A retired schoolmaster accused of sexually abusing students at some of the most prominent schools in Scotland is now facing similar accusations in his adopted home of South Africa.
Nicky Campbell, a journalist who attended Fettes College and Edinburgh Academy in the 1970s, has spearheaded the effort to extradite the 82-year-old man who has admitted fondling male students there.
Campbell stated that he witnessed the man abusing his friend in the school’s changing rooms and that the man’s behavior was “so pervasive” that all of the students were aware of it.
According to The Mirror, the man, identified only as “Edgar” for legal reasons, is now suspected of molesting another youngster at the Rondebosch Boys’ School in Cape Town, where he taught from 1979 until 2006.
Nicky Campbell, a broadcaster, claims he observed his former teacher ‘Edgar’ abusing male students at Edinburgh Academy in the 1970s and has led the fight to extradite the man from South Africa to the United Kingdom.
Edinburgh Academy, where Edgar is said to have mistreated scores of boys in the 1970s, has now issued an apology and stated that it is collaborating with investigators.
The journalist Alex Renton interviewed the victim, known as Steven, for his Radio 4 series Dark Corners. In the 1980s, he claimed being abused by Edgar multiple times in a single year.
Steven stated, “He was a senior teacher in his 50s, and I was 12 or 13 years old at the time.” I could only respond with “yes sir, no sir” His favorite was being disorganized. It was part of his modus operandi to have physical contact with you if your shirt was untucked. That would eventually lead to grabbing me. He would press himself against my body.
Steven said that he has witnessed Edgar mistreating other guys at school.
Dark Corners, which examines allegations of abuse at some of Britain’s most exclusive schools, said that the Cape Town School has issued a call for alumni who believe they were abused to come forward.
Campbell referred to the conversation as a ‘breakthrough’ and expressed his happiness that the culprit was now being surrounded.
He stated, “This is a major breakthrough.” The Scottish and South African legal authorities have committed procedural blunders, yet there is now a very strong possibility that Edgar will be punished in South Africa.
Fettes College issued a “complete and unreserved apology” to the Scottish Child Mistreatment Inquiry for Edgar’s abuse.
“I’ve listened to the entire unedited interview with my eyes filled with tears. It is really potent. You hear the humiliation. It is unbelievable that he came forward.
Campbell stated on BBC Breakfast in July that another teacher at his school, Hamish Dawson, had assaulted him and had since passed away. Now he wants to extradite “Edgar,” who is proving difficult to capture.
He stated, “I think it’s a scandal that the extradition process is kind of like whatever.”
‘[Edgar] could very well be one of the most prolific paedophiles in British criminal history if you do the math and consider the length of time he taught and the number of schools he attended.’
He stated that in 1971, at the age of 10, he watched the man, who has more than 20 complaints of child abuse against him, molesting one of his friends in the Edinburgh Academy showers after rugby practice.
Campbell recalled, “My friend is laughing, but I can tell by the fear in it that it is not a good laugh.”
We don’t even discuss it as we walk to the bus stop, and we’d never tell.
Nicky Campbell talked in July about his sexual and serious physical abuse as a young student at a Scottish private school in the 1970s.
Due to the sacrifices his parents made to send him to private school, the former Watchdog host stated that he “could not have spoken about the school” while they were still living.
In addition, he demanded that the laws governing private schools, which are not subject to the same safety criteria as public schools, be altered.
Mr. Campbell continued, “There is no mandatory reporting in the private sector, and with our knowledge and sensibilities, you would think he would be.”
“Schools like that fostered a culture of omerta and secrecy, and these are the people who have been running the country,” the author writes.
After Campbell made the charges public, additional former students of Edinburgh Academy and Fettes College came forward with similar accounts of abuse.
Since then, Edinburgh Academy has issued an apology and stated that school is collaborating with police.
In a statement to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, Fettes College, whose alumni include former Prime Minister Tony Blair, apologized “in its entirety and without reservation.”
While words of apology may have limited value, we completely accept and acknowledge that sexual, physical, and emotional abuse of students occurred at Fettes College in the past.
Edgar, who resides in a Cape Town retirement facility, was detained in South Africa by British Police in 2019 and is scheduled to appear in court on March 17 for a subsequent extradition hearing.
According to The Times, he stated in a previous court hearing that he traveled to Edinburgh from South Africa in 1967 to seek therapy for ‘urges’ to touch students at the school where he worked after graduating.
Dark Corners airs tonight at 8pm on Radio 4 and is available on BBC Sounds.
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