0:00:15 > 0:00:16may find upsetting.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19I promise to honour my God, my Queen and my country
0:00:19 > 0:00:22and to do my best to serve him loyally and honourably
0:00:22 > 0:00:22at all times...
0:00:22 > 0:00:24The Army, Air and Sea Cadets.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26Youth organisations where nearly 130,000 children in Britain
0:00:26 > 0:00:29seek fun and adventure.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33I further promise to be a good citizen and to do my duty
0:00:33 > 0:00:38to God and the Queen, my country and my flag.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41Overseen by the Ministry of Defence, the state is responsible
0:00:41 > 0:00:43for the welfare of cadets.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46Fire!
0:00:46 > 0:00:50And to do my best to serve loyally and honourably at all times.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53Look up.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57Children who joined the cadets make a promise to serve loyally.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01But for some, that promise was betrayed.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03People in positions of power abused their trust and committed
0:01:03 > 0:01:06the most serious crimes.
0:01:06 > 0:01:16Crimes, that in many cases, were covered up.
0:01:30 > 0:01:35Stewart was an air cadet in the 1990s.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42This is the moment he confronts the cadet officer who
0:01:42 > 0:01:46abused him as a child.
0:02:01 > 0:02:0414 years after the abuse, Stewart secretly recorded this confession.
0:02:04 > 0:02:10I was doing it to stop him causing any more damage to young
0:02:10 > 0:02:15people in the future.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19Finally, I'll be able to do something about something
0:02:19 > 0:02:27that's been bugging me for a long, long time.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30Today, Stewart has come to see lawyers David and Rebecca,
0:02:30 > 0:02:34who're trying to uncover the extent of abuse within the cadets.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39Good to see you.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43They're pursuing compensation case against the Ministry of Defence
0:02:43 > 0:02:48for what happened to Stewart.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52The man Stewart had confronted was Chris Day, the commanding
0:02:52 > 0:02:56officer of his air cadet unit in Woodford, Essex.
0:02:56 > 0:03:01Day, abused Stewart on a cadet trip when Stewart was 15.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03More than a decade later, Stewart went to see Chris Day
0:03:03 > 0:03:10with a hidden recording device.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12I went straight down to where he worked.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16He came out of his office and he went white as a ghost.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18Then he said, "not here at my work".
0:03:18 > 0:03:20"Please, please, please."
0:03:20 > 0:03:22And started begging.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24So I said, come back to my house.
0:03:24 > 0:03:32Come and see me, we have to talk.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54Chris Day was tried and his confession was
0:03:54 > 0:03:55played at the court case.
0:03:55 > 0:04:05He was sentenced to two years in prison.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09Stewart's story is not a one-off.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11For the last seven months, Panorama has been investigating
0:04:11 > 0:04:14sexual abuse within the cadets.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18Repeatedly, across the country, we've found a pattern of senior
0:04:18 > 0:04:22members of the cadet forces who knew abuse was going on, but didn't
0:04:22 > 0:04:32report it to the police.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39David and Rebecca work for law firm, Bolt Burdon Kemp,
0:04:39 > 0:04:43who specialise in making claims in child abuse cases.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46I think when we received our first instruction to bring a claim
0:04:46 > 0:04:49against the MoD for abuse in the cadets, at the time
0:04:49 > 0:04:52there was no real way to know this was going to be on the scale
0:04:52 > 0:04:54that it is today.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56But slowly and gradually, more and more clients
0:04:56 > 0:04:59have come forward to us, seeking help to hold the MoD
0:04:59 > 0:05:03to account and I can only see that rapidly increasing in the future.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07I have absolutely no doubt that the abuse in the cadets
0:05:07 > 0:05:09will mirror the other scandals like the Jimmy Savile case,
0:05:09 > 0:05:19like abuse in the Scouts, like abuse in the Catholic Church.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30Our investigation took us to Cheshunt, in Hertfordshire,
0:05:30 > 0:05:35and to Tony, who lived nearby as a boy.
0:05:35 > 0:05:41He joined the Cheshunt Sea Cadets in 1979 aged 13.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43He was quite a quiet boy.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46He liked his motors and all that when he was little.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50Then as he grew up, my dad had been in the Navy and he was very
0:05:50 > 0:05:57interested in that sort of thing.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02The reason I joined is because my parents wanted to keep me off
0:06:02 > 0:06:04the streets and out of trouble.
0:06:04 > 0:06:09I must admit, the things I did there, I would never
0:06:09 > 0:06:10have done otherwise.
0:06:10 > 0:06:16Shotguns and 303 rifles, sailing and all that,
0:06:16 > 0:06:17which was real good fun.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21Tony regularly went on trips with the unit to naval bases.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24He loved the experience, until he went for a long weekend
0:06:24 > 0:06:29to HMS Pembroke in Chatham, Kent in 1981.
0:06:29 > 0:06:38Tony comeback from the trip and he was very quiet.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40Tony come back from the trip and he was very quiet.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44He didn't have a lot to say about it, which we thought was strange.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46Anyway, then I got talking to him, I think it was
0:06:46 > 0:06:48the second day he was home.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50And he said, "I don't want to go".
