Police investigate Jersey 'failures' over abuse claims

Haroon Siddique and David Batty

Police searching a former children's home in Jersey where the remains of a youngster were found said today they were investigating allegations that agencies did not deal "properly" with allegations of child abuse.

Yesterday, a sniffer dog identified six more potential burial sites in and around Haut de la Garenne, and police are continuing to search the grounds.

Lenny Harper, the Jersey deputy police chief, said the building's cellar was a "point of interest" but had been bricked up and officers were finding it difficult to gain access.

He added that the search as a "very slow and meticulous process" that was "likely to continue that way for some time".

Responding to allegations that the Jersey government had failed to address long-standing concerns about child abuse on the island, Harper said there was "no evidence of a cover-up". He added that police were looking at the role of a "number of agencies".

"If victims make allegations that they reported matters and they weren't dealt with properly, we will of course investigate this," he added.

Harper claimed the alleged failure to deal with allegations properly was "not unique to Jersey".

"Adults in those days had a different attitude to children making allegations," he said.

He said he was aware of the possibility that more remains would be discovered, but added: "Every of those [potential burial sites] has got an alternative explanation, so until we assess them - and, if necessary, excavate them - we won't get a definitive answer."

Police discovered the remains of a child under a thick concrete floor inside the Victorian mansion on Saturday.

The search for more remains is expected to take several weeks, and it will be at least a fortnight before the age and sex of the child whose remains have been found, and when he or she died, can be established.

The abuse investigation - one of the biggest ever on the Channel island - began more than a year ago after an earlier inquiry into allegations of abuse connected to the Sea Cadet Corps on Jersey.

Police saw links between suspects in the Sea Cadet case and a number of institutions on Jersey, including Haut de la Garenne.

Officers have taken statements from around 140 alleged victims who claim to have been abused while at the then children's home, as well as 40 suspects.

The allegations date back to the 1940s and up to 1986, when the home closed.

John Freeman, the joint-president of the Association of Directors of Children's Services, told guardian.co.uk that the allegations of abuse went beyond anything ever seen in the UK.

"Clearly, the discoveries on Jersey are of great concern and the investigation will have to continue as far as is necessary," he said.

"While there has been some evidence of abuse at children's homes in the UK, there have been no allegations of the seriousness that we have seen over the last two or three days in Jersey."