Child abuse inquiry to probe claims involving politicians and churches

Last updated: 27 November 2015, 15:20 GM

Allegations involving current or former MPs, the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches and members of the intelligence agencies will be examined by the child abuse inquiry, it has been announced.

Allegations involving current or former MPs, the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches and members of the intelligence agencies will be examined by the child abuse inquiry, it has been announced.

It also emerged that the royal family could be drawn into the probe as it considers whether there were "inappropriate attempts" by prominent figures to interfere in the case of a pervert bishop.

Last month Clarence House was forced to deny that Prince Charles made an intervention in the judicial process on behalf of Peter Ball, who was jailed for sexually abusing aspiring priests - 22 years after the claims first came to light.

There have been accusations of an establishment cover-up with Ball, the former bishop of Lewes and Gloucester, counting a member of the royal family among those who wrote letters of support before he was let off with a caution in 1993.

Chairwoman Justice Lowell Goddard confirmed the case will be considered by the inquiry, adding that it will "investigate whether there were inappropriate attempts by people of prominence to interfere in the criminal justice process after he was first accused of child sexual offences the case would be considered".

The New Zealand judge did not name any individuals. The royal family has not been specifically identified as an institution being examined but it is understood it has not been excluded from potentially falling under the scope of the inquiry.

It came as the £18 million-a-year probe, which has been beset by delays following the resignation of two previous chairwomen, formally entered its investigative phase.

One of 12 separate strands set out by Justice Goddard on Friday was an "objective fact-finding" inquiry into allegations of abuse by "people of public prominence associated with Westminster".

She added: "The investigation will focus on high profile allegations of child sexual abuse involving current or former members of parliament, senior civil servants, government advisers, and members of the intelligence and security agencies.

"It will consider allegations of cover­-up and conspiracy and will review the adequacy of law enforcement responses to these allegations."

The inquiry - set up last July following claims of a high-level cover-up of abuse - can compel witnesses to give evidence but is not able to determine criminal or civil liability.

There are two main categories for the investigations.

In an "institution specific" strand failings to protect children in the care or supervision of Lambeth Council in London, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Councils, and Rochdale Council will be examined, along with abuse in the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches.

The inquiry into Rochdale will focus in part on claims that boys were subject to sexual abuse by individuals including former MP Cyril Smith.

Custodial institutions and residential schools in both the private and state sector also face scrutiny.

The other section concerns a series of "thematic" investigations into: abuse facilitated by the internet; sexual exploitation of children by organised networks; the protection of children outside the UK; allegations linked to Westminster, and the legal remedies available to victims through the civil justice system.

Justice Goddard said the investigations will begin immediately, with all likely to lead to public hearings, with the first preliminary sessions expected to take place in February.

She said: "I am confident that this broad range of investigations will give a voice to victims and survivors who have experienced abuse in a variety of institutional settings or where there may have been institutional failings; and will combine consideration of non-recent allegations of abuse with urgent, contemporary issues of child protection."

The judge said running 12 investigations in parallel is "an organisational challenge that is unprecedented in a public inquiry in the United Kingdom", but added: "We are determined to succeed and expect the full co-operation of all institutions and individuals who can assist us in our work.

"The scale of child sexual abuse in this country requires urgent and careful attention."
The investigations are expected to take between 18 months and several years to complete. Justice Goddard said her aim of the inquiry's work being finished within five years is "achievable".

Source

Public sex abuse inquiry to focus first on Anglican and Catholic churches

An unprecedented public inquiry into child sex abuse in Britain is to focus first on the Anglican and Catholic churches,  its chairman said.

Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters

 

Justice Lowell Goddard, of New Zealand, pictured earlier this year at Portcullis House, Westminster, London

 

Justice Lowell Goddard said the five-year inquiry is the most wide-ranging ever of its kind in England and Wales and will consist of 12 separate investigations that will also focus early on local authorities such as Lambeth, Nottinghamshire and Rochdale.
 
It will also look into public institutions and people of "public prominence".

She said: "To run 12 investigations in parallel represents an organisational challenge that is unprecedented in a public inquiry in the United Kingdom. We are determined to succeed." She said she was confident her inquiry will "give a voice to victims and survivors."

She and her team will investigate Medomsley Youth Detention Centre in County Durham, Cambridge House boys' home and Knowl View in Rochdale and examine allegations made against the late Liberal MP Cyril Smith. Goddard added that the inquiry would investigate high-profile allegations of a child sex abuse ring operating in Westminster, and abuse cover-ups.

Regional truth centres for victims will be set up next year.

She said: "The investigation will focus on high-profile allegations of child sexual abuse involving current or former members of parliament, senior civil servants, government advisers and members of intelligence and security agencies.

"It will consider allegations of cover-up and conspiracy and review the adequacy of law enforcement responses to these allegations."

Catholic Benedictine congregations and the Church of England's Chichester diocese are among the religious organisations that she will investigate.

Goddard will take in the case of jailed Anglican bishop Peter Ball, who abused 18 young men over 20 years, to see whether anyone tried to save him from justice.  She will look at the armed forces,
Foreign Office, the British Council and other institutions. Each of the 12 inquiry strands will have public hearings.

