A sex abuse victim is believed to have taken his own life after his request for anonymity from the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry was refused.
Kevin Sutherland posted a farewell message on social media yesterday, claiming the inquiry had failed him.
He had waived his anonymity but changed his mind when he realised his evidence could be seen online in perpetuity.
Kevin, who told how he was sexually abused and how that led him to becoming a sex worker, asked for his name to be redacted or anonymised, but was told the request had been refused by Lady Smith.
In a devastating final social media message, Kevin, 34, wrote: “FINAL ANNOUNCEMENT! If you’re reading this, it means I have DIED.
“The amount of red flags that have been ignored by absolutely everyone to allow me to get to this final point is unforgivable.”
Police said yesterday searches were ongoing in an area of the River Forth after they were alerted about 1.50am.
Kevin’s sister, Melanie Watson, said: “We are so unbelievably heartbroken.”
Kevin’s GP, Dr Ross Dinwoodie, wrote to the SCAI in April to support Kevin’s feelings of distress about the publication of his name on the website.
The doctor outlined his history of abuse and mental illness and supported his request to anonymise or remove his statement. Kevin’s request was refused.
In response to the last plea made by Kevin to remove his name for the SCAI website, one of the inquiry team wrote: “Lady Smith is not able to remove your statement from the inquiry website or anonymise you…
“I understand that this may be disappointing for you.” In a series of social media posts, Kevin lashed out at the inquiry and chair Lady Smith.
Survivors’ groups and politicians demanded this month she step down after eight years as chair.
They claimed she had not been fair and impartial, showing bias towards the private boarding schools under scrutiny, an allegation the inquiry denied robustly.
Giles Moffat, spokesman for the survivors’ group that started among old pupils of his old school, Edinburgh Academy, but has now expanded considerably, was one of 75 signatories demanding she go.
He said: “Kevin contacted me in November, looking for advice. He was distressed about Lady Smith’s constant refusal to anonymise his statement.
“ SCAI informed him that he had signed a waiver of anonymity. He said the waiver he was shown did not mention that his statement would be prominent on web search engines.
“When Kevin’s statement appeared online, he realised that anonymity would have been better for him.
“SCAI refused to change his name. Lady Smith took the opportunity to suggest some redactions. She suggested removing some reference to police officers and a procurator fiscal who had been Kevin’s clients when he was a male escort.
“Lady Smith and her team failed catastrophically to pick up on a number of red flags. Worse than that, they used the dialogue to attempt to remove damaging references to law enforcement and legal professionals.”
In a final message to Giles, Kevin said: “I just can’t keep on going – this fight over the last year has exhausted me.
“I just couldn’t see all this through to the end myself.
“I’m in far too much pain to keep going. Do not allow them to forget the disregard they have for people like me. It’s a big fight – it’s deeply embedded within their DNA, and it’s so hard to make them even see us as human, let alone survivors of abuse.”
Giles said later: “I’m speechless and many others are in shock.” A spokesman for the SCAI said: “We have been made a been aware of a possible tragic incident involving an individual who has been engaging with the Inquiry.
“In the interests of transparency, SCAI will commission an independent review.”
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