0:06:50 > 0:06:53He was due to go on another trip and he said, "I don't want to go".
0:06:53 > 0:06:56I said, "why on earth don't you want to go?"
0:06:56 > 0:06:57And it came out.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00This is the first time Tony has spoken to anyone about this
0:07:00 > 0:07:01outside his close family.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04I was away on a trip, in a mess hall, with about 20,
0:07:04 > 0:07:0630 kids in it, you know?
0:07:06 > 0:07:09One night, obviously there was a sensation and I woke
0:07:09 > 0:07:14up and there he was.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18I think he was actually crouching down by the bed and then he stood up
0:07:18 > 0:07:19as soon as I woke up and...
0:07:19 > 0:07:23I looked down and I was exposed, you know?
0:07:23 > 0:07:26There's no doubt in my mind that...
0:07:26 > 0:07:28You know?
0:07:28 > 0:07:30He was touching me.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34No doubt in my mind whatsoever.
0:07:34 > 0:07:39You were 15, how did you react?
0:07:39 > 0:07:45Shocked.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49You were wondering all night, you know, what's going to happen,
0:07:49 > 0:07:52is he going to come back, what do you do?
0:07:52 > 0:07:55Where do you go?
0:07:55 > 0:07:58And then the next morning, I was still thinking,
0:07:58 > 0:08:06has this happened to me?
0:08:06 > 0:08:12The man in question was Allan Waters, then aged 33.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15In his day job he was working with children at the local
0:08:15 > 0:08:18education authority.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20In his downtime he was the commanding officer
0:08:20 > 0:08:26of the Cheshunt Sea Cadets unit.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29My dad was really angry, he wanted to sort of, kill him.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31My husband was absolutely distraught.
0:08:31 > 0:08:36He went out in the car and look for where Waters lived and thank
0:08:36 > 0:08:39God he didn't find him, because if he had, I think we would
0:08:39 > 0:08:47have ended up being in trouble.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49Carole and her husband approached a senior member
0:08:49 > 0:08:53of Cheshunt Sea Cadets and told him what had happened to their son Tony.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56He promised action and reported it up the cadet chain of command.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58A few days later, Carole and her husband had a visit
0:08:58 > 0:09:03at the family home.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07These two people come from the head office and they turned up
0:09:07 > 0:09:12in a really big posh car and they had full uniform
0:09:12 > 0:09:16all on and all like, I can remember gold bits
0:09:16 > 0:09:22on the uniform.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24The men who came to the house completely accepted Tony's
0:09:24 > 0:09:29allegations, but said they wanted to deal with the matter internally.
0:09:29 > 0:09:34We was ready to go to the police and they convinced us that we should
0:09:34 > 0:09:39not go to the police.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43They tried to explain to us that if we went to the police,
0:09:43 > 0:09:47that the Sea Cadets could be stopped and therefore, it wouldn't do
0:09:47 > 0:09:50the children in the area any good, because it does keep the children
0:09:50 > 0:09:57off the streets and that.
0:09:57 > 0:10:07So, I was really put in the position of, what do you do?
0:10:08 > 0:10:11It became clear that other parents also had
0:10:11 > 0:10:13concerns about Allan Waters.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16They were all invited by sea Cadet officers to Cheshunt Cadet Base.
0:10:16 > 0:10:25Waters wasn't present at the meeting.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28There was other parents there as well.
0:10:28 > 0:10:36And it came out what he'd done to other boys.
0:10:36 > 0:10:41He made it as if it had being having fun,
0:10:41 > 0:10:49like he'd put things on their willies, string and...
0:10:49 > 0:10:53It was all like silly little sexual things.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57And between us parents that was there, we had to decide
0:10:57 > 0:11:01what we was going to do.
0:11:01 > 0:11:06And it was decided that he would be dismissed from Cheshunt and not work
0:11:06 > 0:11:16with children any more, if we didn't go to the police.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23In return for not pressing the complaint, Tony's parents say
0:11:23 > 0:11:25they were promised Allan Waters would never work
0:11:25 > 0:11:28with children again.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31But panorama has discovered that was a lie.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34The Sea Cadets didn't dismiss him, they didn't even suspend him,
0:11:34 > 0:11:38in fact, they actually promoted him and moved him to another
0:11:38 > 0:11:44division of the cadets.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46But the warnings didn't stop.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49Allan Waters' new job was Assistant District Officer
0:11:49 > 0:11:54in north London, overseeing ten sea cadet units.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57Panorama has discovered this letter from an officer from one of those
0:11:57 > 0:11:59units sent at the time.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02He tries to alert the Sea Cadets to the potential danger Waters poses
0:12:02 > 0:12:11because it is inevitable he will come into
0:12:11 > 0:12:14contact with children.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17The reply from the Royal Navy captain in charge of all
0:12:17 > 0:12:20the Sea Cadets, says the allegations against Waters were thoroughly
0:12:20 > 0:12:22investigated and not proved.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24In the reply, he also says Allan Waters' promotion had been
0:12:24 > 0:12:27approved from the top because "his undoubted talent should
0:12:27 > 0:12:29not be lost to the core."
