A former social worker from Arnold convicted of abusing children in his care in the 1980s has been sent to prison for 20 years.
Andris Imants Logins, 57, was found guilty on Monday (March 21) of 17 offences, including rape, indecent assault and cruelty, committed against four children at the Beechwood Children’s Home in Mapperley in the early 1980s.
He reappeared at Nottingham Crown Court on Wednesday (March 23) for sentencing.
The trial judge, His Honour Judge Sampson, said Logins had befriended and groomed his victims and sexually abused them.
“They were available to you and powerless to do anything about it,” he told Logins.
“Your authority and their helplessness meant that they had no free choice in the matter. This was a grave breach of trust.”
Speaking of Beechwood, which closed in 2006, the judge said: “What should have been a safe haven was in fact a home from hell.”
Judge Sampson praised the victims, one of whom died before the matter came to trial, for their courage and commended the investigation by Nottinghamshire Police.
The Logins case was investigated under Operation Daybreak, which was set up in 2011 to investigate allegations of abuse at childrens homes in Nottinghamshire.
Logins is the first former employee at a childrens home to be convicted following an Operation Daybreak investigation.
After sentencing, Detective Superintendent Adrian Pearson of Nottinghamshire Police said: “Today’s sentencing of Andris Logins is a very significant moment for his victims. The past few years have not been easy for any of them as they have had to relive the harrowing and life-shaping events which took place three decades ago, in the hope that, after all this time, the criminal justice system would help them find some closure.
“Just simply being believed has been important to the victims; believed by family, friends, the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and, crucially, a trial jury which returned unanimous guilty verdicts for 17 offences committed by Logins at the Beechwood Children’s Home in the early 1980s.
“It is a significant moment too for Nottinghamshire Police and Operation Daybreak.
“Around 170 people have come forward to us with allegations of abuse in the care system going back many years. It is a lengthy and hugely complex process, but Nottinghamshire Police is determined matters will be investigated meticulously until we either bring the perpetrators before the courts or we reach a point where a case can be progressed no further.
“Logins is now the second person under this investigation to have been convicted for sexual abuses which took place a generation ago and to have received a very lengthy prison sentence.
“We can guarantee our commitment to examining allegations we receive and to supporting victims every step of the way through the investigation and criminal justice process.
“If anyone is out there who is still living with the knowledge that they were sexually physically or emotionally abused while in the care of a local authority or other institution or organisation in Nottinghamshire and has still not come forward to speak to us, I would urge you to call us on 101.
“You will be listened to, you will be believed and we will do our utmost to ensure that the abusers, like Andris Logins, will be brought to justice.”
Logins will be eligible for parole after he has served ten years of his sentence. He will be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life and barred from working with children.
He will also be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which prevents him from having any unsupervised contact with any child aged under 16.
