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Remains: Care Agencies Probed

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All care agencies in Jersey are being investigated for failing to act over alleged child abuse following the discovery of a child's remains at a former care home.

Detectives have not ruled out finding more bodies at the site on Jersey and have been concentrating their efforts on a bricked-up cellar.

The widening of the search area at a building currently used as ayouth hostel at St Martin follows the initial find by a sniffer dog previously used in the hunt for Madeleine McCann.

The dog led police to the remains of a child at the former Haut de la Garenne children's home on Saturday.

A further six sites are being examined at the hostel, which has been at the centre of a child abuse investigation since November.

Jersey's deputy chief police officer, Lenny Harper, said the force was treating it as a major crime and could not rule out the possibility of more bodies.

But he told reporters outside the building: "The truthful answer is we just don't know."

The investigation began when a number of former members of staff were arrested on suspicion of paedophile crimes.

The States of Jersey Police first started a covert inquiry into the history of the home, speaking to victims of alleged abuse.

The NSPCC said it has received 63 calls from adults reporting allegations of childhood physical, sexual and emotional abuse in Jersey dating back as far as the 1970s. It has so far referred 27 cases on to the police.

A special free helpline was set up by the charity at the request of police.

The Haut de la Garenne closed as a children's home in 1986. The youth hostel was opened in 2004.

news.sky.com
2008 Feb 26