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ST MARTIN - Police are watching Jersey's ports and airport in an attempt to monitor alleged suspects who may try to flee as the investigation into the island's child abuse scandal widens.
A list of names, which have been corroborated in the testimonies of scores of victims, has
been circulated by detectives on Jersey and throughout the UK.
Most of the suspects are alive and connected in some way to the former children's home Haut de la Garenne, where more than 160 youngsters are alleged to have been raped and beaten - and at least one possibly murdered - in a campaign of "systematic and endemic" abuse that may have lasted seven decades.
"These people know who they are. Some will be waiting for the inevitable knock on the door," said deputy police chief Lenny Harper, who is leading the investigation.
Police have discovered further rooms in the underground complex at Haut de la Garenne. "Latest examinations show that there may be two other rooms beyond the first two we have identified and the courtyard is of interest," Harper said.
One of the two newly discovered rooms leads off a large chamber next to the cellar, which is being searched extensively. The fourth room, which was located using ground-penetrating radar, is thought to lead off the third room. Testimonies from victims have also suggested there is a fifth room.
Forensic specialists were still examining the cellar in the hope of unearthing clues and DNA samples. Although police have yet to confirm whether instruments of torture such as shackles have been discovered in the rooms, Harper said the findings so far have made him "very uneasy".
It seems clear, however, that whoever committed the alleged horrors at Haut de la Garenne intended the world never to find out. The forensic specialists believe the cellar may have been booby trapped to prevent it being disturbed. Those privy to its hot, dusty interior refer to it as a "death trap".
Teetering piles of rocks and debris threaten to topple and crush officers sifting through the debris. Two stone lintels have been loaded with piled debris and could fall at any point. The floor, police suspect, may have been deliberately smothered with debris. It was confirmed yesterday that police are questioning a former care worker at the home for allegedly trying to intimidate a victim who had told police of sexual abuse allegations.
- OBSERVER