The Catholic Church, which has also had two earlier independent inquiries into child sex abuse, welcomed the inquiry and announced that it had set up a special council of its own to help, to be chaired by Baroness Nuala O'Loan. She said: "The role of the council is to facilitate and ensure the proper response to the inquiry, which has the Church's full support. We look forward to hearing their specific requests and will ensure full co-operation with their deliberations."

The Church of England also welcomed the inquiry.

Source

Medomsley Detention Centre to be investigated as part of independent inquiry into child abuse

HISTORIC abuse at a notorious North-East detention centre is set to be investigated by the Government’s independent child abuse inquiry.

More than 1,200 former inmates have already come forward to claim they were abused at the Medomsley Detention Centre, near Consett.

The allegations, which cover a period between the late 1960s and the early 1980s, surfaced after former Medomsley prison officer Neville Husband was jailed in 2003 for systematically raping young people. Husband’s colleague, Leslie Johnson, who worked as a storeman at the Home Office-run centre, was also jailed for similar offences. They have both since died.

Now the young offenders centre is to be included in the first tranche of inquiries into the extent to which institutions failed to protect children from sex abuse, as part of the long-running Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse chaired by Justice Lowell Goddard.

The Medomsley investigation was of 12 separate strands set out by Justice Goddard earlier today (Friday) as part of an "objective fact-finding" inquiry into allegations of abuse.

The massive inquiry will investigate controversial claims of abuse linked to Westminster, with the Anglican and Catholic Church, the internet, residential schools and custodial institutions, such as Medomsley.

Michael McCann, the former MP who has campaigned tirelessly for an investigation into Medomsley on behalf of constituent John McCabe, a victim of abuse at the centre, tonight welcomed news that it will form part of the inquiry.

“I am extremely pleased that a last we are getting very close to an opportunity to find out exactly what went on with Medomsley Detention Centre," he said.

“There are so many things which are quite frankly bizarre in how that place was run.

“Some of the behaviour of people like Neville Husband, it was quite extraordinary that nothing was done to take that man out of that environment.”

Mr McCann also paid tribute to victims including Mr McCabe, saying it was their courage in coming forward which had led to new investigations into Medomsley being launched. 

“It is due to them that that we are finally going to be in a position to get to the truth of what went on there,” he said.

Justice Goddard said the investigations will begin immediately, with all likely to lead to public hearings, and the first preliminary sessions are expected to take place in February.

She said: "I am confident that this broad range of investigations will give a voice to victims and survivors who have experienced abuse in a variety of institutional settings or where there may have been institutional failings; and will combine consideration of non-recent allegations of abuse with urgent, contemporary issues of child protection."

The judge said running 12 investigations in parallel is "an organisational challenge that is unprecedented in a public inquiry in the United Kingdom", but added: "We are determined to succeed and expect the full co-operation of all institutions and individuals who can assist us in our work.

"The scale of child sexual abuse in this country requires urgent and careful attention."

A spokesman said the investigation will examine the scale of abuse within the secure estate for children and young people and it has identified Medomsley Youth Detention Centre, County Durham, as the first case study.

Justice Goddard said: “The apparent scale of abuse at Medomsley demands a rigorous inquiry into how such allegations, if true, could have gone uninvestigated and the offending undetected for so long. Our inquiry will pose probing questions of the secure estate for children and young people, the police and the criminal justice system. In addition to the Medomsley example, we will need to consider the extent to which other custodial institutions may have allowed similar abuse to take place.”

Durham Police launched Operation: Seabrook to investigate the allegations shortly after Neville Husband was jailed. The force says the inquiry is the biggest of its type the force has ever undertaken.

Yesterday also emerged that the royal family could be drawn into the wider probe as it considers whether there were "inappropriate attempts" by prominent figures to interfere in the case of a pervert bishop.

Last month Clarence House was forced to deny that Prince Charles made an intervention in the judicial process on behalf of Peter Ball, who was jailed for sexually abusing aspiring priests - 22 years after the claims first came to light.

There have been accusations of an establishment cover-up with Ball, the former bishop of Lewes and Gloucester, counting a member of the royal family among those who wrote letters of support before he was let off with a caution in 1993.

Justice Goddard confirmed the case will be considered by the inquiry, adding that it will "investigate whether there were inappropriate attempts by people of prominence to interfere in the criminal justice process after he was first accused of child sexual offences the case would be considered".

The New Zealand judge did not name any individuals. The royal family has not been specifically identified as an institution being examined but it is understood it has not been excluded from potentially falling under the scope of the inquiry.

The investigations are expected to take between 18 months and several years to complete. Justice Goddard said her aim of the inquiry's work being finished within five years is "achievable".

Source

Durham Police 'welcome' Medomsley investigation

27 November 2015 at 3:18pm 

 

 

A spokesman for Durham Constabulary has said that they welcome the investigation by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse at the former detention centre:

“We welcome the news that Lord Justice Goddard will examine the Medomsley Detention Centre investigation.

