UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail
One in 20 children may have been victims of abuse says chairman of abuse inquiry as she opens probe which will take five years
By RICHARD SPILLETT FOR MAILONLINE
The chair of the inquiry into child abuse has revealed fears that as many as one in 20 children in England and Wales may have been victims.
Judge Lowell Goddard gave a statement this morning as she launched the inquiry into the role of authorities in aiding or failing to tackle child abuse.
She said there were indications of systematic ‘under-recording and mis-recording’ of child sex abuse by the police and other agencies.
The New Zealand high court judge warned: ‘The true figures may be worse than the official figures estimate.’
The independent inquiry was set up last year amid claims of an establishment cover-up following allegations that a paedophile ring operated in Westminster in the 1980s.
But after a year of delays it was opened today and is expected to take up to five years to complete.
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