Investigation reveals paedophile teacher may have abused over a 40-year period

A paedophile headteacher may have abused pupils for more than 40 years, with four times as many victims as previously thought.

Neil Foden, one of the country’s most influential “super heads” was jailed for 17- years for sexually abusing four girls in north Wales between 2019 and 2023.

But the BBC Wales Investigates programme will reveal allegations of abuse from as far back as 1979, with one former pupil saying she was messaging him up until the day of his arrest.

The programme hears from three women who say they too were abused by Foden. Speaking publicly for the first time, two former pupils and a former colleague describe being targeted by him.

Groomed

Jo – not her real name – says she was groomed for five years by Foden, including while she was a pupil at Ysgol Friars in Bangor, Gwynedd. She was in care and known to be a vulnerable child. She says Foden sent her hundreds of messages from his personal email account and mobile phone: “It was back and forth every day, in school, out of school, morning, night, any time….he made me feel like I was special.”

“He’d give me hugs and I didn’t always want them so I’d pull back, then he’d pull me in stronger… just without reason, his hands would go under my jumper.

“He often checked my arms and my legs to see if I’d self-harmed.

“If it was on my thighs, I often wore a skirt, so he’d lift the skirt up to have a look at them.”

Jo says she only realised she had been groomed by Foden after details emerged following his arrest at Ysgol Friars in September 2023.

“The police came to me… they said that there were over 20 other people who were in similar situations as myself,” she said.

Abuse

The programme hears from another woman who says she too, was a victim of Foden.

Nia, not her real name, was one of the first pupils Foden taught at Ysgol Dyffryn Ogwen, in Bethesda in 1979. She says Foden would target her when they were both alone in his classroom.

“He’d come to the desk, stand behind me… usually his right arm would be rubbing up against my breast and I felt I couldn’t move,” she said.

“As a 13-year-old, I didn’t realise exactly what was going on. I was petrified of him, I was vulnerable at that age and naïve, and he knew it.”

Nia says she didn’t report Foden at the time because she didn’t think anyone would believe her, but she did speak to police after his arrest in 2023.

“This abuse has been going on for decades… you don’t suddenly wake up in 2019 and decide to become a paedophile,” she said.

Vulnerability

Rose – not her real name – worked with Foden up until his arrest, and says he sexually assaulted her during a 1 to 1 meeting in his office in December 2022.

“He definitely knew how to take advantage of situations where people were vulnerable.”

She says she didn’t tell anyone at the time, but after his arrest, she did make a statement to North Wales Police, which led to him being charged, but the case did not make it to trial.

Foden denied any wrong doing at his trial but was jailed in July for 17 years for sexual crimes against children. Cyngor Gwynedd said an independent Child Practice Review would “identify what lessons are to be learned” to prevent similar cases.  It says “it will leave no stone unturned” to ensure the review has the information it needs.

But Jo and Nia say they have not been contacted by anyone involved in the review.  The Child Practice Review board said they were unaware of the two women until being contacted by the BBC. They said they are “fully aware they may be other victims or survivors” and that they would like to hear from them.

Compensation

Solicitor Kathryn Yates says the authority council could end up with “a bill for millions” in compensation and legal costs over Foden’s crimes.

She is representing a dozen people who say have suffered because of Foden, and is taking legal action against Cyngor Gwynedd on their behalf. She says: “There is a mixture of serious sexual abuse, physical abuse and emotional abuse.”

“The first client is now in her 50s, my youngest is 14… the council are vicariously liable for the actions of their employees.

“His actions have impacted on so many lives, that of children, their families, staff… I think he could and should have been stopped a lot sooner.”

Responding to the BBC Wales Investigates documentary on Neil Foden, Children’s Commissioner for Wales Rocio Cifuentes said: “This is a significant development.  I’m considering my options in light of this, given the limitations of the timeline that the Child Practice Review will cover.

“I do not want to undermine the current review but we’ve heard today of experiences that fall outside that review’s timeline and those experiences should be heard. I have powers to look at these areas and am considering the best course of action.”

BBC Wales Investigates: My Headteacher the Paedophile airs at 8.30pm on Tuesday 8 October on BBC iPlayer and BBC One Wales.