UNITED KINGDOM
The Independent
Child sex abuse inquiry will be biggest ever established in England and Wales, says judge in charge
CAHAL MILMO Thursday 09 July 2015
The judge in charge of the public inquiry into child sex abuse vowed that “no-one, no matter how powerful” will be allowed avoid its scrutiny as it emerged that the wide-ranging investigation could take as long as a decade to complete.
Justice Lowell Goddard, the New Zealand judge brought in to head the inquiry after her two predecessors resigned over concerns about their links to the Establishment, said it would be the “largest and most ambitious” public inquiry ever established in England and Wales. Its scope would stretch across five key areas of society from “the corridors of power in Westminster to children’s homes in the poorest parts of the country”, the judge said.
Speaking at the formal opening of the inquiry in central London, Justice Goddard said she would name individuals and institutions who were found to have been involved in or covered up the sexual abuse of children after concern from victims that highly-placed perpetrators of abuse or institutions would escape being held to account. Among the organisations the judge said could expect to be scrutinised were Internet Service Providers over the distribution of online child abuse imagery and insurance companies, who must answer claims that they historically obstructed admissions of liability in abuse cases.
The inquiry was announced last year by Home Secretary Theresa May following the unveiling of evidence of a high-level cover-up of historical abuse by public figures, including Westminster politicians. Its remit is to look specifically at public and private institutions and whether they responded correctly to allegations of sexual abuse – as well as those responsible for that abuse – rather than cases that occurred solely within families.
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