Sadly, everything about the Jersey Child Abuse Scandal is typical of the Channel Islands.
It's typical that the abuse went on. Child abuse in the islands is far more common than even the self-righteous middle class howler, the Daily Mail would have us believe. Indeed, I know more than one victim and an old friend and I took pleasure in reporting an abuser ourselves in Guernsey in 1992. After an investigation, he was convicted on three counts of indecent behaviour with a minor (amazingly, not rape) and got three counts of four months - running concurrently. He was out in 12 weeks and we still had to lobby hard to get his PSV license revoked so he couldn't drive a taxi! Of course, it's disgusting that he got away with such a laughingly light sentence, but that's pretty typical - even supposing there had been enough convictions from which to glean meaningful statistics.
I'm prepared to bet big money that the Channel Islands have the lowest conviction rates and jail sentences for child abuse anywhere in the civilised world. In fact, a third conviction for drink-driving or half an ounce of cannabis is likely to get you a much harsher sentence and certainly a far bigger fine than rape of a child.
It's also typical that the Island's politicians tried to cover it up. The Channel Islands are a largely closed society where the major business and political landscape is controlled by a small minority of families. Anything that reflects badly on the islands will be covered up and the people involved will be protected, moved to other posts or at worst pensioned off with a comfy life in the sticks. The chap we went after had many friends and we had to hand the police a raft of evidence before they would even investigate. Even after he came out of prison, he didn't lose his job immediately, but was simple transferred to a desk.
Finally, it's very typical that even such a distasteful subject as child abuse will still attract the local politicians like flies on shit. Once the scandal breaks, there will be ones in power who will scream loudly in solicitous soundbites that a full enquiry must be held and that the people responsible will be brought to justice (while simultaneously quietly working to protect them!). There will be the ones out of power who will crow with equal screaming vigour that this was the fault of him and her in power and wouldn't have happened if THEY'D been elected.
The whole political shitstorm will be veiled in a cloak of semi-secrecy, that hides not the Machiavellian machinations of the ruthlessly efficient, but the blundering incompetence of the terminally inbred.
This scandal will not be covered up and the sole reason is that when the Jersey Police were pressured into a coverup, the Chief Officer did what should have done and called the UK police in, to guarantee impartiality. It's likely that his actions will eventually cost him his career, but he had no other choice.
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