Historic abuse police on the case of 24 alleged abusers still alive – including five “high-profile individuals”

Wednesday 17 February 2016

A team of seven investigators reviewing historical child abuse are working on allegations involving 57 potential offenders – including 24 who are alive today, among whom are five “individuals in the public eye."

Police say that they have taken more than 100 witness statements since the operation was launched, and that 26 new complaints were made after they went public with Operation Whistle last June.

Detective Superintendent Stewart Gull – the States of Jersey Police’s Head of Crime Services – says that even though some of the allegations relate to abuse committed many years ago, the police are still committed to bringing offenders to justice.

He says that 13 suspects have already been interviewed under caution by his team.

The dead suspects include former UK Prime Minister Ted Heath, who has been named as a child sex abuse suspect being investigated by five separate police forces.

He is the only one of the Operation Whistle suspects who has been named by the States Police.

Detective Superintendent Gull, who was the detective who caught 'Suffolk strangler' Steve Wright for the murders of five women in 2006, said that the work of the team was continuing.

In a statement, he said: “The team continue to work tirelessly on these complex investigations, working in support of victims and constantly assessing the potential on-going threat and risk from alleged offenders.

“Despite the passage of time, we remain committed to holding alleged perpetrators to account.

“An additional 26 victims have come forward since we commenced this operation last June, which reinforces our belief that victims continue to demonstrate trust and confidence in the criminal justice system.”