Welsh Secretary warns abusers of children in care they can be tracked down
Paedophiles involved in abusing children in care who believe they are “untouchable” should be “looking over their shoulder”, the Welsh Secretary warned.
Stephen Crabb said successes by an ongoing criminal investigation into recent allegations of historical abuse in the North Wales care system shows offenders can be tracked down.
He told MPs that Operation Pallial, led by the National Crime Agency (NCA), has seen seven men convicted while 102 complaints are being investigated, with a total of 51 men or women arrested or interviewed under caution.
A further eight people have been acquitted after a jury trial, Mr Crabb added.
He also noted an independent review found there was enough evidence to suggest 25 suspects who are now dead could have been charged with various offences.
Two trials linked to the investigation are scheduled for this year with more expected, MPs heard.
Mr Crabb, replying to Labour’s Paul Flynn (Newport West), said: “In terms of continuing the investigation of those who are guilty, let’s be clear – there are people walking around in North Wales and elsewhere in the United Kingdom right now who were there at the time, who participated in these acts, who witnessed these acts, who have gone for years thinking they’re untouchable.
“Well, I hope the summary of the achievements of Operation Pallial so far… will demonstrate that these people should be walking around looking over their shoulder.”
Mr Crabb made the remarks as MPs debated a newly-published review of the Waterhouse inquiry, which examined abuse between 1974 and 1996, by Lady Justice Macur.
The Cabinet minister, in his summary of Operation Pallial, told the Commons: “A total of 16 people have been charged or summonsed to court as a result of Operation Pallial so far.
“Charging advice is awaited in relation to a further 26 suspects. A total of 32 suspects are believed to be dead and work is ongoing to confirm this.
“An independent review against 25 of these deceased suspects has indicated that there would have been sufficient evidence to make a case to the CPS for them to be charged with various offences.
“Those who made complaints in such cases have been updated personally by the Pallial team.
“A further two trials have been set for 2016, with further trials expected.”
Mr Flynn called for further investigations, telling Mr Crabb: “Page 300 of the Waterhouse report lists the names of 13 young men who couldn’t give evidence to the new report because they’ve lost their lives.
“Most of them took their lives following the case where they went before those who were accused, who were all used to giving evidence in courts, some of them because of their police backgrounds.
“The victims were torn to shreds in a merciless way and several of them took their lives as a direct consequence of the abuse being continued by our courts system and it’s still continuing today.”
Mr Flynn added: “Is that long historic abuse of those people still continuing?”
Mr Crabb replied: “We are talking about heinous, horrific acts of abuse. We’re talking about children who were in the care of the state and got anything but the care of the state and this is a long and tragic sequence of events.
“I don’t actually think today’s report will bring full closure to absolutely everybody who lived through those experiences, of course it won’t.”
He praised Lady Justice Macur’s “thoroughness and diligence” in examining the Waterhouse inquiry’s paperwork, trying to “make sense of whether victims were getting a fair shout” and addressing the allegations.
Mr Crabb then added his warning to those people involved in the abuse.
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