To date more than 1,200 victims have come forward to report both physical and sexual abuse. Our overarching priority has been to support these victims through this difficult time and to help bring closure for them.

Durham Constabulary has spent millions of pounds on this ongoing inquiry and dedicated a huge amount of highly-skilled officers and staff to find out what happened at the centre.

Indeed, this has become the biggest investigation of its kind in the country.

Victim care is foremost in our minds and we look forward to co-operating with any national inquiry.

– Durham Constabulary spokesperson
Last updated Fri 27 Nov 2015
Source 

Medomsley Detention Centre to be investigated by Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

The abuse at County Durham young offenders centre is to come under the spotlight

Hossockfield near Medomsley Detention Centre in County Durham

Medomsley Detention Centre will be one of the first institutions to be examined by an independent inquiry into child sex abuse.

The County Durham young offenders’ facility was today revealed to be included in the first phase of investigations into the extent to which institutions have failed to protect children from sexual abuse, as part of the long-running Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

ADVERTISING

The inquiry’s chair Hon Lowell Goddard has announced that 12 investigations will begin immediately and run in tandem.

They include investigations into abuse linked to Westminster, within the Anglican and Roman Catholic Church, and within custodial institutions, the category in which the Medomsley scandal falls.

The chair said: “I am pleased to launch the Public Hearings Project by announcing the start of the inquiry’s investigative work. Twelve investigations are proposed for this first phase. They will all begin with immediate effect and most, if not all, will culminate in public hearings. They represent the first phase of the inquiry’s investigations and are by no means the total of the work we intend to conduct; further investigations will be announced as the inquiry progresses.

“By adopting both an institution-specific and a thematic approach, we will ensure that the inquiry reaches its conclusions on as broad an evidence base as possible. We will not be limited to considering the particular institution that is the focus of the investigation, but will address the range of institutional responsibility for child protection.

“There is no doubt that the task we have set ourselves in the first phase is ambitious. To run 12 investigations in parallel represents an organisational challenge that is unprecedented in a public inquiry in the UK. We are determined to succeed and expect full cooperation of all institutions and individuals who can assist us in our work.”

More than 1,240 former inmates at Medomsley Detention Centre have now reported being physically or sexually abused while being held at the facility, near Consett, in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

The victims came forward after Durham Constabulary launched Operation Seabrook, following the conviction of former prison worker the late Neville Husband, who was jailed 10 years ago for abusing youngsters at the centre.

And Justice Goddard said the facility will form the main focus of investigations into abuse of children in custody.

“We will examine the case of Medomsley Youth Detention Centre and consider the extent to which custodial institutions in general have failed to protect children from sexual abuse. We will investigate the sexual abuse of children in custodial institutions focusing, in particular, on the many hundreds of allegations of child sexual abuse at Medomsley Youth Detention Centre in County Durham,” she said. “The apparent scale of abuse at Medomsley demands a rigorous inquiry into how such allegations, if true, could have gone uninvestigated and the offending undetected for so long. Our inquiry will pose probing questions of the secure estate for children and young people, the police and the criminal justice system. In addition to the Medomsley example, we will need to consider the extent to which other custodial institutions may have allowed similar abuse to take place.”

 
Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images
 

 

The Honourable Lowell Goddard speaks during an update to The Independent Child Sex Abuse Inquiry 

 

The 12 investigations are:

• Children in the care of Lambeth Council
• Children in the care of Nottinghamshire Councils
• Cambridge House, Knowl View and Rochdale Council
• Child sexual abuse in the Anglican Church
• Child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church
• The sexual abuse of children in custodial institutions
• Child sexual abuse in residential schools
• The internet and child sexual abuse
• Child exploitation by organised networks
• The protection of children outside the United Kingdom
• Accountability and reparations for victims and survivors
• Allegations of child sexual abuse linked to Westminster

Justice Goddard said it would be impossible to predict how long the investigations would take.
“It is impossible to put a timescale on the completion of all of this work, but it is reasonable to assume that while some of the investigations may be completed within 18 months, others may take several years to conclude,” she said. “In some cases, overlapping criminal proceedings may cause substantial delay to the progress of individual investigations. “Nonetheless, in my opening statement I committed to completing the work of the Inquiry within five years and my current assessment is that that timeframe, whilst ambitious, is achievable.”

Source

Church, councils and 'prominent' Westminster figures to face child sexual abuse inquiry

The Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches, local councils and prominent Westminster figures will be the focus of the independent investigation into child sexual exploitation, inquiry chairman Justice Goddard has announced.

Announcing the first phase of the inquiry, she said they were "determined to succeed", and warned that the inquiry expected the "full cooperation" of all involved.

 12 areas of investigation have been identified

The said 12 areas of investigation have been identified, enabling the inquiry to identify how institutions has "failed to protect children from abuse".

Some may conclude in as soon as 18 months, she said, while others may take several years - and any criminal proceedings prompted by findings may cause further delays.

The inquiry will look at failures by local authorities, criminal justice and law enforcement, education, religion, national and private service organisations, and abuse by persons of public prominence, she said.

