Golcar man tells of abuse at William Henry Smith School

May 14 2010 by Sam Casey, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A SEX abuse victim has spoken for the first time of his ordeal at the hands of a sordid school master.

The 54-year-old recalled how depraved Peter Beall would summon him into his office, make him put on silk shorts, subject him to beatings and then fondle him.

Beall – who was headmaster at William Henry Smith School in Rastrick in the 1960s, 70s and 80s – is thought to have died several years ago.

But, as reported last month, a bid has been launched by former pupils to sue the school governors and the trustees of the Smith Foundation – the charity behind it.

The man, from Golcar, decided to speak out after reading about the case in the Examiner.

He said: “I have never mentioned it to anyone before, but when I saw that and I thought it was about time somebody was speaking out.

“Something needs to be done.”

William Henry Smith School, on Boothroyd Lane, is a boarding school for boys with social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was a pupil there from the age of 12 to 16, between 1968 and 1972.

He said he would have left at 15, but was put under pressure by Beall to stay on for another year.

He remembers being sent to the headmaster’s office for trivial misdemeanours throughout his time there.

“You would get sent to see him for anything, it didn’t even have to be that bad,” he said.

“I used to dread going to his office – I would be physically sick.

“He would put these silky shorts on you, give you the cane and then put you on his lap.

“Then he would molest you. He took great delight in it.