAs I understand matters, this travesty of a "case" is simply the result of police trowling and promises of compensation to the complainants if he is convicted. The sad fucked up individuals that have made these complaints, largely in response to police-inspired campaigns, are being shamelessly exploited by supposedly public servants that are too lazy and incompetant to investigate real criminals. I empathize to a high degree with the complainants - they, like me, were undoubtedly screwed by the (lol)"care" they received whilst at Aycliffe. Again, without doubt, their experiences there have severely blighted their subsequent lives. As will become apparent when the case comes to court, the complainants have each acquired a long string of post-Aycliffe criminal convictions and have suffered from various mental and drug induced disorders. Nevertheless, they are being wholly opportunistic and, with the connivance of the police, these embittered characters are taking part in a witchhunt to destroy a very decent and caring man that has done them no harm whatsoever simply in the expectation that they will receive monetary compensation. This obscene witchhunt - paid for out of taxpayers funds - illustrates much of what is wrong with English society and why further decline towards third-world income levels and highly illiberal mob rule is inevitable.
If Rob checked his facts he would find that Ryall was sentenced to six years for buggery and sexual assault against teenage boys in care in the late 1980s.
ReplyDeleteIf Haig checked his facts he would know that neither "boy" (both 17 year olds at the time of his arrest)was in the care of Calderdale. Moreover, though they were undoubtedly damaged and shamed by the police investigation, neither youth had made any complaint because they had in fact been involved in a mutually supportive, loving consensual relationship with Rod Ryall. Thus, Rod Ryall's "crimes" would not be classified as such today.
ReplyDeleteThe public policy issue that we all ought to be extremely concerned with is not whether it was wise (or for that matter, entirely wholesome) for Rod Ryall in his mid 40's at the time to get emotionally and phyisically involved with these young men back in 1988. Rather, the issue is whether the police and courts ought to be able to bring a case against an individual based entirely upon "evidence" provided by opportunists looking for a pay-off and relying on the jury being swayed by the wholly irrelevant and unjust 1988 conviction. Remember, Rod Ryall was convicted solely on the basis of an oppressive and unjust law that discriminated against gay people, i.e., a law that criminalised gay relationships involving those below the age of 21.
Haig's reference to buggery I believe betrays a deep prejudice against gay people and is primarily an attempt to demonise Rod Ryall. Well I have news for you, consensual buggery is not merely not a crime, it's something many gay (and straight folks) engage in quite regularly and they love it. Rob.
I rest my case.
ReplyDelete"I rest my case". You haven't stated a case; you've merely posted misinformation and invited people to assume guilt because Rod Ryall engaged in what would be a perfectly legal act today (though consensual buggery is clearly something you have a problem with).
ReplyDelete