The first category of investigation is institution-specific, she said, with the inquiry examining specific organisations or types of organisation.

They will investigate:

• Failure to protect children in the care of Lambeth Council
• Failure to protect children in the care of Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County Councils
• Failure to protect children in the care of Rochdale Council
• Child sexual abuse in the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches
• Medomsley Youth Detention Centre
• How custodial institutions in general failed to protect children from sexual abuse
• Sexual abuse in residential schools

The second category of the inquiry will look at broader areas of concern, she added, where multiple institutions should protect children from abuse.
This will include:

• Sexual abuse facilitated by the internet
• Sexual exploitation of children by organised networks
• Extent to which institutions in England and Wales are effectively discharging their responsibilities in protecting children abroad
• Adequacy of existing services for providing support to victims and survivors

They will also conduct an overarching investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse by certain people of "public prominence associated with Westminster", she added.

By selecting cases from across the public and private institutional spectrum, we hope to reflect the wide range of institutions which may have enabled the sexual abuse of children to take place.

We are determined to succeed, and expect the full cooperation of all institutions and individuals who can assist us in our work.

 

Justice Goddard
 
Children living in care or with foster carers were among the "most vulnerable in society", she said, and victims deserved a thorough examination of what may have happened.

A "wide spectrum" of public authorities in Lambeth and Nottinghamshire failed to protect children, she added.

In Rochdale, the inquiry will look at children in residential accommodation, including allegations that boys who attended Cambridge House Boys Hostel or Knowl View School were subject to sexual abuse by specific individuals, including former Liberal Party MP Cyril Smith.

Allegations of child abuse within the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches will be examined, along with abuse within other faith communities - and Justice Goddard promised these would lead to "other investigations" in time.

"The sexual abuse of children in the Roman Catholic Church has been a matter of national and international concern for many years," she said.

The English Benedictine Congregation of Catholic monks and nuns will be included.

In the Anglican church, the Diocese of Chichester - which has been "beset" with allegations of abuse - will come under particular scrutiny, along with the case of former Bishop of Lewis and Bishop of Gloucester Peter Ball, and whether there were "inappropriate" attempts by leaders to interfere with the criminal justice system when allegations were made against him.

There were "hundreds" of allegations of abuse relating to Medomsley Youth Detention Centre in County Durham, she added, and the inquiry would look into how - if true - the offending went undetected for so long.

Meanwhile, she said, the impact of the internet on child exploitation was an "urgent matter of contemporary importance".

No issue is more pressing for child protection. Developments in technology have brought new opportunities to offend against children.

Some reflect patterns of offending which have existed for years. For example, the creation, possession and distribution of indecent images of children, or the grooming of children for the purpose of abuse at a later time.

Other opportunities to offend are new - including the use of online streaming as a means of abusing children who will often be abroad.

– Justice Goddard

 

The abuse of children by organised networks will be another aspect of the inquiry, looking at the "systematic grooming and sexual abuse of children" by people in cities and towns across England and Wales - which she said was "widespread".

And an "objective fact-finding inquiry" will be carried out into high-profile allegations of abuse by "people of public prominence associated with Westminster", including current or former MPs, senior civil servants, government advisers and members of the security and intelligence agencies.

Further allegations of cover-up and conspiracy will be among the items looked at.

Last updated Fri 27 Nov 2015 

Source 

Child sexual abuse inquiry: Current MPs along with Catholic and Anglican churches to be investigated

Children's homes, local councils, church institutions and schools are also being investigated 

Current MPs and the Catholic and Anglican churches will be investigated over historical child sex abuse claims in England and Wales, it has been announced.

Former politicians, spies, councils, schools and youth offender institutions are also being scrutinised by the independent inquiry led by Justice Lowell Goddard.

Speaking in central London the judge set out 12 different lines of inquiry that will each hold public hearings with victims, witnesses and experts. Both churches as well as Lambeth, Nottinghamshire and Rochdale councils will be among the first areas of focus.

Child abuse going 'undetected'

Justice Goddard said: “The investigation will focus on high-profile allegations of child sexual abuse involving current or former members of parliament, senior civil servants, government advisers and members of intelligence and security agencies. It will consider allegations of cover up and conspiracy and review the adequacy of law enforcement responses to these allegations.”

The investigation was set up last year following claims of a high-level cover up of abuse and has been beset by delays following the resignations of two previous chairs, Baroness Butler-Sloss and Fiona Woolf. It will be Britain’s largest-ever public inquiry and is expected to take up to five years and cost tens of millions of pounds.

Areas of focus include allegations concerning children in the care of Lambeth and Nottinghamshire councils. Another line of inquiry will be on Knowl View boys’ school and Cambridge House children’s hostel, where former Lib Dem MP for Rochdale Cyril Smith is said to have abused children for years, and Rochdale council itself.

Justice Lowell Goddard

All three local authorities have been accused of failing to prevent widespread sexual abuse. Details of an internal investigation concerning allegations of assaults carried out by officers within Lambeth council in the 1990s recently revealed there were two sites on council property used to carry out sexual assaults “on many occasions over the years”.