0:12:29 > 0:12:32It appears that Cadet High Command disregarded Tony's allegation
0:12:32 > 0:12:36and the concerns of other parents and allowed Allan Waters to continue
0:12:36 > 0:12:44having full access to children.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51TRUMPET PLAYS.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54In the late 70s, the Ministry of Defence made this recruitment
0:12:54 > 0:12:56film, promoting the culture of cadet life and how instructors
0:12:56 > 0:13:00could help guide children.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02In many cases, young cadets came from deprived backgrounds.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05Their welfare was entrusted to the care of cadet staff.
0:13:05 > 0:13:13All volunteers with day jobs.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16For difficult or distressed youngsters coming in,
0:13:16 > 0:13:18they can immediately identify and feel secure.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22There is a family setup, if you like.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25They know what's required of them, they know what we want to do.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27I think immediately, you know, they've got this
0:13:27 > 0:13:36feeling of security.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39By the 1980s, Britain's cadet forces where at the heart of many
0:13:39 > 0:13:40communities across the country.
0:13:40 > 0:13:46Glasgow was no exception.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48One of the city's army cadet centres, the Glasgow
0:13:48 > 0:13:51Highlanders Battalion was based on Hotspur Street on the west
0:13:51 > 0:13:56side of the city.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59The commanding officer here was 30-year-old John Fitzpatrick,
0:13:59 > 0:14:04who was very popular with the boys in his care.
0:14:04 > 0:14:10In 1987, Gordon was an instructor at the unit.
0:14:10 > 0:14:14He was told that Fitzpatrick had sexually assaulted a cadet.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17Three young cadets come over to me and said they would
0:14:17 > 0:14:25like to have a wee chat in private.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28They witnessed sexual abuse in one of the cadet rooms
0:14:28 > 0:14:33in an overnight stay.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36Gordon went straight to the police to report the allegations
0:14:36 > 0:14:41about John Fitzpatrick.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43But when he told his senior officer what he'd done,
0:14:43 > 0:14:48the man was furious Gordon had involved the police.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51He went ballistic, he was shouting over the phone, swearing.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53Saying that I shouldn't have done, went to the police.
0:14:53 > 0:15:05I should have phoned him and he would have dealt with it.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07Glasgow Cadets didn't just put pressure on Gordon.
0:15:07 > 0:15:13Panorama has spoken to the parents of the boy abused at the Cadet unit.
0:15:13 > 0:15:18They were also told not to go to the police.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20That's a story we've heard before.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22In Cheshunt, Tony's parents were pressured not to report
0:15:22 > 0:15:28an incident of child abuse.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30And here in Glasgow too, the Cadets apparently didn't want
0:15:30 > 0:15:32the police to investigate criminal activity committed by
0:15:32 > 0:15:40the commanding officer.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42But John Fitzpatrick was suspended after the boy's parents refused
0:15:42 > 0:15:45to be bullied into silence.
0:15:45 > 0:15:46They went to the police.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50And the case went to court.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53Panorama understands the jury came back with a verdict of not proven.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55In Scottish law that means acquittal where there isn't enough evidence
0:15:55 > 0:15:59to prove the allegations.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02John Fitzpatrick went straight back into the unit and took up his role
0:16:02 > 0:16:07as commanding officer once again.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09Strangely it was like a hero's welcome.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13Kind of slapping your back and welcome back, kind of thing.
0:16:13 > 0:16:18And I was shocked at the reception he got.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20Nobody investigated John Fitzpatrick, never came
0:16:20 > 0:16:30in and spoke to the Cadets, never came and spoke to me.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33Another boy, Colin, then joined the Cadet unit in Glasgow.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35Here he is with John Fitzpatrick.
0:16:35 > 0:16:41Or Fitzy as the boys knew him.
0:16:41 > 0:16:42What was he like?
0:16:42 > 0:16:44How was he running the unit?
0:16:44 > 0:16:45He was good.
0:16:45 > 0:16:46He was entertaining, he was fun.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48Did you enjoy it?
0:16:48 > 0:16:51It was, aye, it was to begin with.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54We'd heard that he'd been done with stuff before but at that
0:16:54 > 0:16:56point they were going, oh, that's Fitzy, he's taken him
0:16:56 > 0:16:57in there, he's going to be...
0:16:57 > 0:16:59It was just a joking thing between boys.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01And when did that change?
0:17:01 > 0:17:02For you?
0:17:02 > 0:17:12It changed for me when I seen something happen.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16One night, Colin was sleeping in a van on the roadside
0:17:16 > 0:17:25with John Fitzpatrick and another boy on a Cadet trip.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27And what happened was Fitzpatrick was lying in the middle.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31And myself and another on the other side.
0:17:31 > 0:17:37Lying on the wooden benches in our sleeping bags.
0:17:37 > 0:17:38And what did you see?
