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St Helena abuse inquiry finds 'no corruption or cover-up' St Helena abuse inquiry finds 'no corruption or cover-up'
(about 1 hour later)
An independent inquiry into child abuse in the British overseas territory of Saint Helena has found no evidence of government corruption or a cover-up. An independent inquiry has dismissed allegations of endemic child abuse and a government cover-up in the British overseas territory of St Helena.
But the report found there was evidence of "system failings by social services and police in the past".But the report found there was evidence of "system failings by social services and police in the past".
Barrister Sasha Wass QC, who led the inquiry, said "significant progress" had been made in child protection on the Atlantic island.Barrister Sasha Wass QC, who led the inquiry, said "significant progress" had been made in child protection on the Atlantic island.
The UK government has given £1.2m to help improve services.The UK government has given £1.2m to help improve services.
The inquiry was launched following claims that government departments in St Helena helped cover up child sexual abuse. Ms Wass dismissed allegations of widespread abuse and said press reports, which labelled St Helena as a "paedophiles' paradise" gave a "totally misleading" picture.
The Foreign Office, the Department for International Development and the island's government were investigated as part of the inquiry. The senior barrister also concluded there was "no truth" in allegations by "whistleblower" social workers that abuse on the island had been covered up by the UK and St Helena governments.
The Foreign Office, the Department for International Development and the island's authorities were all investigated as part of the inquiry.
The report concluded that the social workers' claims were a "gross distortion of reality" and allegations against others were made "in order to deflect from their own incompetence and wrongdoing".
The report also strongly criticised the findings of a previous investigation by the Lucy Faithfull Foundation charity in 2013.
Ms Wass said: "There was child abuse on St Helena but it was confined to isolated pockets of the population and involved a limited number of problem families."
However the report did find evidence of a "lack of understanding" of child safeguarding in some cases and raised the concern that a disabled adult was "literally left to waste away".
She also found signs that the unusual population profile of the island - where young adults often left to find work - had resulted in cases of underage sex.
But, she said: "The relationships… are not portrayed as the type of abusive or exploitative relationships such as one might find in the well-publicised Rochdale, Rotherham and Oxford cases in the UK."
St Helena and its dependencies - Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha - are about midway between Africa and South America in the South Atlantic Ocean and have an overall population of about 4,000.St Helena and its dependencies - Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha - are about midway between Africa and South America in the South Atlantic Ocean and have an overall population of about 4,000.
Though far from each other, they form a single territorial grouping under the sovereignty of the British Crown.Though far from each other, they form a single territorial grouping under the sovereignty of the British Crown.