Unmasked: Britain's 'most prolific sex offender' whose abuse of boys was 'ignored and dismissed' for nearly 30 years

Neville Husband, described “as possibly the most prolific sex offender in British history”, was allowed to groom and rape hundreds of trainees in Medomsley’s kitchens over the course of nearly 30 years.

Husband’s reign of terror, which took place in County Durham between 1961 and 1987, was exposed by a damming 202-page report by Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Adrian Usher, which found that the male inmates, aged 17-21, who had been convicted of relatively minor crimes, were physically abused from the moment they arrived.

Victims were attacked while bathing, during their strip searches and physical education, and while working.

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Staff felt it was acceptable to carry out this torture, believing it was their job to make the inmates' experience unpleasant and deter them from re-offending.

The scale of the abuse meant the centre's leaders were aware of it and therefore “complicit”, or “they lacked dedication and professional curiosity to such an extent as to not be professionally competent”, the ombudsman said.

More than 2,000 young men and boys claim to have been abused at the once-Victorian orphanage.

Husband’s sick crimes were covered up to the extent that he was given the Imperial Service Medal for his time in the prison service and eventually became a church minister.

Mr Usher’s report: "The illegitimate power imbalance that existed between Husband and the trainees and other staff further flourished within a culture of collusion and silence from other employees.

"Husband used this power with devastating effect."

The inquiry, which spoke to 79 victims and witnesses, found trainees were targeted for being perceived as gay or weak.

Inmates who failed to address staff as “Sir” would be punched.

If they were ill, painkillers could be taped to their forehead and they would be told to run around until the pill had dissolved.

Mr Usher found that oversight of the centre by external bodies was poor and if family members made complaints about their loved ones’ treatment, nothing happened.

He said the victims have yet to receive an official apology.

Addressing them, he said: “The effects of the trauma they suffered effectively became a life sentence… with devastating consequences.

“However, it is my fervent hope that, for many victims, what this report represents is a victory for your tenacity, determination and courage.

“You may have had to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles over the last 40 years and more but, in the end, you were heard, and you were believed.”

Powerfully-built Husband, who died in 2010, was finally convicted of sexual assault and was jailed in 2003 and again in 2005.

More than 2,000 former inmates came forward to give their testimony to Operation Seabrook, a police investigation which led to five retired officers being convicted of abuse in 2019.