'Final abuse of power': ex-Chetham's pupils vent anger at Chris Ling 'suicide'
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Version 0 of 1. Former pupils at Chetham’s school of music who say they were sexually abused by a “svengali-like” violin teacher have expressed anger at his decision to shoot himself before he was to be extradited to the UK to face trial. One of his former pupils said that the apparent suicide of Chris Ling at his Los Angeles home on Tuesday, which came as US marshals arrived to arrest him, amounted to his “final abuse of power”, while a second said they were disappointed that he did not face justice in a courtroom. A professional musician who says she attempted to raise the alarm about Ling’s abuse when she was a sixth former at Chetham’s, said she was experiencing mixed emotions. “I’m angry and annoyed, but I must admit that I’m also relieved that I don’t have to go to court,” she said. “This is Ling’s final abuse of power. He was such a controlling person. Even his final gesture was controlling, in his own way. To me it’s like he was saying: ‘I’m not even going to allow the process to go forward.’” Ling had been due to face 77 charges of sex offences against 10 former pupils at Chetham’s when they were as young as nine, as well as a woman who cleaned his house as a teenager. The musician told the Guardian on Wednesday that she knew of at least two other girls Ling had allegedly abused, but who refused to give evidence to police. US authorities agreed several weeks ago to extradite Ling, about 15 months after Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) sought to bring him back to England. The former Chetham’s teacher had reinvented himself in California as a show business manager after leaving the music school in 1990, taking with him a clutch of sixth-form students he had promised to turn into stars. A second former pupil said on Wednesday that she was still trying to process the news. “I did want him to face a jury and justice, and yes, this outcome proves he was aware of his crimes, but it doesn’t feel enough. I was scared and dreading court, but I felt it was the right thing to do.” A third pupil, one of Ling’s victims, who is now in her 40s, said she should be allowed to meet with Chetham’s to discuss its failure to protect the young people in its care. She said: “I feel angered that there will be no trial now, but mildly relieved also. I would really like those of us who want to, to meet with the staff involved with our ‘care’ at the time and ask some very pertinent questions.” The woman was one of a number of pupils who cooperated with a police investigation into Ling’s activities in 1990. The inquiry did not produce charges, with the women led to believe that Ling was beyond justice, having relocated to the US. In 1991, the People newspaper exposed Ling in a piece headlined “Music Girls’ Maestro In Sex Probe, which reported that police were investigating claims of sex abuse at Chetham’s. In the article, Ling protested his innocence. His lawyer was quoted as saying: “More credence could be attached to rumours that Saddam Hussein has won the Nobel peace prize.” The woman told the Guardian on Wednesday that the abuse, and its exposure, formed “deep negative conditioning” in her. Like the 10 other complainants, she reported the abuse again in early 2013 following the suicide of violinist Frances Andrade. Andrade killed herself after giving evidence against her abuser, another Chetham’s teacher, Michael Brewer, in January 2013. He was eventually jailed for six years after being found guilty of sexually assaulting her when she was 14. A fourth ex-pupil told the Guardian: “I can’t believe he’s dead. I’m glad he can’t get anyone now. But he’ll never have to answer to any of this in court. I now feel very strongly that the school needs to answer for what happened.” She said a Greater Manchester police call about a “serious development” in the case on Tuesday left her terrified that Ling was somehow on the loose. “He still scares me. I imagined him walking in to my house to tell me off just like he did at Chets, I could see him really clearly for a few seconds,” she said. Ling’s victims also complain that Chetham’s has made no attempt to contact them since the Guardian reported on him as a serial abuser in February 2013. The women told then of how he exerted such power over them that he persuaded them to play naked before sexually assaulting them. Some of the complainants are demanding a meeting with the current headteacher, Claire Moreland, as well as the teachers responsible for their care at the boarding school in the 1980s. The professional musician told the Guardian in 2013 that she had reported Ling’s abuse to the then headteacher, John Vallins, but that he failed to act. Vallins, who gave evidence for Brewer in his trial, said in 2013 he had “no recollection” of this. He said: “I am disturbed, extremely unhappy at the suggestion that I said I would look into something but nothing was done. My clear recollection was that the first time I knew of anything with Chris Ling was when the police came to the school. I am profoundly distressed at the suggestion that if I had good reason to suspect any improper behaviour towards any pupil, I would not have acted on it.” Melanie Marquez, a Los Angeles publicist who collaborated with Ling, expressed shock at his death, saying he had shown no signs of distress. Since the sex abuse allegations against Ling resurfaced in February 2013 he had continued to work as normal, said Marquez, adding: “He had a loving and supportive wife and daughter. He was always in good spirits when I talked to him.” Marquez said Ling’s talent agency had continued to function despite the threat of extradition. “Everything was just normal. He had his clients and we all worked together. I never thought this would be the end of his life.” Reporters who visited Ling’s townhouse in Sherman Oaks on Wednesday saw a woman inside but received no reply when they knocked on the door. Ling was married to one of his former pupils, violinist Pip Clarke, who was also managed by his talent agency. A CPS spokesperson said: “The CPS sought the extradition of Christopher Ling and a request was passed to the US Department of State by the Home Office in June 2014 after a district judge issued two warrants for his arrest in the UK. Had he been extradited, Ling would have faced 77 charges of indecent assault on 11 girls aged between nine and 15 alleged to have taken place in Reading and Greater Manchester between 1983 and 1990.” In a statement, Chetham’s said: “The nature of the historical allegations and this latest development are profoundly disturbing. We cannot comment further.” |