Child abuse survivor asks why social workers missed his suffering

Convicted child abusers, husband and wife Andrew and Sandra Harper. Image: DC Thomson

A child abuse survivor is urging Aberdeenshire Council to come clean on how it failed to notice the torment he and other children were suffering in their abusive foster parents’ home.

Husband and wife Andrew and Sandra Harper, both 63, were convicted at Peterhead Sheriff Court for crimes spanning more than two decades but they both avoided jail.

A jury found the couple, of Westhaven Crescent in Cairnbulg, guilty of 11 charges altogether – including seven of assault – spanning October 1985 to December 2009.

Sheriff Ian Wallace – who called Sandra Harper “nasty, verbally abusive, cruel, vindictive, violent” – said her accusers had been “vindicated” by the jury’s resounding verdicts.

Now, one of those five victims – aged 41 – is demanding an “explanation” from the local authority whose social workers, he claims, “didn’t do their jobs”.

‘I need accountability’

He told The Press and Journal: “If any social worker had bothered to spend any time with me on a one-to-one basis for a short length of time I would have begun to tell my story.

“We didn’t always understand that what was being done to us was illegal. We knew it was horrible and scary but we were too frightened to talk about it in front of the foster carers.

“Social workers always saw us in front of the Harpers. Had they bothered to develop a relationship with us, this would have stopped much earlier. They didn’t do their jobs.

“I need accountability from the council and I hope the outcome of the court case gives a sharp shock to current social workers to make them do their jobs properly.

“I want them to check, double-check, and check again the quality of care that current kids in care are receiving,” he said.

Multi-agency review

Aberdeenshire Council – which is now facing a separate civil legal action – has committed to “undertake a multi-agency review of the circumstances leading to this case”.

A spokeswoman explained it’s “to ensure learning is embedded in practice and improves outcomes for care experienced young people”.

She added: “We do, however, continually review our practice policy and procedures to ensure children and young people cared for by the local authority are looked after by carers who meet stringent vetting and assessment processes.

“Children’s advocacy is in place to ensure that children and young people who are looked after have every opportunity to speak to an independent person out with the care setting about their experiences and social workers are also required to ensure young people are visited out with the foster family home to ensure they have the opportunity to talk openly.”

Authorities missed opportunities to step in

During the child abuse trial, it emerged that concerns about the Harpers had been raised with the authorities.

One witness, 57-year-old Margaret Buchan – the Harpers’ neighbour – gave evidence, telling the court how “awful” Sandra’s “cussing and swearing” at the children was.

She added it happened “most of the time” and that she had told Sandra “that it wasn’t nice” but “Sandra wouldn’t respond”.

The witness then said: “Once I went to the social department,” explaining it was in the 1990s to report “Sandra’s behaviour” towards the children and “how they were dressed”.

She also told jurors: “I phoned social work on at least two occasions to express concern.”

‘Alarm bells should have been ringing’

The victim who has chosen to speak out, but asked to remain anonymous, said: “There were concerns from neighbours and family put to social work.

“Alarm bells should have been ringing.”

Sandra Harper routinely called him a “spastic” and a “poof” because he was learning disabled as a child and had no girlfriends in his teenage years.

She would also call the children in her care “little b******s, little pigs, little tinks” and, along with her husband Andrew, strike them.

Sandra’s cruelest deeds included rubbing one boy’s face in his urine-soaked bedding, grabbing a girl by the hair and dragging her as well as forcing her to eat food she had spat out and vomited and pouring liquid soap into her mouth.

The victim who has spoken out is now a father-of-two and engaged to his partner.

“Seeing my own children growing up is beautiful but it can also be triggering,” he explained.

“My children learning to tie their shoelaces was a fantastic moment but it brings back memories of how I was treated when I couldn’t. I was dragged across a room and called a spastic.”

Uphill battle for victim to get his day in court

He wrote to Aberdeenshire Council in 2009 to report his experiences in the Harpers’ care.

“They didn’t recognise the harm that we all suffered at the hands of their foster carers. Aberdeenshire Council had at least 14 years since 2009 to reach out to me and others,” he said.

In 2010, Police Scotland approached the victim as they investigated an unrelated matter but took no action in response to his claims about the abuse that he had suffered.

Then in 2017, he gave evidence to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, which sparked a criminal investigation by police who approached him for a statement in 2018.

The case finally came to court five years later.

No jail for child abusers

Sandra Harper fostered 35 children over 23 years but despite their troubling crimes against children, they both avoided jail.

A community payback order was imposed on both of them, requiring Sandra to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work while Andrew was handed 180 hours of unpaid work.

Sandra will also effectively be under house arrest every day between 4pm and 4am over the next 12 months.

The pair will also be monitored by criminal justice social work supervisors.

Speaking after they were sentenced, the victim said their prosecution “was worth it”.

He added: “We had to get the truth out there. We had to shine a light on these social work failures and how horrible these people were.

“Now, I strongly appeal to the council to contact us and set up a comprehensive no-stones unturned inquiry into what went wrong, find out the truth and hold people to account.

‘I’ve not been sleeping well. I’ve lost weight. Life has just stopped’

“The Harpers have profited from child cruelty – being paid to do a job that they didn’t do.

“That money should be reclaimed and given to children’s charities or kids who’ve been left really damaged by their behaviour.”

He said that although the trial’s verdict was an “empowering” moment, the horrific ordeal he endured “still lives with me day in and day out”.

The man added: “I’ve not been sleeping very well. I’ve lost weight. Life has just stopped.

“But I’m extremely grateful for what the jury did. They listened to the truth – harrowing stories – and also heard vile lies.

“They saw through the lies and that they were brave and confident enough to deliver very clear verdicts. I’ll be forever grateful to everyone on that jury.”