Hidden in plain sight, they were monsters. Self-centred, they used their privileged positions to satisfy their carnal lusts by preying on the young and the vulnerable in the egotistical belief that they would never be caught. One was Jimmy Savile and the other was Peter Jaconelli and they were friends if indeed such men could ever know what true friendship means.
At the top you can see an inset picture of the actor Steve Coogan alongside another more chilling picture of him in the role of Jimmy Savile as seen in a recent four episode BBC drama called "The Reckoning". In my opinion this was excellent and Steve Coogan played the challenging role quite brilliantly. It is believed that disc jockey and showman Savile sexually abused hundreds of people - many of whom were children.
He had two main homes - both in Yorkshire. One was in Leeds and the other was beside the sea in Scarborough. That is where he associated with the local ice cream magnate - Peter Jaconelli who was the mayor of the seaside town back in the seventies. Jaconelli had a penchant for boys and when his horrible legacy was first unveiled in the media, thirty two men came forward to air historical grievances concerning abuse and sexual assault.
Peter Jaconelli
I met Savile at St James's Palace in London when I was sixteen. He was a television legend and I got his autograph. We were both at a special event that commemorated some milestone or other in the history of The National Association of Youth Clubs. I was representing East Yorkshire youth clubs and he was there, presumably, to offer his support though looking back - a man like that should have had absolutely nothing to do with the youth club movement.
"The Reckoning" touched upon Savile's relationship with Jaconelli and after a little while I had a light bulb moment. I had also met Jaconelli! This was at an interview for Head of English at The Graham School in Scarborough around 1990 or 1991. He was the chair of the school governors. A big, pasty-faced barrel of a man, he seemed to dominate the room. He asked me an awkward question and my response began with, "I think that everyone in Yorkshire knows that the name Jaconelli is synonymous with Scarborough and..." but after thirty years I cannot remember what I said next.
Savile and Jaconelli are both long dead and disgraced. Their gravestones in Woodlands Cemetery, Scarborough have both been removed. However, though dead, they are sadly not forgotten because victims of sexual abuse carry their private hurt to the end of their days, their lives and their quests for happiness routinely impaired by memories of monsters and what they did.
Sadly Saville and Jaconelli are just the tip of the iceberg, we hear a steady stream of accusations against priests and others from the Catholic church, who have been protected by their "turn a blind eye" hierarchy.
ReplyDeleteSometimes my naivete still surprises me. I like to see the goodness in other people.
DeleteIt is so sad that even today people like these still prey on kids and, too often, the kids aren't believed.
ReplyDeleteThat's the horrible truth about sexual abuse, the victims live with that the rest of their lives. The judges seem to forget that when it comes to sentencing these people and give them years in jail after which they are free, while their victims are never free.
ReplyDeleteWe can be scarred by fire or acid but the scarring by child abusers is just as bad.
DeleteI am sure that I have had Jaconelli ice cream during our annual stay in "Scarbie", as Steve and I used to call it - I know I have seen the vans and kiosks dotted around.
ReplyDeleteIt must be also hard for their families, knowing that the blemish on their family name and -tree is not going to go away anytime soon. But of course, it is infinitely harder for the victims.
You will most certainly have had Jaconelli's ice cream in Scarborough. They had a prominent ice cream parlour on Marine Drive.
DeleteSaville always left a bad feeling in my brain whenever I saw him and particularly after his interview with Louis Theroux many many moons ago when I commented to the family that he was the creepiest person I had ever seen. I wonder how many more felt like I did.
ReplyDeleteSo many of us just thought of him as an eccentric showman. We did not see through the disguise.
DeleteGosh, you have met some nice people. I was thinking about priests today. I became angry, not so much at the crimes of individual perpetrators but the church and I think quite decent people within the church not speaking out in some way. And as you now the church wasn't the only institution to ignore the obvious. Hiya BBC.
ReplyDeleteWhy did you send us Rolf Harris?
DeleteI never liked Jimmy Savile, and always thought there was something feral and unpleasant about him. One thing that stays in my mind was reading that amongst his foul deeds he assaulted young women and children who were in wheelchairs. They were trapped and couldn't get away from him. It's unbelievable that even after alarms were first sounded about his behaviour he still continued to be in the public eye.
ReplyDeleteMay he rot in hell.
"The Reckoning" even shows a scene where he touches up a wheelchair-bound girl. He was a disgusting self-absorbed monster. The show suggests that the charity work he did was like a Catholic payback for his guilt.
DeleteIt stuns me that these people manage to do this stuff repeatedly. Part of the reason, I think, is that they intimidate and manipulate all the people around them, including those who should stop them
ReplyDeleteSavile even got very close to Margaret Thatcher and it is understood that this is how he got his knighthood.
DeleteI think that part of the reason they got away with it for so long, especially Savile, is that they raised so much money for charity, which made them untouchable. I heard lots of tales about Savile in Leeds. One relates to his day a week as a volunteer hospital porter. He always ate alone in the hospital canteen. He was so creepy that no one would sit at the same table.
ReplyDeleteNo one wanted to be the first to call him out and who would have listened anyway?
DeleteI too watched that drama and thought it was well done. It is incredible how Savile managed to creep his way into every strata of society and hide his evil deeds. My closest encounter was when we as a family (Kay was about 10) went on a camping holiday through Scotland. We had stopped for a break at a desolate roadside mountain cafe near Glencoe. We pulled into the carpark and parked alongside a camper van. As we walked into the cafe, there was a recognisable voice coming from a group of people sitting at a corner table. There was Savile chatting to a group of Glencoe mountain rescue volunteers. Fortunately we didn't introduce ourselves as we respected his privacy, but I am so glad we didn't, as he may have set his sights on Kay!
ReplyDeleteWe will never know what went on in that camper van.
DeleteI started to watch it, but his acting was too good, I had to turn it off.
ReplyDeleteIt was a real life horror story.
DeleteThis is the sort of thing I use against people who say the current world is changing for the worse. It has always been this way. The only thing that has changed is the ability of these things to be discovered and broadly publicized for all to hear.
ReplyDeleteIt was easier to keep dirty secrets in the past.
DeleteI often wonder how many of these creeps are never caught?
ReplyDeleteMany die with their wicked secrets and Savile was only unmasked after his death.
DeleteI don't understand how such a loathsome man was allowed to do what he did. That it was somehow 'overlooked' by others makes it even more despicable. Like Poppypatchwork, the acting is so good it hurts to watch.
ReplyDeleteWho will cast the first stone?
DeleteReading Savile's biography in Wikipedia makes one wonder how many of the royals knew about his actions, condoned them or participated in them.
ReplyDeleteHe fooled everybody Bruce - even Pope John Paul II.
Delete