Caldey Island in Wales dubbed UK's 'paedo island' as horrifying report reveals monks raped or abused over 50 children
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The tranquil island in Wales has been nicknamed 'paedophile island' following decades of sickening abuse. Caldey Island is owned by the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, monks who made the island their home after it was sold to the Order in 1925.
A report commissioned by Caldey Abbey and released on Tuesday (10 December) revealed how, between 1960 and 1992, at least 54 children were abused by both monks and laymen. Some of the perpetrators had criminal records and were living on the island under fake names.
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Hide AdIt is understood that most of the victims were visiting Caldey Island on family holidays or trips organised by youth groups and schools. A total of 16 survivors have provided testimonies to those compiling the damning 73-page report.
Kevin O’Connell is one of more than a dozen people who was abused by a late monk on Caldey Island. He launched the Caldey Island Survivors Campaign five years ago to get the abuse suffered on the island recognised.


Most of the report focuses on Father Thaddeus Kotik who abused several children from the late 1960s. He evaded justice up until 1992 when he died.
Kotik claimed to have fought with the Polish Free Army in the Second World War before moving to the island in 1947. Former assistant police and crime commissioner Jan Pickles OBE, who compiled the report, concluded that this backstory was in fact a hoax.
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Hide AdKotik was actually an 'Eastern worker' in a German camp in 1944. Pickles concluded Kotik fabricated his military credentials to gain British citizenship, which he obtained in 1959. Serial sex offender Kotik used "complex strategies" to facilitate his abuse, the report said.
He kept pets to attract the interest of young children and even won the trust of parents before offering to babysit. The report concluded he was able to groom children in "plain sight". One witness said: “He was more a Michael Jackson type than Jimmy Savile."
Mr O’Connell was one of the children abused by Kotik. He initially visited the island when he was six years old in 1969 and his family befriended a monk named “TK” (Thaddeus Kotik).


He returned three years later after having become an altar boy, which is when he said he was first abused by Kotik, telling Ms Pickles he was treated like “easy prey”. On that and subsequent visits to the island, Mr O’Connell said he would be separated from the other children by Kotik, who gave him sweets and took him to “old ruins” where he would kiss and touch him.
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Hide AdHe told the inquiry: “I cannot remember the day, but it seemed soon time for me to go home. TK took me again to the ruins, (to) this day I can’t remember much what happened, but it scared me badly and affected me all my life.
“When TK took me back to the group, I was crying but no one seemed to care or ask me anything, they just chatted to TK. I cried in bed all that night, again no one came to see me.”
Several disturbing incidents occurred in recent times too. For example, Paul Ashton from West Sussex, went on the run in 2004 after being charged with possessing indecent images of children. Police tracked him to Caldey Island in 2011 after a resident recognised Ashton from a Crimestoppers 'Most Wanted' list.
He was living under the name Robert Judd and was involved in the running of the Abbey and its Order. Shockingly, it later emerged he had used the Abbey's IT systems to download more indecent images of children.
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Hide AdThe latest report was commissioned by Father Jan Rossey, the newly-appointed Abbot. He said: "I give my sincere apologies. I’m very sorry for all the suffering but also afterwards, for [victims] not being listened to. It’s heart-breaking to read those stories."
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