0:17:38 > 0:17:42So I just happened to wake up and as I happened to wake
0:17:42 > 0:17:48up they turned round, Fitzpatrick was sitting up
0:17:48 > 0:17:51and I could see the two fingers doing this and masturbating
0:17:51 > 0:17:55the other boy.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57And at that point I turned back round
0:17:57 > 0:18:02and I grabbed my sleeping bag.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05And I used to have a knife that my uncle gave me.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07I called it a Rambo knife, kind of thing.
0:18:07 > 0:18:11So what I done was I took that out of my rucksack,
0:18:11 > 0:18:20took it close to me, and lay there.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22So he must have known that me, being nervous,
0:18:22 > 0:18:28that I had moved anyway.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31So he then lay back down and I just faced into the bench.
0:18:31 > 0:18:32Were you scared?
0:18:32 > 0:18:33I was scared, aye.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37It was that way, you were falling asleep for a wee minute but wakening
0:18:37 > 0:18:42back up the whole night.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46After what he witnessed in that van, Colin did talk to an older Cadet.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48He thought it would be passed up the chain of command
0:18:48 > 0:18:50and action would be taken.
0:18:50 > 0:18:58Instead, he was summoned to see Fitzpatrick.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01That night I got took up into his office, got marched
0:19:01 > 0:19:05straight into his office.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07He asked me whether I was spreading any rumours about him.
0:19:07 > 0:19:13I denied all knowledge.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17And after that did you feel able to tell anybody else or did you just
0:19:17 > 0:19:18stop talking about it?
0:19:18 > 0:19:20I stopped talking about it.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23John Fitzpatrick stayed in charge of the unit and scores of other boys
0:19:23 > 0:19:26were under his care for years.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29The secrets of what happened in Glasgow in the 1980s
0:19:29 > 0:19:39remained untold for decades.
0:19:42 > 0:19:43Joe does house clearances.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47A few years ago he got a call to clear out a flat in a tower block
0:19:47 > 0:19:56on the east side of Glasgow.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00I got a phone call to go to a block of flats over on a side of the city
0:20:00 > 0:20:03that I don't normally go to, I don't normally get many calls.
0:20:03 > 0:20:13But with the internet you can get a call to go anywhere.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17I still, even at this stage, I didn't know where I was going.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21Then as I got out of the car park and I walked in to the block
0:20:21 > 0:20:22of flats, everything hit me.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25It was like the smell of the place, was exactly the same
0:20:25 > 0:20:31as what I could remember it 25 years before.
0:20:31 > 0:20:32Joe was having a flashback.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36He had indeed visited the flats before.
0:20:36 > 0:20:41He too had been a Cadet at Fitzpatrick's unit in the 1980s.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44He realised he'd returned to the block where John Fitzpatrick lived.
0:20:44 > 0:20:53Where he'd been taken several times as a young boy.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55It was like a privilege to be chosen.
0:20:55 > 0:21:01To go to his house.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04He used to take us in the back of an army truck,
0:21:04 > 0:21:05there was no windows.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09So I didn't know where I was going, because it was a different side
0:21:09 > 0:21:12to the city that I didn't recognise, I'd never been to before.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16I'd heard about the nights where you get to play computer games
0:21:16 > 0:21:18and he gets you drunk and you're allowed to drink.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20And it kind of felt kind of grown up.
0:21:20 > 0:21:28But then there was other things that went on that weren't very pleasant.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32Joe was 11 the first time he went to John Fitzpatrick's flat.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34After the boys had been plied with alcohol, Fitzpatrick put
0:21:34 > 0:21:38on videos for them to watch.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40Pornographic material, but I don't mean pornographic
0:21:40 > 0:21:43material like an adult channel.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45I mean real hard-core stuff that I've never seen
0:21:45 > 0:21:47since I was in that guy's company.
0:21:47 > 0:21:52Or that guy's house.
0:21:52 > 0:21:57Images that have stuck with me in my mind to this day.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00If anybody put images like that in front of my kids,
0:22:00 > 0:22:01I'd want to kill them.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03After the videos ended, the boys would sleep
0:22:03 > 0:22:08on sofas in the living room of John Fitzpatrick's flat.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10He would sleep in the same room as us.
0:22:10 > 0:22:11On the floor.
0:22:11 > 0:22:20And as I would wake up, he would move away from us.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23But the more confident he got, you could tell he was getting more
0:22:23 > 0:22:25confident and he would kind of stay there.
0:22:25 > 0:22:32Even though he knew you were kind of awake.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35Each of the four times that I woke up in the middle of the night
0:22:35 > 0:22:37with my trousers down round my ankles, my
0:22:37 > 0:22:38pants around my ankles.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42And him over me, touching my privates.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45Joe didn't speak about the abuse for 25 years.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48It was only that chance visit to the block where Fitzpatrick lived
0:22:48 > 0:22:56that made him go to the police, just a few years ago.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58Last year, a rather different looking John Fitzpatrick was charged
0:22:58 > 0:23:01with lewd and libidinous behaviour against Joe and three other boys.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04And this time the case against him was proven.
