Clive Peter Niblett, 73, was convicted at Guildford Crown Court on Friday (January 17), after being found guilty of 13 charges including two counts of indecency with a child, nine counts of indecent assault, one count of sexual activity with a child and one of attempted sexual activity.
One victim of non-recent sexual abuse told the court: “I stand before you, a 58-year-old man whose life was irrevocably altered in childhood. The innocence of my youth was not lost; it was stolen, stolen by a man who wielded his authority as a weapon against the most vulnerable.”
Niblett committed the offences, involving five victims aged 10 to 15 years old at the time, while he was working at Palmerston House children’s home in Romsey, Hampshire, in the mid-1970s, and as the live-in manager at the Burbank Children’s School in Woking in the late 1970s.
The offences came to light after he pleaded guilty in 2016 to sexual offences against a young boy while he was working at Burbank and a second young boy while he was working at Palmerston House.
He was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment for six offences of indecent assault on a male under the age of 14, sexual contact and attempted sexual contact, which took place between April 29, 1975 and April 30, 1976.
Compensation claims made by the two victims led to further victims coming forward, and an investigation was carried out into allegations made by five of these victims when they were at Burbank and Palmerston House between 1975 and 1983.
One of the victims was between nine and 10 years old when he was targeted by Niblett, with the other victims aged between 13 and 15 years old. He would ply them with gifts, including drinks, sweets and cigarettes, before sexually abusing them.
In his victim impact statement, one of the victims explained how he had “carried the trauma of that harrowing night” for more than 40 years.
He said: “The nightmares, the sleepless nights - each a vivid reliving of the abuse - have been a torturous reminder of the horrors I endured.
“The defendant, whose heart harbours no remorse, continues to haunt my days and nights. I could never explain the impact of 40 years of my pain, anger and hurt for everyone to understand but that is the true reality of my feelings impacted by his actions.”
Acting Detective Inspector Ross Linaker from Surrey Police’s Complex Abuse Unit, which investigated the case, said: “Niblett targeted young boys, grooming them by giving them gifts and preying on their vulnerabilities by making them feel they had no choice but to comply with the things he inflicted upon them.
“His offending has deeply affected them all and I hope that the fact he has finally been brought to justice will bring them some peace.
“We would urge anyone who believes they have been the victim of sexual abuse, no matter how long ago it happened, to come forward and report it. You will be listened to, and you will be supported.”
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