Police have also been accused of failing to investigate allegations of abuse at several Nottinghamshire children’s homes. Actress Samantha Morton, who spent much of her childhood in care homes in Nottingham, is one of many who say they were sexually abused by residential care workers.

Further concerns in Rochdale were raised in an independent report published last year into the council’s response to issues around child sexual exploitation from 2006-13. It revealed a “shocking” inability to protect seven vulnerable girls from sexual exploitation by a gang of men.

The council said: “Since 2012 we have overhauled our children’s services and our work is now nationally-recognised.”

Further concerns in Rochdale were raised in an independent report published last year

Rochdale MP and child abuse campaigner Simon Danczuk said: “As ever, the focus should remain on the victims of these horrendous crimes. No inquiry, regardless of how wide ranging, will ever undo these traumatic experiences. But we can ensure that the truth is discovered and that vulnerable children are protected in the future.

“Much has been learned in Rochdale in recent years when it comes to tackling child abuse, but there are still many questions left unanswered. This inquiry will be uncomfortable for our town but a necessary part of the healing process.”

The Goddard inquiry will also look at allegations of a cover-up involving the abuse committed by Peter Ball, the former bishop of Lewes and Gloucester, over three decades. The 83-year-old was jailed for more than two years last month for a string of offences against teenagers and young men.
Allegations of abuse at the Medomsley Detention Centre in Durham – from more than 1,100 men – as well as the response of abuse allegations by the National Crime Agency will also be investigated.

Justice Goddard said she hoped some of the investigations would be concluded within 18 months but others could take several years. She described the original five-year timetable for completion as “ambitious but achievable” and said that regional truth centres for victims would be set up next year.

She said: “To run 12 investigations in parallel represents an organisational challenge that is unprecedented in a public inquiry in the United Kingdom. We are determined to succeed and expect full co-operation of all institutions and individuals who can assist us in our work.”

The Victims and Survivors Consultative Panel to the Inquiry said: “Too many victims and survivors of child sexual abuse have suffered in silence. These investigations will give public voice to that suffering and bring greater understanding of why so many horrific crimes went unreported and undetected for so long. We encourage anyone who is a victim or survivor of child sexual abuse and who wants to share their experience to contact the inquiry.”

The 12 investigations

* Children in the Care of Lambeth Council
* Children in the Care of Nottinghamshire Councils
* Cambridge House, Knowl View and Rochdale Council
* Child Sexual Abuse in the Anglican Church
* Child Sexual Abuse in the Roman Catholic Church
* The Sexual Abuse of Children in Custodial Institutions
* Child Sexual Abuse in Residential Schools
* The Internet and Child Sexual Abuse
* Child Sexual Exploitation by Organised Networks
* The Protection of Children Outside the United Kingdom
* Accountability and Reparations for Victims and Survivors
* Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse linked to Westminste
Source

Medomsley Detention Centre among the first to face child sex abuse inquiry

 27 November 2015 at 1:36pm

The allegations of sexual abuse at the former Medomsley Detention Centre in County Durham are to be among the first to be examined by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

More than twelve hundred former inmates have come forward to report physical and sexual abuse by staff, mainly during the 1970s and 80s. Today, the Inquiry Chair, Justice Goddard announced the first wave of investigations to be undertaken.

Last updated Fri 27 Nov 2015

Source

Abuse inquiry: MPs, councils and Churches to be investigated

The Anglican and Catholic churches and both former and current MPs are to be investigated by the inquiry into child sexual abuse, its chair has said.

Justice Lowell Goddard said councils in Lambeth, Nottinghamshire and Rochdale councils will also be examined as part of 12 separate investigations in England and Wales.

The scale of the inquiry was "unprecedented" in the UK, but she was determined it would succeed, she added.

The inquiry is due to take five years.
The 12 investigations will look at:

• Children in the care of Lambeth Council
• Children in the care of Nottinghamshire councils
• Cambridge House, Knowl View and Rochdale Council
• Child sexual abuse in the Anglican Church
• Child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church
• The sexual abuse of children in custodial institutions
• Child sexual abuse in residential schools
• The internet and child sexual abuse
• Child exploitation by organised networks
• The protection of children outside the United Kingdom
• Accountability and reparations for victims and survivors
• Allegations of child sexual abuse linked to Westminster

Anyone wishing to contact the inquiry with relevant information can use a dedicated NSPCC helpline on 0800 917 1000.

Justice Goddard said she was confident the range of investigations into "people of public prominence" would "give a voice to victims and survivors".

Image copyright Knowl View

Image caption Knowl View school, Manchester, where allegations of abuse span 26 years, is among institutions to be investigated

"To run 12 investigations in parallel represents an organisational challenge that is unprecedented in a public inquiry in the United Kingdom," she added.

"We are determined to succeed."

Lambeth council's leader, Lib Peck, said it had previously investigated crimes committed at its children's homes prior to their closure in 1983, which led to a number of criminal convictions.

But she added that in light of "new national concerns" about how child abuse issues were investigated, "it is right that the very serious events of the past are being looked at again".

