Authorities damned in abuse case

Hannah Collier reports


For more than a decade three children - all from the same family -suffered systematic abuse while the authorities in Jersey looked on and did nothing.

A damning independent report by the Jersey Child Protection Committee criticises the police, education, health and the Law Officers' Department for ignoring the family's plight. The Serious Case Review - the first of its kind in the island - makes more than 30 recommendations aimed at preventing similar situations ever arising again.

The Serious Case Review is focused on Child A, the oldest of three children and stems from March 1996 to March 2008. Concerns were raised for the safety of Child A soon after birth in early 1996. He was placed on the Child Protection Register immediately, his father had already been charged with a serious offence involving a child. The children were removed from their mother in 1999, but instead of being adopted as planned they were put back with the family in 2001, where the abuse continued. In the five years that followed there were reports that Child A was abusing his younger siblings. And fears were raised again in February 2006 when the mothers alleged abuser was found to be regularly watching the children. Despite all this, in late 2006 the children's names were removed from the protection register. In January 2008 a new social worker was appointed to the children. In February they were removed from the family home.

Now the failings lay with almost all of the States departments, the Health department for not assessing the children, education who ignored teachers fears, the police who didn't share information and children's services for the catalogue of errors which left three vulnerable children in a home where they were abused. But despite the damning report Deputy Anne Pryke, head of the islands Children's Policy Group, said no one was going to take the blame. She said:

"By being open and transparent to learn from these lessons is by our staff being open to talk about it without fear of repercussions in a safe environment and if we had the threat of repercussions or whatever then that is counter-productive. It's got to be in way that staff are open and feel safe talking about it."

And despite, apparently, no one being to blame, the Chairman of the Jersey Child Protection Committee Mike Taylor said he would be ensuring that the recommendations for each departments would be implemented. He said: "Our responsibility in delivery is not pointing too fine a point on it is to blow the whistle if it isn't happening because these plans and these actions and these commitments are about better child protection in Jersey."

The children are now safely away from the family home and receiving therapy to cope with the trauma they have endured in their short lives.

Authorities damned in abuse case