There has been a child abuse investigation here in Jersey since November, it concerns a former childrens home and also the Sea Cadets. Today the remains of a child have been found at the former childrens home and they cannot rule out more bodies being found.

Some of you might recognise the building, it featured in Bergerac as being a police station.

BBC News website

Sue, this is awful and very disturbing. No one could imagine such crimes taking place in Jersey.

Shocking, considering how close a community the isle of Jersey is, really.

For those of you who have seen coverage in the media, all is not as it sounds. The youngish politician who has been spouting off has an axe to grind as he was removed (as in sacked) from his position as Health Minister last year, a position he held (before we had ministers he was President of the Health and Social Services, the former job title) for something like eight years. During that time he was in fact 'in charge' of Social Services and didn't make any noises until after the police investigation was underway.

There have now been (as of this morning's BBC news) over 160 people contacting authorities to report abuse of one sort or another at this institution - dating back over the past 40 or so years.

It is somewhat disturbing that reports by workmen in 2003 when they were making alterations to the building into a Youth Hostel, that their finds were ignored by those in authority and the bones they found put down to animal remains.

The police have broken through into one bricked up cellar and found items which those reporting the abuse said they would find - so altogether not over and dogs trained to find human remains are apparently going crazy.

Possibly the disgruntled politician may have an axe to grind, but I honestly do not think you can ignore the evidence and very sad interviews with past inmates of this horrible place.

True, you cannot ignore it but I am fairly sure that if you investigated similar institutions in the UK and elsewhere you will find similar stories, if not actual remains, of course deaths of children are awful, for any reason. We are talking about many years ago, thirty, forty or fifty in many cases. That home was closed twenty-one years ago. Such things are not happening now.

One point to note is the so called 'Beast of Jersey' who was convicted of sex crimes against children in this island used to volunteer there. He is now dead. Also interviewees have said that a lot of abuse was carried out by older children.

Why is there such a refusal to believe this could happen - of course I know that there have been similar cases in the rest of the United Kingdom, but there does appear to have been a bit of an ostrich attitude.

I think that in smaller communities there is often a reluctance to believe it could happen - but abuse is abuse - whether in paradise or inner city sink estates.

I guess that now it has come to light and daily discoveries are being unearthed, perhaps the truth will out - who knows.
Reuters have reported as below earlier today "Police are searching the house as part of an investigation into allegations of child abuse on the island stretching back to the 1960s but focussed on the 70s and 80s.

The underground room has been identified by many of the 160 people who have contacted police saying the were victims of child abuse, said Harper.

Most of the assaults are alleged to have taken place at the former children's home, many occurring in the cellar.

An intersting update to this sad saga:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/jersey/7284717.stm

I have to say that it is a great pity that the national press is not picking up on any of the stories by former residents of that particular home who are saying they have absolutely no recollection of any problems whilst they were living there.

This is not to say there wasn't any, but as was picked up by one article, it was amazing just how many 'witnesses and victims' came forward when there was the mention of possible compensation.

Front page headlines and story today in our local paper reads "Home head raped me" - then you read on to see that the former superintendent of the home moved to Dorset after leaving Jersey to take up the position with Dorset Social Services as an officer vetting children's homes. It was while he worked in Dorset that Ms xxxx was fostered and when she says that he abused her. He died twenty years ago - but as this rape and abuse took place in Dorset it might be an indication that more local authorities should peer into their pasts.

The other front pagee story today states "Children in Jersey not at risk today, says expert". This is a report by an UK expert who carried out an independent review of current child protection services in Jersey, he was commissioned back in September 2007, before any of the current problems came to light publically, whilst it was still a quiet investigation by the police instead of a media circus.

Last week I by chance got into conversation with our current Minister of Health and Social Services who says initially he was told that the body of a child had been found, then this turned into the skull of a child, then it was a fragment of skull approximately two to three centimetres in diameter and that it wasn't even known if it was human - although it is looking as if it is.

THis was covered on our news today - about the rally and the possibility of a second chamber. It wasn't an Australian story, it would just have been taken straight from the SKY UK news.

While any reports of child abuse, even so long ago, can not be dismissed I think that some people may have time changing their memories a bit. All the coverage (and talk of compensation) could be making memories cloudy.

Four chambers Copago, but bear in mind that this is a very old building and cellars were the norm back when it was built so we are not talking about 'secret chambers' per se, just cellars which have been closed.

What was considered to be normal ' discipline' back in the 50s and 60s is termed physical abuse today. I can remember getting 'the slipper' for making spelling mistakes, I wouldn't have thought of it as abuse back when I was ten, it was just the way things were - and this was in England, not here.

Even back in the 80s, when my son was transferring to his secondary school (he was born in 1979) I had to sign a form saying that I gave permission for my son to receive corporal punishment should this be deemed necessary.

Actually corporal punishment was not banned as a form of punishment which could be a sentence handed down by the Courts until 2005 although no one had been sentenced to a birching for about forty years so that takes it back to the 60s.

.........

Jersey criminals spared the birch

Birching, hard labour and other old methods of corporal punishment are finally to be removed from the statute books in Jersey.

It is part of plans to draft a new criminal justice law for the island.

The draft law, created by the Home Affairs Committee, would remove references to penal servitude from the statute book.

The move will bring the island into line with the European Convention on Human Rights.

It is believed to be more than 40 years since a court in Jersey last imposed corporal punishment.