THROUGHOUT human history the young and weak have been preyed upon by a small minority of deviant adults. The difference between the past and the modern age, however, is that, in the developed world, we have agencies whose role it is to protect the vulnerable and bring the guilty to justice.

Very sadly, there are occasions when the network of services dedicated to the care and protection of young people fail in the execution of their duties. Such cases hit the headlines in the UK all too frequently, but it is apparent that similar failings have also been seen here.

Public attention was, of course, captured and held by the whole Haut de la Garenne investigation, associated cases and linked prosecutions, but the latest offences and alleged official shortcomings concern the recent past rather than events of decades past. Moreover, if huge ambiguity still surrounds major parts of the historical child abuse inquiry because the matters it concerns are remote in time and the waters were muddied by a partially botched investigation, no such doubts apply to the present case.

It was revealed at the end of last week that a child who was the victim of paedophiles in an environment of awful neglect was failed over a period of 12 years not only by social services but also by the courts, the police and schools. Regular contact with the full range of support services did not break an appalling cycle of systematic abuse.

Quite rightly, the independent serious case review which led to the damning conclusions about support service inadequacies has prompted an official apology. This was delivered by Health Minister Anne Pryke, but she also spoke on behalf of two colleagues, Education Minister James Reed and Home Affairs Minister Ian Le Marquand.

All the ministers concerned might claim that much of the abuse did not occur on their watch, but it is now clearly incumbent upon them – and others concerned – to implement the review’s recommendations. Such failures must never be allowed to happen again.
The remarks of Advocate Tim Hanson, who has accused the Council of Ministers of reluctance to fund ‘best and necessary’ care to protect the child at the centre of this case and of reluctance to acknowledge the existence of ‘evident and present failings’, must also be heeded. If it is indeed the lack of resources or if wilful official blindness played any part in this very sorry affair, the situation must be rectified and rectified with utmost speed.