The prominent public figures are believed to have been part of an elite paedophile ring as they have been identified “again and again” by callers to child abuse helplines.
LONDON – In what could be the biggest sexual scandal to hit Westminster, 20 “establishment figures” which includes at least 10 “famous” current and former politicians may soon face investigations over allegations of historic child abuse.
The prominent public figures are believed to have been part of an elite paedophile ring as they have been identified “again and again” by callers to child abuse helplines.
Dr Jon Bird of the National Association for People Abused In Childhood (Napac) admitted on Wednesday that “it looks like the 10 politicians will at last face up to the accusations. The names of people in very high places, politicians, senior police officers and even some judges, have been going around as alleged abusers for a very long time”.
Peter McKelvie who successfully convicted paedophile Peter Righton said there was a “powerful elite of paedophiles who carried out the worst form of abuse”.
Britain’s home minister Theresa May meanwhile has announced an independent inquiry to look into how the state and other institutions have handled accusations of abuse over the past four decades.
May told the parliament “that in the 1980s the Home Office failed to act on allegations of child sex abuse. Public bodies and other important institutions have also failed to take seriously their duty of care towards children. We will do everything we can to allow the full investigation of child abuse and the prosecution of its perpetrators and we will do nothing to jeopardise those aims. We will make sure that wherever individuals and institutions have failed to protect children from harm, we will expose these failures and learn the lessons”.
May admitted that in recent times, Britain has seen appalling cases of organised and persistent child sex abuse. This includes abuse by celebrities like Jimmy Savile and Rolf Harris, as well as the systematic abuse of vulnerable girls in Derby, Rochdale and Oxford.
May added “Some of these cases have exposed a failure by public bodies to take their duty of care seriously and some have shown that the organisations responsible for protecting children from abuse – including the police, social services and schools – have failed to work together properly”.
May on Tuesday appointed Peter Wanless – the chief executive of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children to lead a review about how the police and prosecutors handled any related information that was handed to them.
May also told the House that “the government will establish an independent inquiry panel of experts in the law and child protection to consider whether public bodies – and other non-state institutions – have taken seriously their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse”.
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