Lambeth Council: Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse
By Grainne Cuffe 30th June 2020
By Grainne Cuffe 30th June 2020
Lambeth Council officials previously dismissed reports of child abuse as “fantasy” and described the children who spoke up as “sexual deviants”, an inquiry into historical abuse cases heard.
Over the course of several decades, from the 1930s to the 1990s, hundreds of children in Lambeth’s care were subjected to prolonged sexual, racial, and physical abuse.
An inquiry into the “horrifying national scandal” heard that already vulnerable children were targeted by paedophiles working at children’s homes controlled by the council.
It heard that prominent politicians, police officers and businessmen are alleged to have been involved in the filming of sexual abuse against children.
Some of the abuse is alleged to have been filmed in council buildings, including the town hall.
Despite the widespread abuse, the authorities failed to look into allegations at the time.
The inquiry heard that convicted sex offender Michael John Carroll was allowed to continue working with children even after his record was brought to light. He was dismissed years later for “financial irregularities”.
The four-week public hearing, which began on Monday (June 29), is part of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
It will investigate the scale and nature of sexual abuse experienced by children in Lambeth over many decades, and examine the extent of any institutional failures to protect children.
It will look at five of Lambeth’s children’s homes, including the notorious Shirley Oaks, the council’s oldest and largest residential care home, with up to 350 children aged two to 17 living there until its closure in 1983.....
Iain O’Donnell, representing seven complainants, said the inquiry will hear evidence of how a paedophile ring “effectively infiltrated” Lambeth’s children’s homes from the 1960s, “if not earlier”, where they preyed upon children for decades.
He said: “You will hear equally serious evidence suggesting those in positions of power in Lambeth Borough Council were aware of the horrific sexual assaults being inflicted on the children in its care.
“They either turned a blind eye or took back-handed payments to bury documentary evidence and ship many of those children off to far flung locations across the country so Lambeth could forget what it had done to them.”
Mr O’Donnell said Lambeth was “corrupt to its core”, with many employees aware of how the abuse had continued.
The inquiry heard that an assistant director at the council continuously overruled an investigation into a foster carer who was abusing very young children, including a baby....
Jeffrey Epstein Confidante Ghislaine Maxwell Arrested on Sex Abuse Charges
Prosecutors allege Maxwell helped Epstein traffic and abuse underage girls; he died by suicide awaiting trial last year
By Jonathan Dienst, Joe Valiquette, Tom Winter and Sarah Fitzpatrick • Published July 2, 2020....
The six-count indictment in Manhattan federal court alleges that Maxwell helped Epstein groom girls as young as 14 years old, going back as far as 1994. Prosecutors say she was in the room during — and took part in — the sexual abuse of three underage girls at Epstein's Upper East Side townhouse, his Florida estate and his ranch in New Mexico. She faces up to 35 years in prison....
But she was also alleged to have helped Epstein groom teen girls for sex with the rich and powerful. One of those teens, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, leveled that charge against Maxwell in a 2015 defamation suit, as have a number of other women since.
"In some instances, Maxwell was present for and participated in the sexual abuse of minor victims," the indictment says.
Epstein, a registered sex offender who nonetheless kept company with presidents and captains of industry, was arrested last summer on new federal charges of exploiting dozens of underage girls in New York and Florida in the early 2000s....
