Disgraced clergyman Neville Husband last night began an eight-year jail term for horrific sex attacks on vulnerable teenage boys at a North detention centre more than two decades ago. Husband, a married man, was a prison officer in charge of catering at the now-closed Medomsley Detention Centre in Consett, County Durham, when he targeted his five victims in 10 years of abuse. Husband, who became a minister with the United Reformed Church in Gateshead after 27 years with the prison service, had denied the attacks, claiming the allegations were lies. But yesterday at Newcastle Crown Court the 65-year-old was convicted of 10 indecent assault charges and a further serious sex offence relating to five males. Jailing Husband and ordering him on to the sex offenders register for life, Judge Esmond Faulks told him: "Their fear of you caused them to submit to your unwelcome attentions and this was in my judgement a gross breach of trust. You and others like you helped cause their damaged personalities. Until now they never thought anyone would believe them." Prosecutors said no charges would be brought against Husband over thousands of pornographic images discovered stored on his two computers after his arrest. After the case, Det Insp Simon Orton, who led the Durham Police investigation, said he was delighted by the outcome of the case. "It is clear this man feasted himself on these young men who were in his charge," he said. "I hope that this will bring closure for the victims. I have no doubt in my mind their lives will always be affected by what happened in Medomsley. My thoughts are very much with the victims still. They have been very brave." It has emerged that in the 1960s when training with the prison service, Husband was investigated for importing pornography. He claimed he bought the material for research purposes and was never charged. He was also quizzed in 1999 - five years after he was ordained as a minister - in connection with another police operation probing mail order pornography. The case was dropped. Jurors heard how Husband used intimidation and fear to ensure the silence of his detention centre victims, all from damaged backgrounds. On occasion Husband photographed his victims - one of whom described how Husband took him out the centre to his home where he bound, blindfolded and sexually assaulted him. Husband, of Snows Green Road, Shotley Bridge, was in charge of two churches in Gateshead at the time of his arrest in 2001 and was immediately suspended from his duties. Spokesman for the United Reformed Church David Lawrence said: "Mr Husband will remain suspended while the church's disciplinary procedures, held in abeyance until the result of the trial was known, take their course. We are deeply shocked and saddened by the events which have come to light and our sympathies and prayers go out to those who have suffered." Harsh regime took an unspeakable turn Detention centres were at the forefront of Government policy to jolt young offenders out of a life of crime in the 1970s. The institutions were to become notorious for their harsh military-style regimes designed to instil fear in the toughest of tearaways. But for at least five teenagers sent to Medomsley Detention Centre near Consett, their life in custody was to take an infinitely more devastating turn. The five - already damaged by broken family backgrounds - were targeted by prison officer Neville Husband who ruthlessly exploited them for his own sexual gratification. In 2001 three victims came forward separately, giving Husband's name as an abuser. Det Inspector Simon Orton said: "Our difficulty was to get people to speak about what they had endured. It has taken a huge effort from these people to unburden themselves. It was a case which required very delicate and sensitive handling." Armed with three complaints, there remained a massive amount of background work to do including tracing prison officers working at Medomsley at the time of the allegations. Meanwhile Husband - by now a minister in charge of United Reformed churches in Brighton Road and in Cromer Avenue, both in Gateshead - was arrested and charged. More than 5,000 images almost exclusively of teenage gay sex were retrieved from two computers in his church study and at his home. DI Orton said: "He has never acknowledged any guilt." No Malice A victim of Neville Husband has told how he bore no malice towards the man who could have wrecked his life. The victim, now a businessman in his 40s, was repeatedly molested by Husband after being sent to Medomsley Detention Centre as a teenager in the 1970s. He told how he kept his horrendous ordeal a secret out of fear and set about successfully re-building his life. He said it was only after a chance encounter with Husband many years later that his nightmare returned. But speaking after the trial, the man said: "I have no animosity or hatred towards him. He has to live with whatever he has to live with and I have to live with whatever I have to live with. "He touched me but he couldn't touch my soul. I have probably been one of the luckiest of all those suffering abuse. "I believe that by having my say I can move forward despite the pain I have suffered. Other people, however, did not come out as well as I have managed to do. | 
