Life sentence rape case one of three under review

Monday 16 February 2015

Fears about three separate child abuse cases – including the case that landed paedophile Ian Bartlett a life sentence last week - have prompted a major independent review.

The review will cover how abuse victims are identified, how cases are managed, how children are listened to and how agencies looking after children co-operate and work together.

Yesterday, in response to the story about Bartlett (55) being given a life sentence with a minimum period of ten years for what police called “the worst campaign of sustained abuse against a single person” that Jersey has ever seen, the oversight board for protecting children announced that a review was already in progress.

The Serious Case Review will be carried out by an independent expert to identify what went wrong in the three cases, see what improvements can be made, and ensure that changes are actually carried out.

It will be published later this year.

The announcement that the review was being undertaken by Glenys Johnston OBE, the independent expert who chairs the Safeguarding Partnership Board that is made up of Island agencies who have a role in looking after children, including Education, Social Services, the police, the Youth Service and the NSPCC. She wrote the report on the Philpott fire tragedy in 2012 that saw six children die in a fire – it later emerged that the fire was started by the children’s parents, Mick and Mairead Philpott, who were both jailed for multiple counts of manslaughter.

Her statement said: “The sentencing this week concludes an investigation which exposed a very serious case of child sexual abuse.

“The child and the child’s family are now being supported by partner agencies.

“The case is one of three which have been included by the Safeguarding Partnership Board in a thematic serious case review (SCR) which will be published later this year.

“The SCR is a critical analysis of multi-agency practice as it applies in the cases included. The review will address a number of themes including, the identification of sexual abuse; supervision and management oversight; multi-agency working and listening to the voice of the child.

“Improvements have been made but challenges remain which will need to be met. I am confident that Jersey agencies are committed to the SCR process, to learning from the findings of the review and to continuing to strengthen the policies and practice to ensure that Jersey’s vulnerable children are safeguarded.”