Frank Beck (19 July 1942 – 31 May 1994) was an English convicted child sex offender. He was employed by the Leicestershire County Council as the officer-in-charge of several children's homes in Leicestershire, between 1973 and 1986. Though holding only a 'middle management' grade within the hierarchy of Leicestershire Social Services, Beck quickly established an esteemed reputation among his professional peers as an innovative, dynamic and extraordinarily effective practitioner in dealing with the emotional and behavioural complexities of troubled young people placed in his charge. Beck was later at the centre of Britain's biggest investigation into institutional child abuse, between 1989 and 1991.
Background and route into social work
Born in Salisbury, Beck was raised in Thornton Heath, Croydon, the son of a train driver and the youngest of five children. Leaving secondary modern school without any qualifications, Beck trained to be a pig keeper and spent three years working on a farm before joining the Royal Marines.
Beck spent ten years as a marine, serving in Borneo and Aden and attaining the rank of sergeant. Emerging with an honourable discharge and campaign medals in June 1969, Beck apparently turned down officer training and chose instead to train as a social worker.
Beck subsequently obtained employment with Northampton Social Services and went into a training course at the Stevenage College of Further Education, where he acquired a Certificate of Qualification in Social Work (CQSW) and a Home Office Letter of Recognition in Child Care. Beck then gained employment with Leicestershire Social Services in August 1973. He started work on 1 September and served as officer-in-charge of three local authority children's homes until his resignation in March 1986. The children's homes concerned were The Poplars Children's Home, Market Harborough (1973–75); Ratcliffe Road Children's Home, Leicester (1975–78) and The Beeches Children's Home, Leicester Forest East (1978–1986).
Character and attributes
An ex-Royal Marine sergeant, he was described as "tough, uncompromising and very, very strong", with arms "... as thick as the thighs of the children in his care".
In addition to his physical strength and fitness, Beck also seems to have exuded extraordinary charisma and despite a limited educational background he possessed a sharp intellect, eloquence and critical ability which, combined with the outstanding success he seemed to have in bringing the most wayward and behaviourally challenging children to order led to positive comments from his superiors. Dorothy Edwards, the Director of Social Services (1973–80) reportedly told a friend, "I don't know quite what he's doing, but he's doing it very well."
Beck was also a local politician, being elected in 1983 as a Liberal Party councillor to a seat on the Blaby District Council, which he successfully defended in 1987.
System of abuse
Beck is said to have used his own brand of 'regression therapy' as a cover for sexually abusing children in his care – supposedly a method of digging down to the roots of children's emotional problems, by returning them to a state of infancy. Children were dressed in pyjamas and given bottles and dummies; some of the younger children were dressed in nappies. At meal times, staff would sometimes cut up the food on the plates of residents, as if feeding infants; children would be given toys designed for much younger children and sometimes bathed by staff members and Beck encouraged a culture of cuddling and bodily contact.
Beck also believed that emotions should not be 'bottled up' and it is said that children were deliberately provoked into temper tantrums, thereby creating opportunities to exercise violent physical restraint. Residential Social Workers were often hand-picked by Beck and were required to support his methods and philosophy without question. Several of his staff were also paedophiles and sadists, including Colin Fiddaman, who was to kill himself in Amsterdam, whilst on the run, in 1991. Beck is also said to have physically and sexually abused male members of staff, sustaining 'a regime of terror' for thirteen years.