Authorities damned in abuse case

[Alison J Stevens]

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.Value system failings