4pm GMT update Jersey care homes 'covered up abuses'
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 last September, 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 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 as health and social services minister shortly after highlighting the "torture" of 11 to 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 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.
The education minister, Mike Vibert, said he had reviewed the case at the school identified by Syvret and the abuse "was taken seriously".
"The man responsible was successfully prosecuted and subsequently imprisoned," he said.
Vibert said an independent report was commissioned after the court case that "made a number of recommendations and all have since been implemented".
He said the report had not been published because it could lead to the identification of the children involved.
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 had been blocked up and officers have been trying to smash their way in.
They suspended the search this afternoon to seek advice from a structural engineer on "gaining access to a section of the home".
Paisnel lived in St Martin, close to Haut de la Garenne. 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".
Channel Islands including Jersey

Frank Walker, the chief minister of Jersey, a United Kingdom Crown dependency off the coast of Normandy, France, denies that there was a cover up after a child's remains were found.

The allegations of a cover-up stem from statements by Stuart Syvret. Syvret, the former Minister for Health and Social Services for Jersey, said that "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."

It has come to light that Edward Paisnel, a notorious pedophile, used to visit the Haut de la Garenne children's home dressed as Father Christmas. Paisnel in 1971, was given a sentence of 30 years for 13 counts of assault, rape and sodomy.

Syvret says he was dismissed from his ministerial position after highlighting the "torture" of 11 to 16-year-olds in the island's care homes. He claimed he was "sacked for whistleblowing".

Police are currently investigating twenty-seven cases of child abuse on the island and recently discovered the body of one child at a care home Haut de la Garenne in St. Martin, and with a potential six sites in the area where more bodies may be located. The home was closed in 1986 and since 2003 it has served as a youth hostel.

Jersey's deputy police chief, Lenny Harper said "Part of the inquiry will be the fact that a lot of the victims tried to report their assaults but for some reason or another they were not dealt with as they should be."

Harper added that "no evidence of a cover-up of any Jersey government" has been found. "We are looking at allegations that a number of agencies didn't deal with things as perhaps they should."

Syvret has encouraged the government of the United Kingdom to assign independent judges to oversee any cases that result from the investigations.

Builders originally uncovered a body at the care home in 2003 but it was only since an operation investigate child abuse started in 2006 that progress has been made. An ex-minister of the States of Jersey, the parliament of the island, has criticised the handling of the case, stating that abuse cases were mishandled. 

Walker told senators that all necessary resources would be use to find the abusers. "None of us imagined that children in Jersey could be abused and mistreated in the way that is being suggested," the BBC have quoted him as saying. "I express my shock and horror that these things have apparently happened within our island."

Specialist police from the United Kingdom have been investigating after an enquiry turned up 140 sources verifying the claims of abuse.