A former government minister, who last year raised concerns about the treatment of children in Jersey's care homes, today claimed there was a "disgraceful and disgusting failure" to deal with abuse on the island.
Stuart Syvret, health and social services minister until September last year, today described the continuing search for six more bodies at the Haut de la Garenne care home, where a child's remains were found on Saturday, as just the latest example of "a culture of cover-up and concealment".
His comments came as it emerged that Edward Paisnel, a notorious paedophile dubbed the "Beast of Jersey", used to visit Haut de la Garenne dressed as Father Christmas.
Paisnel was jailed for 30 years in 1971 after being convicted of 13 counts of assault, rape and sodomy.
Syvret claimed he was "sacked for whistleblowing" when he was dismissed from his post as health and social services minister in September, shortly after highlighting the "torture" of 11 - 16-year-olds in the island's care homes.
Brandishing an independent report into abuse at a boys' school on the island, Syvret claimed it detailed a "disgraceful and disgusting failure" to deal with abuse which was "carried for years".
He said that one paedophile had been convicted in relation to abuse at the school but that there was a deliberate attempt by certain members of staff and governors to "humiliate and intimidate and force those boys [who had made allegations] into withdrawing their complaints –fortunately they didn't".
Earlier, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "People mustn't necessarily - as bad as it is - be distracted by the Haut de la Garenne story because the real issue here is we are looking at multiple examples of abuse at multiple institutions over a period of decades and decades.
"It's a continuum that we see. It's a culture of cover-up and concealment and tragically the recent evidence is just the latest manifestation of that."
Jersey's chief minister, Frank Walker, who has denied allegations of a cover-up, is to make a statement to the island's parliament today and will face questions about the investigation.
A sniffer dog has identified six possible burial sites in and around the Haut de la Garenne building which closed as a care home in 1986.
Deputy police chief Lenny Harper said yesterday the cellar was a "point of interest", but it has been blocked up and officers have been trying to smash their way in.
Paisnel lived in St Martin, close to Haut de la Garenne, and after his trial, his wife Joan wrote a book claiming Paisnel used to visit the care home to take gifts to the children, who he asked to call him "Uncle Ted".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/feb/26/ukcrime.childprotection1?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront
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