Tom Fletcher, from law firm Irwin Mitchell, is representing the families. He said he specialised in serious abuse cases but was still shocked at the scale of Clarke's offending. "[Parents] have placed their trust in an individual, a school and a charity where they thought their children would be safe," he said. Mr Fletcher believes the organisations could be considered "vicariously liable" for his crimes. It means they can be held responsible for the actions of Clarke even if they did not know about them, because they were linked to his employment. The firm is also looking into claims made by families that some of the abuse could have been preventable, but that currently remains unproven. "I think parents quite rightly have concerns that things could have been done differently," Mr Fletcher continued. "They want to know whether concerns were raised earlier so some abuse could have been avoided." The lawyer added that any successful claims would compensate victims for the cost of accessing specialist support, as well as earnings they might lose because of mental health issues caused by the abuse. "No amount of money is ever going to change what's happened here," Mr Fletcher added. "It's not going to be reflective of the experience these children have had."