0:23:04 > 0:23:12He was sentenced to two years in prison.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15It was the biggest, best relief in the world,
0:23:15 > 0:23:18when the guy in the jury stood up and went, guilty on all counts.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21Guilty, guilty, guilty.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23And she said, take him down.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27And I was cheering.
0:23:27 > 0:23:32It was a big, big weight off my shoulders.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35It's the MOD's responsibility to make sure that their
0:23:35 > 0:23:39kids are protected.
0:23:39 > 0:23:46And it's the right kind of people they've got in those positions.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50He worked, I don't know, say a decade in there.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53They must have hundreds of kids that went through at the same age,
0:23:53 > 0:23:5411 to 13, 12 to 14.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57There must be so many more that could be out there that
0:23:57 > 0:24:00he's sexually abused.
0:24:00 > 0:24:07The abuse Joe suffered has had a significant impact on his life.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09You'd forget it for years, weeks, months, and then it
0:24:09 > 0:24:12would hit you, bang.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15And I tended to drink to block it out, to not feel anything any more.
0:24:15 > 0:24:20Didn't want to think about it.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23In 2001 the Ministry of Defence's own police force did investigate
0:24:23 > 0:24:25historic abuse at Glasgow's and Lanarkshire's Cadet units.
0:24:25 > 0:24:31It resulted in the two former instructors being jailed.
0:24:31 > 0:24:41But John Fitzpatrick's unit wasn't part of the investigation.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44OK, fellas, you're on your own from now on.
0:24:44 > 0:24:52This is where I leave you.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55Joe is travelling to London for a meeting with lawyers David
0:24:55 > 0:24:57and Rebecca to discuss whether he has a financial claim
0:24:57 > 0:25:07against the Ministry of Defence.
0:25:08 > 0:25:10It's a simple choice.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12What do you value more, the reputation of the organisation,
0:25:12 > 0:25:14or the welfare of vulnerable children in your care?
0:25:14 > 0:25:16And clearly in these instances they made
0:25:16 > 0:25:21a terrible, terrible choice.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24I mean, there's absolutely no excuse for that to ever take place.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26And that's the thing that allows abuse to continue for years
0:25:26 > 0:25:34and years and years.
0:25:34 > 0:25:44I found out that there's people could have stopped it.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47That worked in the MoD, that knew that he'd been
0:25:47 > 0:25:48accused of this before.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50That this had went to court before.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53Yet they let him back in and then he's done that to me.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56I don't know how different my life would have been.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58I'm finding that hard to come to terms with right now.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01He should never have been let anywhere near that group.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03And you should not have come into contact with him.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05And if they had acted properly and stopped him
0:26:05 > 0:26:07from rejoining the group, then none of this
0:26:07 > 0:26:08would have happened.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11And because of that, they are negligent and they are
0:26:11 > 0:26:11responsible for what happened.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15To date, the Ministry of Defence has paid out more than ?2 million
0:26:15 > 0:26:16to victims of Cadet abuse.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18And that's likely not the end of it.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20Across the country, we've talked to new survivors
0:26:20 > 0:26:22who have never before spoken about their experiences.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24And we've found repeatedly that senior figures within the Cadet
0:26:24 > 0:26:29forces tried to cover up the abuse suffered by children in their care.
0:26:29 > 0:26:34Right, keep in your ranks...
0:26:34 > 0:26:36Was there anything about the Cadet force that made child
0:26:36 > 0:26:38abuse more possible?
0:26:38 > 0:26:41The children who joined the Cadets were trained to follow orders.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43To obey authority figures.
0:26:43 > 0:26:53Was that exploited by abusers?
0:26:58 > 0:27:03Martin was an Army Cadet at Tennal Grange in South Birmingham.
0:27:03 > 0:27:12His commanding officer was Brian Leonard.
0:27:12 > 0:27:18The atmosphere was one of a military establishment.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21You learned very quickly to obey orders.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24You learned very quickly to do as you were told.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28And not to question.
0:27:28 > 0:27:34There was a culture of abuse from the offset.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38What do you mean by that?
0:27:38 > 0:27:40Well, part of the induction, part of the training
0:27:40 > 0:27:42as an army cadet was...
0:27:42 > 0:27:46I remember we were stood in a big circle and you literally had
0:27:46 > 0:27:49to punch your mate to your left as hard as you can in the face.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53That was part of your induction training.
0:27:53 > 0:27:54Probably not the official induction training,
0:27:54 > 0:27:57but that was what I remember, all standing in a circle
0:27:57 > 0:28:00and punching each other in the face and trying not to cry.
0:28:00 > 0:28:06And that was part of the induction.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08Was anyone aware what was happening to you?
0:28:08 > 0:28:10Well, this is the thing.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13It was so blatantly obvious, it was almost as if it was
0:28:13 > 0:28:21hidden in full sight.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25I was systematically abused and raped repeatedly over many years.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29And you're trained to respect the elders and respect the officers
0:28:29 > 0:28:38and do as they tell you.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42And that does include having to lie on the floor on a dirty...
0:28:42 > 0:28:45On a dirty blanket.