'Culture of tolerance'

Steve Rumbelow, chief executive of Rochdale Borough Council, said it would give its "full support" to the inquiry.

Other institutions to be investigated as part of the inquiry include Medomsley Youth Detention Centre in County Durham, and Cambridge House boys' home and Knowl View in Rochdale - including claims relating to the late Cyril Smith, a Liberal MP.

An investigation will be held into allegations of child sexual abuse involving "people of public prominence" associated with Westminster - including MPs, senior civil servants, and members of the security services. Allegations of cover-up and conspiracy will also be looked at.

And there will also be an investigation into whether there was, within the highest levels of government, a "culture of tolerance" towards those suspected of child sexual abuse.

Liz Dux, a child abuse lawyer whose firm represents many of the victims to whom the abuse inquiry now applies, told BBC Radio 5 live they wanted to see "positive reforms come out of this inquiry to ensure that no other person suffers the way that they have done".

Among religious orders and institutions to be investigated are English Benedictine congregations, and the Anglican Diocese of Chichester in West Sussex, which have both been the subjects of child sexual abuse allegations.

Image copyright PA

 

The inquiry will look at how the Church of England dealt with abuse allegations, including against former bishop Peter Ball 

 

They will be used as case studies to establish whether they are representative of wider child protection failings within their respective churches.

In relation to the Church of England, the case of Peter Ball, a former bishop who was jailed after admitting abusing 18 young men, will be investigated to see whether there were attempts by prominent people to interfere in the criminal justice process.

The Church of England said on Friday that it welcomed Lord Justice Goddard's statement, and referred to the Archbishop of Canterbury's request in July that the Church be one of the first institutions to be considered in the inquiry.

Analysis by BBC home affairs correspondent Tom Symonds

Justice Lowell Goddard, who is leading the inquiry, has described the task ahead of her as daunting. She wasn't overestimating the challenge.

Her terms of reference mean she will have to examine the causes and effects of child abuse in all state or non-state institutions, as far back in history as required.

That could take 10 years. No-one really believes the official estimate, that it could take five.

Over the last four months, her team has been working on the tricky job of setting up a structure capable of achieving this task.

The inquiry still has its critics - but the once-vociferous campaign by victims and survivors who say they don't trust it to get to the truth is less visible than it was earlier in the year.

Read more from Tom Symonds

British institutions abroad, including the armed forces, Foreign Office and British Council will form another investigation strand.

Other investigations will look at how well abuse victims were treated by the authorities after making allegations, and institutional responses to internet abuse.

'Ambitious but possible'

All 12 investigations will begin with immediate effect and most, if not all, will culminate in public hearings, Justice Goddard said.

The independent inquiry was launched by Home Secretary Theresa May to look at how institutions and organisations, including the BBC, police, armed forces, schools and children's homes, handled abuse claims.

The scale of the work the inquiry has set itself is staggering, BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said.

Official purpose of the inquiry:

• To consider the extent to which state and non-state institutions have failed in their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation

• To consider the extent to which those failings have since been addressed

• To identify further action needed to address any failings identified

• To consider the steps which it is necessary for state and non-state institutions to take in order to protect children from such abuse in future

• To publish a report with recommendations

It will be the UK's largest-ever public inquiry and is expected to cost tens of millions of pounds.
The time-frame of five years was ambitious, but possible, Justice Goddard said.

The Victims and Survivors Consultative Panel to the inquiry said the investigations would give "public voice" to people who had suffered in silence.

It would also "bring greater understanding of why so many horrific crimes went unreported and undetected for so long", it added.

Source

Abuse inquiry head judge to name institutions to be examined

Other lines of inquiry include allegations of a cover-up involving the abuse committed by Peter Ball, the former bishop of Lewes and Gloucester over three decades, the allegations of abuse at the Medomsley Detention Centre in Durham – estimated to be almost 1,000 in total – as well as looking at the response of abuse allegations by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

One of 12 separate strands set out by Justice Goddard on Friday was an “objective fact-finding” inquiry into allegations of abuse by “people of public prominence associated with Westminster”.
Britain’s child sex abuse probe will investigate churches, schools and MPs as part of its “ambitious” inquiry, chairman Justice Lowell Goddard revealed today.

Councils in Lambeth, Nottinghamshire and Rochdale will also be probed, inquiry chair Justice Lowell Goddard has announced.

The New Zealand judge did not name any individuals.

It would consider the experience of Chichester, a diocese “beset by allegations of sexual abuse, and subject to numerous investigations, reviews and inquiries”, Justice Goddard said (News, 24 August, 2012).

The inquiry was set up a year ago following claims of a high-level cover up of abuse in Westminster and a wide range of other British institutions.

The investigations falls into two categories – institution-specific and thematic.

Simon Bass, from the Churches Child Protection Advisory Service, told Premier churches should be trustworthy places: “The Church by-and-large is a place of safety and sanctuary, but clearly it’s also a place where individuals have been harmed – and often by those individuals in positions of authority”. From the outset, we have taken these allegations seriously, and devoted a great deal of time and effort to look into them, support survivors and the police investigations.

