Body found amid fears of child abuse ring on Jersey

Police have more than 40 suspects as 140 claim they were victims
By Sadie Gray
Sunday, 24 February 2008

Police were searching the grounds of a former children's home in Jersey yesterday after a child's remains were found in the building. Detectives said they expected to discover more bodies at the former Haut de la Garenne home in St Martin.

The three-month investigation into child abuse at several government institutions on the island took a harrowing turn with the discovery yesterday morning of the partial remains, believed to date from the 1980s. Police were unable to say how long the body had been there, how old the child was or whether the skeleton was male or female.

The inquiry into allegations of abuse over a 40-year period on the Channel Island officially began in November after a year in which police covertly gathered statements. More than 100 people have contacted a helpline on the island with allegations of abuse since the inquiries began. So far, officers have spoken to 140 alleged victims and have 40 suspects.

Acting on information from victims, police began searching the Haut de la Garenne site with sniffer dogs and ground-penetrating radar on Tuesday. "Because of the information we received, we brought the team of specialists with us to prepare for the initial screening and search," said Jersey's Deputy Chief Police Officer, Lenny Harper.

"As a result of definitive indications from the ground penetrating radar, the archaeologist and also, perhaps most pronounced, from the dog, we excavated one particular area of the house," he said.

"We discovered what appear to be the partial remains of a child. It [the body] hasn't been put in the ground in the last five years. The status of the inquiry has now changed to a potential major crime inquiry concerning a possible homicide."

Jersey's Chief Minister, Senator Frank Walker, said: "It is imperative that our children are safe in Jersey and I believe that today they are. It is, however, clear that this may not always have been the case and although we can't right the wrongs of the past, we will do everything in our power to assist the police in seeking out the person or persons responsible."

In January, police charged Jersey resident Gordon Claude Wateridge, 76, in with the abuse of three girls aged under 16 between 1969 and 1979. He was also charged with the unlawful possession of a firearm. Police stressed they were not linking him with yesterday's discovery "at this moment in time".

They added that further arrests are expected.

The allegations span a period from the 1960s to the early 2000s. Police following up a series of convictions for sexual offences involving officers of Jersey Sea Cadets began noticing links between the victims in those cases and other institutions on the island, including Haut de la Garenne.

Mr Harper has said previously that the allegations range from "pretty severe physical and mental abuse, right through to the most serious sexual crimes that you can imagine."
In the course of the inquiry, police would examine whether there were "criminal implications" behind the fact that the allegations had never been brought before the courts, he said.

Officers dealing with callers to Jersey police's historic abuse helpline have said that many were furious that their complaints had not been taken seriously at the time.
The former Jersey Health Minister, Senator Stuart Syvret, urged anyone with a connection to the Haut de la Garenne home to come forward.

Haut de la Garenne opened in 1867 as the Industrial School, for "young people of the lower classes of society and neglected children".

It was used during the Nazi occupation as a signalling station, reverting to a children's home after the war.

It closed as a children's home in 1987, when it catered for some 60 young people from Jersey with special needs.

The building was featured in the television series Bergerac as a police headquarters and, after a £2.25m refurbishment, opened as a youth hostel in 2004.

HOW THE INVESTIGATION UNFOLDED

Nov 2006 Jersey police begin covert investigation into abuse allegations after finding links between victims of convicted sea cadet officers and other institutions on the island.

Nov 2007 Police make inquiry public, and receive dozens of calls from alleged victims.

Jan 2008 Jersey resident Gordon Claude Wateridge, 76, charged in connection with abuse of three girls aged under 16. Police expect to make more arrests.

Feb 2008 Acting on information from victims, police search Haut de la Garenne, which closed as a children's home in 1987. On fifth day, they find the partial remains of child's body.

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