0:28:45 > 0:28:51On a dirty blanket, and just lie there and take it.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53You just follow the orders, just do as you're told.
0:28:53 > 0:28:54Do as you're told.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57Lie on the floor and take it like a boy.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00Otherwise, you know, you're not made strong stuff
0:29:00 > 0:29:02if you don't lie there and take it.
0:29:02 > 0:29:12Just take it like a man.
0:29:14 > 0:29:15But Martin wasn't alone.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18We have spoken to ten former cadets who were abused
0:29:18 > 0:29:22by Brian Leonard in the 1980s.
0:29:22 > 0:29:24For years they all believed that nobody had ever spoken out
0:29:24 > 0:29:27about what had happened at Tennal Grange.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30They were wrong.
0:29:30 > 0:29:35Someone had tried to blow the whistle, and it was covered up.
0:29:35 > 0:29:38In 1987 one of Brian Leonard's victims told his girlfriend
0:29:38 > 0:29:45what had happened to him when he was at the Army Cadets.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48It had ruined his life.
0:29:48 > 0:29:55She has never spoken about it before.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58I was asking him all the time, you know, what's wrong?
0:29:58 > 0:29:59What's wrong?
0:29:59 > 0:30:04I could see he wasn't his normal self.
0:30:04 > 0:30:06And he just said, I've got something to tell
0:30:06 > 0:30:08you that no one knows, and I don't want
0:30:08 > 0:30:12you to tell anybody.
0:30:12 > 0:30:19And he told me that he'd been abused at the cadets.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22When he used to go away on camps, you know, this Leonard had
0:30:22 > 0:30:29done things to him.
0:30:29 > 0:30:35Sarah went to Tennal Grange to find Brian Leonard.
0:30:35 > 0:30:44She wanted to confront him about what he'd done to her boyfriend.
0:30:44 > 0:30:48And I just basically attacked him.
0:30:48 > 0:30:52I said, "you've been abusing my boyfriend."
0:30:52 > 0:30:57And he said, "don't be stupid, he's a liar".
0:30:57 > 0:31:02He said a few things to me, pushed me towards this table and chairs.
0:31:02 > 0:31:07I picked up this chair and I remember, I was going
0:31:07 > 0:31:17to launch it at him and then this other Sergeant came
0:31:17 > 0:31:20in and saw me and said, "what the hell's going on in here?"
0:31:20 > 0:31:23And I told him and he said "no, we'll talk to you,
0:31:23 > 0:31:25we'll take a statement."
0:31:25 > 0:31:27Sarah's statements set out how Leonard had
0:31:27 > 0:31:28abused her boyfriend.
0:31:28 > 0:31:30She also planned to go to the police.
0:31:30 > 0:31:38But like in Cheshunt and Glasgow, she was told not to.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41Leonard said if I went to the police it would be me more in
0:31:41 > 0:31:44trouble than him because they've got proof I attacked him and caused
0:31:44 > 0:31:49damage at the cadet centre.
0:31:49 > 0:31:55She says the sergeant who witnessed the
0:31:55 > 0:31:57altercation promised he would pass her statement on to superiors.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59If he'd done so, you might expect an investigation,
0:31:59 > 0:32:02but neither Sarah nor her boyfriend were ever contacted
0:32:02 > 0:32:07about the abuse by Brian Leonard.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09I should have investigated it.
0:32:09 > 0:32:14It shouldn't have been just pushed under.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18I am totally angry, I feel sick.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22I'm haunted by it, that they allowed it for so many years.
0:32:22 > 0:32:24They're responsible for everything.
0:32:24 > 0:32:26They should have been protecting me and
0:32:26 > 0:32:36my boyfriend, but they didn't.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44The Army Cadet Force had the chance to stop
0:32:44 > 0:32:49Brian Leonard, but they failed.
0:32:49 > 0:32:53At least one of the people we've spoken to was abused after Sarah had
0:32:53 > 0:32:54attempted to raise the alarm.
0:32:54 > 0:32:56This is a pattern we found repeatedly
0:32:56 > 0:32:58during our investigation, of cadet officers failing to help victims
0:32:58 > 0:33:08when faced with allegations against one of their own.
0:33:11 > 0:33:13The Birmingham case was one of the first taken on
0:33:13 > 0:33:16by lawyers David and Rebecca.
0:33:16 > 0:33:21It's also one of the biggest and most complex.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24What became clear, was that Brian Leonard was not the only
0:33:24 > 0:33:28abuser at Tennal Grange.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31When we first took on the Birmingham case, it quickly
0:33:31 > 0:33:34became apparent that the problem the MoD were facing with regards to
0:33:34 > 0:33:37abuse in the cadets was potentially huge.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40We started off with one client and then grew up to eight or nine
0:33:40 > 0:33:47clients and this is a case involving more than one abuser who is
0:33:47 > 0:33:53committing child sexual offences over decades.
0:33:53 > 0:33:55Peter Cooper was an adult intructor in Birmingham,
0:33:55 > 0:34:02often working at the same cadet unit as Brian Leonard.
