In a phase which is expected to reveal how senior officials in the Island reacted to abuse allegations, the panel is to hear from those involved in the high-profile child abuse investigation set up when reports of widespread sex crimes at Haut de la Garenne and other institutions surfaced in 2008.
Among those to be called are Bailiff William Bailhache, who has held numerous senior positions in the Law Officers’ Department, former Home Affairs Ministers Wendy Kinnard, Andrew Lewis and Ian Le Marquand, former police chief Graham Power and his deputy Lenny Harper, who led the 2008 child abuse investigation – named Operation Rectangle – and former States Chief Officer Bill Ogley.
The inquiry will also hear evidence from former Deputy Bob Hill on Thursday.
The witnesses are due to give evidence on other child abuse investigations as well.
And on Tuesday, the first witness to be called, former States police officer Anton Cornelissen, claimed that several senior officers within the force attempted to cover up abuse
allegations made against former Victoria College teacher Andrew Jervis-Dykes in the 1990s.
He also claimed that the school’s former deputy head, John Le Breton, who had left the school and become a Jurat, intervened in the investigation and tried to stop an arrest warrant being issued.
Outlining the new phase, which will examine Operation Rectangle and investigate whether there was any political interference in it, counsel to the inquiry Patrick Sadd said: ‘Part of the inquiry’s remit is to evaluate what policies and procedures were in use by the police when investigating child abuse, whether the policies and procedures were adequate and whether police followed those policies and procedures. These witnesses will be providing evidence on the approach taken by the police at different periods.’
He added that the panel will also be investigating the Law Officers’ Department and the role it played in decisions to prosecute.
