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SCUNTHORPE TELEGRAPH Thursday, July 3, 2008

visit our website www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk

by Selina Maycock
selina.maycock@gsmg.co.uk

A WOMAN who suffered at the hands of one of North Lincolnshires most reviled paedophiles is adamant he should never be released from prison.
The victim, who was placed at Scawby Grove childrens home in 1975, broke her silence after the Scunthorpe Telegraph revealed yesterday former care home manager James Bernard Littlewood had been freed. She said she was raped and sexually abused by Michael Brizzalari, who worked alongside Littlewood. She said the abuse she suffered at the hands of Brizzalari had led her to spiral into a world of drugs and depression. Only in 2002, after Brizzalari was jailed for 15 years, did she feel able to start rebuilding the pieces of her life. Her identity has been withheld by the Scunthorpe Telegraph. I was put in Scawby Grove when I was two-years-old because my mum didnt want me, she said. On and off, I was in care all my life. I had some foster parents but social services kept putting me back in Scawby Grove. He (Brizzalari) was a dirty, dirty man. The time I realised what was happening to me was when I was 11-years-old. He raped me more than once. She said Brizzalari had preyed on herself and other children in the care home on a daily basis with them sometimes forced to make an escape from the care homes windows. It happened on a day-to-day basis when he was on duty, she said. Most of us did a runner. We used to run away and sleep on the streets, nick cars and go off somewhere, go anywhere as long as we were not in the kids home. When he was off duty we handed ourselves back in. And she said most of Brizzalaris attacks took place at night-time. We had dorms and we would take it in turns to stay up and see if he was coming. When he came, we all stayed up because he wouldnt do it then, she said. We got used to this and a lot of us got kicked out of school because we werent getting any sleep at home. Wed get reprimanded at school because we had stayed up all night because we didnt want him near us. To escape we used to tie sheets together and attach them to the bottom of the bed to get out of the window. We were too scared to say something. But Brizzalari also preyed on her and other children at the home during the day . She said he used to try and touch the children under the dinner table. On Fridays he used to go around and award incentives and you would sit on his knee to receive it, she said. It was inappropriate but at the time you didnt think he was bad because he came across as such a nice guy you wouldnt think he would do anything like that. She said she was also vulnerable on shopping trips. She said: We went to get our clothing allowance in town and you would go because you didnt think he could do anything but he would tell shop staff that you were from a secure unit and that he needed to make sure you were still in the changing rooms. Eventually she turned to crime in the hope of getting caught and being put into youth custody far away from Brizzalaris clutches. After being sent to a young offenders institute, she feared to return to North Lincolnshire. I decided to stay away, she said. I didnt want to go back to that area. They were the best years of my life (in the young offenders institute) not having to wonder if he was going to pop in on his day off because it was like he couldnt stay away from the place. The victim said she turned to drugs to block out the abuse she suffered. As I got more aggressive that spurred him on a bit which was the biggest mistake I ever made, she said. Hes a sick individual.

I used to think: Who was ever going to believe a child who was troublesome over a care worker?

WHERE IT HAPPENED: Scawby Grove childrens care home where allegations of abuse were made on incidents between 1978 and 1991. I got compensation and Ive got a mental health worker who is trying to undo what he did when I was a kid Im on medication. Men cant get close to me. Ive got beautiful kids but I dont need a man to be around me. She said she had contemplated suicide in the years after she left Scawby Grove. Littlewoods release brings all the memories back, she said. In total, she spent 12 years in prison for various offences including serving a two-year sentence in 2000 for assault. The last time I went in jail was in 2000, and I asked the judge to put me in prison for assault because I wanted to get clean off drugs and I did, she said. About a month after each time I was released from prison I would end up going back in for two years. I couldnt handle the outside world. But she found some closure with the knowledge Brizzalari was behind bars and has finally been able to get her life back together. My mind is settled now he is in prison, she said. I know he asked to go for parole at the end of 2005 but he didnt get it. Im off drugs now and have been clean for the past six years but Im fearful he might serve half his sentence and if he comes anywhere near me, I will do life. She said she was disgusted with the decision to release Littlewood. People do armed robberies and spend longer in prison than paedophiles, she said. Ive done more time in jail than he has, just for fighting and thats not for ruining somebody elses life for the rest of their life. When I was in jail, paedophiles were protected all the time. The criminal justice system needs to put appropriate sentences. What happened to me is the worst criminal act you can do manipulative and very clever. Those people knew what they were doing. They misused their power of authority and it was the only reason they were taking jobs working with kids. I used to think whos going to believe a child who was troublesome over a care worker?
JAILED: Michael Brizzalari was sentenced to 15 years in 2002 for 17 indecent assaults, three rapes and one offence of buggery.

We used to run away and sleep on the streets, nick cars, go anywhere as long as we were not in the kids home

YESTERDAY: How we broke the news of James Bernard Littlewoods release from prison.