0:34:02 > 0:34:07Robert had joined the cadets at the age of 12.
0:34:07 > 0:34:09This is where they used to bring us on a regular basis
0:34:09 > 0:34:16in their vehicles and abuse us.
0:34:16 > 0:34:26Soon after he joined he was propositioned by Peter Cooper.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33I remember one of the times, we had a small kitchen area
0:34:33 > 0:34:35where you would make coffee and stuff for break time
0:34:35 > 0:34:37and I was working in there and Peter Cooper came
0:34:37 > 0:34:41in and he said to me, he said "I'm going
0:34:41 > 0:34:50to have something off
0:34:50 > 0:34:52you by the time you're 16."
0:34:52 > 0:34:53Did you know what he meant?
0:34:53 > 0:34:57No, not at that time I didn't, but I think it became pretty clear
0:34:57 > 0:34:59within a very short space of time what he did mean.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03One incident of many sticks in his mind.
0:35:03 > 0:35:11The day Cooper insisted the young cadet come to his house to pick up
0:35:11 > 0:35:12some equipment for a trip.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15He started to touch me.
0:35:15 > 0:35:23Then he took me into his kitchen and raped me in his kitchen.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26I remember looking out of the kitchen window and there were
0:35:26 > 0:35:34fields behind his house.
0:35:34 > 0:35:37I was just looking at the fence in his garden,
0:35:37 > 0:35:40just transfixed on points to hope it would finish quickly.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43Just a feeling of, you've got no power to fight it,
0:35:43 > 0:35:53you are a child and there's nothing you can do about it.
0:35:53 > 0:36:01Robert left the cadets and didn't tell anyone about the abuse.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03When he was 21, he began a successful career
0:36:03 > 0:36:08as a police officer.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10One day, he was at work at Steelhouse Lane police
0:36:10 > 0:36:15station in Birmingham.
0:36:15 > 0:36:20I was asked to help make an arrest and told to go to one of the rooms
0:36:20 > 0:36:23at the police station to wait for these other officers to turn up.
0:36:23 > 0:36:30I was just stuck there and in walked Peter Cooper.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33His abuser Peter Cooper was also a police officer and had served
0:36:33 > 0:36:35with West Midlands Police for 32 years throughout his
0:36:35 > 0:36:37time at the cadets.
0:36:37 > 0:36:41He stuck his hand out and pretended I was his friend.
0:36:41 > 0:36:45I shook his hand and that scared me, because I was an adult at that stage
0:36:45 > 0:36:48and I suddenly realised that even though this abuse was never
0:36:48 > 0:36:51going to happen to me again by these people,
0:36:51 > 0:36:56this individual still had a huge amount of control over me.
0:36:56 > 0:36:58And what was more worrying, we was investigating
0:36:58 > 0:37:04people who were committing offences against children.
0:37:04 > 0:37:08Peter Cooper was an officer in child protection for four years.
0:37:08 > 0:37:13For Robert, discovering his abuser's job was to protect children
0:37:13 > 0:37:17was a catalyst, he knew he had to act.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20I just broke down one day, walked out of the office
0:37:20 > 0:37:23and at that point for me, it was a case of I was either
0:37:23 > 0:37:26going to end my life, I was at a huge junction
0:37:26 > 0:37:29where it was end your life or report it.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33And it was as simple as that.
0:37:33 > 0:37:37Robert's decision led to Cooper's dismissal from the police force.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40He went on trial for buggery and indecent assault and
0:37:40 > 0:37:45went to prison.
0:37:45 > 0:37:47Throughout the trial, Peter Cooper maintained his
0:37:47 > 0:37:49innocence and does to this day.
0:37:49 > 0:37:55BAGPIPES PLAY.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59You see a cadet coming in who seems like any other boy and within a few
0:37:59 > 0:38:01months he seems to have developed a great deal.
0:38:01 > 0:38:06He knows exactly where he is placed.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10He says, right, here I am, I'm a recruit.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13Now, if I do so and so and so and so...
0:38:13 > 0:38:16I think that the uncovering of this scandal around cadets
0:38:16 > 0:38:19is going to be massive.
0:38:19 > 0:38:22I'm glad the spotlight is now being shone on that
0:38:22 > 0:38:29particular murky world.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33Oh God, our Father who has brought us together...
0:38:33 > 0:38:35Peter Saunders, founder of the National Association
0:38:35 > 0:38:37of People Abused in Childhood, was himself abused
0:38:37 > 0:38:43by priests as a boy.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47He is a leading advocate for survivors of child abuse.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50At NAPAC, we are aware of multiple cover-ups with many institutions
0:38:50 > 0:38:52going back many decades.
0:38:52 > 0:38:58They're all extremely serious.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00Any cover-ups of this nature are extremely serious and
0:39:00 > 0:39:05need to be dealt with and certainly need to not be repeated.
0:39:05 > 0:39:09And I think the cover-ups that are being exposed
0:39:09 > 0:39:13here are as serious as anything we've heard of in the 20 years that
0:39:13 > 0:39:20NAPAC has been running.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23Three of the abusers in this film have served time in prison.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26Chris Day from Woodford Cadets.