Most, if not all of the investigations, will culminate in public hearings, she said.

The chairwoman announced investigations which form the first phase of its live evidence sessions, after months of research and private interviews with victims and survivors of child sex abuse. To run 12 investigations in parallel represents an organisational challenge that is unprecedented in a public inquiry in the United Kingdom.

“The scale of child sexual abuse in this country requires urgent and careful attention”, the judge said. Justice Goddard said her aim of the inquiry’s work being finished within five years is “achievable”.

Source

Child abuse inquiry: MPs, churches and spies among those examined for historic investigation

• 

  By Ewan Palmer
  November 27, 2015 12:44 GMT

The inquiry will investigate 'certain people of public prominence associated with Westminster' Reuters

Current and former MPs, local councils and the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches are among the 12 sections of investigation during the "unprecedented" government inquiry into child abuse.

Lambeth, Rochdale and Nottinghamshire councils will also be investigated over their failure to protect children from abuse in their care from paedophile gangs.

Knowl View School and Cambridge House Hostel – where former Lib Dem MP for Rochdale Cyril Smith was said to have abused children for years – will also be examined as part of the inquiry into how institutions failed to protect children.

Justice Lowell Goddard, head of the inquiry, announced 12 investigations will run at once across England and Wales. She said she hopes some of these will be concluded within 18 months, whereas others could take several years, describing the original five-year timetable for completion as "ambitious, but achievable".

Goddard said: "The investigation will focus on high-profile allegations of child sexual abuse involving current or former members of parliament, senior civil servants, government advisers and members of intelligence and security agencies. It will consider allegations of cover-up and conspiracy and review the adequacy of law enforcement responses to these allegations.

"By adopting both an institution-specific and a thematic approach, we will ensure that the inquiry reaches its conclusions on as broad an evidence base as possible. We will not be limited to considering the particular institution that is the focus of the investigation, but will address the range of institutional responsibility for child protection.

She added: "There is no doubt that the task we have set ourselves in the first phase is ambitious. To run 12 investigations in parallel represents an organisational challenge that is unprecedented in a public inquiry in the UK. We are determined to succeed and expect full cooperation of all institutions and individuals who can assist us in our work."

Other lines of inquiry include allegations of a cover-up involving the abuse committed by Peter Ball, the former bishop of Lewes and Gloucester over three decades, the allegations of abuse at the Medomsley Detention Centre in Durham – estimated to be nearly 1,000 in total – as well as looking at the response of abuse allegations by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

The investigations falls into two categories – institution-specific and thematic. They will take place across five areas of investigation:

• Allegations of abuse by people of prominence in public life
• Education and religion
• Criminal Justice and law enforcement
• Local authorities and voluntary organisations
• National and private service organisations

The Victims and Survivors Consultative Panel to the Inquiry said: "Too many victims and survivors of child sexual abuse have suffered in silence. These investigations will give public voice to that suffering and bring greater understanding of why so many horrific crimes went unreported and undetected for so long. They will enable the inquiry to make proposals for reforms that will better protect children in the future and improve the support and reparation available to victims and survivors.

"We welcome the progress of the truth project element of the inquiry, enabling victims and survivors through their personal accounts to contribute to the inquiry's work. We encourage anyone who is a victim or survivor of child sexual abuse and who wants to share their experience to contact the inquiry."

The inquiry officially opened in July following a stuttering start due to the resignations of its previous two chairs Fiona Woolf and Baroness Butler-Sloss as well as controversy surrounding deleted evidence. In October, the inquiry admitted submissions via the Independent Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse (IISCA) website was accidently permanently removed following a technical error and urged anyone who provided evidence online between 14 September and 2 October to resubmit.

Butler-Sloss stood down as chair in July 2014 over concerns about her links to the establishment, as her late brother, Lord Havers, was attorney general during the 1980s, when it is alleged a paedophile ring was operating in Westminster. Her replacement Woolf also resigned because of her connection to the former home secretary Leon Brittan, who died in January aged 75.

Source

Child sex abuse inquiry to focus on churches and politicians

Goddard says her independent inquiry will look at allegations against current and former MPs and claims of cover-ups

The lines of inquiry into child sexual abuse are set out by Judge Lowell Goddard

Sandra Laville

Friday 27 November 2015 14.38 GMT Last modified on Friday 27 November 2015 15.38 GMT

The independent inquiry into child sexual abuse in England and Wales will investigate allegations against politicians living and dead, and a variety of public institutions, in the first of 12 hearings into alleged abuse and cover-ups, the chair has said.

Judge Lowell Goddard revealed details of the first investigations to be carried out in public into child sexual abuse dating back decades. They cover institutions such as the Church of England, the Roman Catholic church, Westminster, children’s homes in Nottinghamshire and the London borough of Lambeth, child abuse on the internet, as well as grooming and sexual exploitation in Rochdale, Devon, Cornwall, Oxford and Rotherham.

The scale of the first 12 investigations to be announced – which will be followed by up to 13 more – was ambitious, Goddard admitted.

