Support groups for victims of sexual abuse have criticised a Fife minister after he suggested allegations being made against Jimmy Savile are being done so in pursuit of financial gain.
Kingdom Abuse Survivors Project (KASP) and the Fife Rape and Sexual Assault Centre (FRASAC) have both hit back at claims made by the Rev Dr John Cameron that some of the people claiming to have been abused by the BBC star were doing so in search of financial recompense.
In a letter to The Courier this week, the well-known social reformer from St Andrews also stated his fears that the reaction to the scandal had been exacerbated by the British public, referring to collective ”periodical fits of morality”.
However, rejecting Dr Cameron’s claims, Marnie Collins, manager at KASP, said: ”In all of my work I could count on one hand the number of people looking for monetary compensation. Victims are not looking for money but to have their experience validated.
”There is still a stigma attached to abuse and a lot of people try to block it out. They don’t want to face what has happened to them.”
Dr Cameron said he found ”repellent” the number of people coming forward with allegations with what he claimed was ”the clear intention of being compensated from his (Savile’s) charities”.
However, Mrs Collins said that waiting for an abuser to die is quite common before victims may be willing to come forward.
”There is still a power dynamic,” she said. ”Sometimes it is other things and they wait for a family member to die as they don’t want to affect their own families.”
FRASAC, based in Kirkcaldy, has also spoken out over Dr Cameron’s comments.
”From our experience people do not come forward for money. That is a fallacy,” said support worker Marie McAllister.
Dr Cameron clarified his comments, saying that he continued to have concerns over some of the allegations being made against Savile.
He said: ”I don’t like witch hunts. They turn into mass hysteria and run out of hard evidence. I’m not saying that it didn’t happen but some of the claims are strange. I think it’s gone too far now.”
Former High Court Judge Dame Janet Smith and ex-Sky News executive Nick Pollard are to lead the BBC’s independent review stemming from the Savile abuse scandal.
Dame Janet will lead the examination of the ”culture and practices of the BBC” during the years Savile worked there.
Mr Pollard will look into whether there were any ”failings” in the way a Newsnight report into claims against Savile was handled.