0:39:26 > 0:39:31John Fitzpatrick from Glasgow Highlanders.
0:39:31 > 0:39:33And Peter Cooper from Birmingham.
0:39:33 > 0:39:38All are now free.
0:39:38 > 0:39:42Brian Leonard died in 1996, having never faced justice.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46As for Allan Waters, even after he had abused Tony
0:39:46 > 0:39:50in Cheshunt and his parents had been promised Waters would never have
0:39:50 > 0:39:52contact with children again, he rose through the ranks
0:39:52 > 0:39:57of the Sea Cadets for a further 23 years.
0:39:57 > 0:40:02But in 2006, he was finally brought to justice.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05He was arrested and put on trial in India for abusing and raping boys
0:40:05 > 0:40:08at an orphanage in Mumbai.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12It was run by his naval friend Duncan Grant.
0:40:12 > 0:40:16The courts found them both guilty, but two years later
0:40:16 > 0:40:21they weren't an appeal.
0:40:21 > 0:40:23Waters gave an interview to the BBC, protesting his innocence.
0:40:23 > 0:40:25They are terrible crimes to be convicted of.
0:40:25 > 0:40:29I mean, I've been working on and off with people for years, years,
0:40:29 > 0:40:32years and years and years.
0:40:32 > 0:40:38You know, no problems at all.
0:40:43 > 0:40:46But sometime after that interview, the pair were sent back to prison
0:40:46 > 0:40:48by a higher Indian court.
0:40:48 > 0:40:50To protect the innocent and punish those who abuse them.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53That was the message from the Supreme Court as it
0:40:53 > 0:40:55overturned the Bombay High Court's acquittal of two men
0:40:55 > 0:40:58accused of paedophilia.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00Duncan Grant and Allan Waters, accused of
0:41:00 > 0:41:03one of the biggest child sex abuse rackets in the country will now be
0:41:03 > 0:41:06sent to prison for six years.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08Vindication for street children who managed
0:41:08 > 0:41:13to speak up against them.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16But could those street children have been protected if the Sea Cadets had
0:41:16 > 0:41:22acted differently faced with Tony's allegations 25 years before.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25Made us feel terrible because we thought if we perhaps had
0:41:25 > 0:41:30gone to the police we could have said that happening.
0:41:30 > 0:41:31I don't know.
0:41:31 > 0:41:32Do you feel guilty?
0:41:32 > 0:41:35I feel guilty about that, yes.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38Waters returned to the UK in 2012 and was made to sign
0:41:38 > 0:41:41the sex offenders register.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44In March this year, he still held a title in a naval
0:41:44 > 0:41:46veteran's organisation - Honourary Secretary
0:41:46 > 0:41:49of HMS President, Retired Officers Association.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52In response to the Allan Waters case, a spokesperson
0:41:52 > 0:41:55for the Sea Cadets said:
0:42:22 > 0:42:24For decades, the cadet forces in the United Kingdom have welcomed
0:42:24 > 0:42:28hundreds and thousands of children into their ranks.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31But throughout the 1970s and 80s, a significant number
0:42:31 > 0:42:33of those children suffered from a culture of silence.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36A culture, which, rather than tackle the abuse
0:42:36 > 0:42:39going on, tried to cover it up.
0:42:39 > 0:42:41It was a serious institutional failure.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45The Ministry of Defence told Panorama:
0:43:11 > 0:43:13For Martin, the abuse he suffered from age 12 completely changed
0:43:13 > 0:43:18the course of his life.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21I will never really know who I should be,
0:43:21 > 0:43:24or who I should've been.
0:43:24 > 0:43:27I got above average on the UKLF, United Kingdom Land Force's
0:43:27 > 0:43:29Cadet Leadership Course, I was selected to join
0:43:29 > 0:43:30the Royal Marines.
0:43:30 > 0:43:34I was told I should go to Sandhurst and get a commission in the regular
0:43:34 > 0:43:43army and I WOULD get a commission in the regular army.
0:43:43 > 0:43:49I'll never get those years back and those opportunities back
0:43:49 > 0:43:58because they were wiped off, they were wiped out.
0:43:58 > 0:44:05It's hard to know the extent of sexual abuse within
0:44:05 > 0:44:06Britain's Cadet forces.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09Panorama has obtained previously unpublished figures
0:44:09 > 0:44:12from the Ministry of Defence, which show that in the last five
0:44:12 > 0:44:16years, they've been made aware of 363 sexual abuse allegations.
0:44:16 > 0:44:2099 instructors have been dismissed.
0:44:20 > 0:44:28The men who have spoken out about what happened to them have
0:44:28 > 0:44:31broken the wall of silence that surrounded the terrible events that
0:44:31 > 0:44:35took place in the past.
0:44:35 > 0:44:45What we don't know, is how many more are out there.
0:45:21 > 0:45:28MUSIC: Hoppipolla by Sigur Ros
0:45:29 > 0:45:30CRICKET RASPS