“To run 12 investigations in parallel represents an organisational challenge that is unprecedented in a public inquiry in the United Kingdom,” she said.

“We are determined to succeed and expect full co-operation of all institutions and individuals who can assist us in our work.”

While some of the investigations may take 18 months, others could last many years, but Goddard said she hoped to keep to her timetable of the inquiry lasting five years.

Goddard’s £17.9m investigation – the biggest public inquiry into institutional child abuse and accusations of establishment cover-ups ever held in England and Wales – will not be able to convict people or punish them. She has said, however, that she will not shrink from naming individuals who have abused children and the institutions which allowed it to happen.

The allegations of abuse by politicians and civil servants at Westminster will be among the first of the inquiries to take place. Goddard said the claims would be examined as part of “an objective fact-finding inquiry”.

“The investigation will focus on high-profile allegations of child sexual abuse involving current or former members of parliament, senior civil servants, government advisers, and members of the intelligence and security agencies. It will consider allegations of cover­-up and conspiracy and will review the adequacy of law enforcement responses to these allegations.”

Other high-profile child sexual abuse scandals to be investigated by the inquiry and heard in public include the abuse carried out by the Liberal Democrat MP Cyril Smith and others at Knowl View school and Cambridge House boys hostel in Rochdale.

There will be a separate investigation into whether establishment figures put pressure on police and prosecutors to cover up the years of sexual abuse by the Church of England’s then bishop of Gloucester, Peter Ball.

Ball, who was bishop of Lewes, in the Chichester diocese, before he took up his post in Gloucester, was convicted this year of the sexual abuse of 18 young men between 1977 and 1992. It emerged during his trial that he had escaped justice 22 years ago after what victims say was an establishment cover-up.

Ball is one of a string of Church of England figures who abused children in the Chichester diocese, and their crimes are only now – years later – being brought to criminal courts. Goddard said: “We will consider the experience of the diocese of Chichester, a diocese that has been beset by allegations of sexual abuse and subject to numerous investigations, reviews and inquiries.

“We will also consider the case of former bishop of Lewes, and subsequent bishop of Gloucester, Peter Ball, and investigate whether there were inappropriate attempts by people of prominence to interfere in criminal justice processes after he was first accused of child sexual offences.”

The 12 investigations will also examine sexual abuse in children’s homes in Lambeth and Nottinghamshire. “The abuse of children in the care of Lambeth council and Nottingham and Nottinghamshire councils demands thorough and searching examinations of what may have taken place,” Goddard said. “The inquiry intends to hear from victims and survivors of sexual abuse that happened whilst they were in the care of these councils, and to assess the extent to which a wide spectrum of public authorities in those areas failed to protect children.”
 
Among the other investigations outlined was a separate inquiry into Medomsley juvenile detention centre in County Durham, in connection with which Goddard said she had already received “many hundreds” of allegations of abuse.

“The apparent scale of abuse at Medomsley demands a rigorous inquiry into how such allegations, if true, could have gone uninvestigated and the offending undetected for so long. Our inquiry will pose probing questions of the secure estate for children and young people, the police and the criminal justice system.”

Another investigation will examine abuse in the Roman Catholic church, following a series of scandals involving clergy. It will focus in particular on allegations of child abuse by Benedictine monks in public schools such as Ampleforth college, where several monks and three members of the lay teaching staff allegedly abused children in their care, and the Benedictine monastery at Downside Abbey.

The investigation was set up last year following claims of a high-level cover-up of abuse and has been beset by delays because of the resignations of two previous chairwomen. It is expected to cost tens of millions of pounds.

The 12 investigations will be followed by more investigations into specific cases, with the inquiry team investigating up to 25 cases in total. Alongside that work thousands of victims of child abuse are taking part in a Truth Project, in which they will share their experience of abuse in private hearings, all of which will become evidence to be analysed by the inquiry.
The 12 investigations are:

1. Children in the care of Lambeth council
2. Children in the care of Nottinghamshire councils
3. Cambridge House, Knowl View and Rochdale council
4. Child sexual abuse in the Anglican church
5. Child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic church
6. The sexual abuse of children in custodial institutions
7. Child sexual abuse in residential schools
8. Theinternet and childsexual abuse
9. Child exploitation by organised networks
10. The protection of children outside the United Kingdom
11. Accountability and reparations for victims and survivors
12. Allegations of child sexual abuse linked to Westminster

The Church of England welcomed its inclusion in the inquiry. The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the bishop of Durham, Paul Butler, had publicly called for the church to be among the first institutions to be investigated by the Goddard inquiry.

“We’re absolutely clear that the Church of England and other churches need to be involved in this inquiry as we already know there are parts of our history that involve church people having committed abuse,” Butler said in July last year.

“So we have to be investigated just like anybody else and there will probably be some unpleasant and difficult stories to handle and I accept that’s part of the reality.”

The Catholic church, which has also seen a string of cases of sexual abuse by clergy dating back decades, also welcomed Goddard’s announcement and said it was establishing a council to ensure full cooperation with the inquiry.

Source

www.iicsa.org.uk update-statement-november-2015.pdf