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| Britain to Investigate Allegations of Sexual Abuse Cover-Up Decades Ago | Britain to Investigate Allegations of Sexual Abuse Cover-Up Decades Ago |
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| LONDON — After days of news media reports potentially heralding a new sexual abuse scandal, British officials announced on Monday an inquiry into claims that the authorities had covered up allegations of organized child abuse in government circles decades ago. | LONDON — After days of news media reports potentially heralding a new sexual abuse scandal, British officials announced on Monday an inquiry into claims that the authorities had covered up allegations of organized child abuse in government circles decades ago. |
| Theresa May, the home secretary, also ordered the creation of a separate panel to inquire into the way public institutions protected children from abuse. The government will “do everything we can to allow the full investigation of child abuse and the prosecution of its perpetrators,” she told Parliament. | Theresa May, the home secretary, also ordered the creation of a separate panel to inquire into the way public institutions protected children from abuse. The government will “do everything we can to allow the full investigation of child abuse and the prosecution of its perpetrators,” she told Parliament. |
| The inquiries opened a new chapter in a long-running narrative of sexual misconduct by high-profile figures like the entertainers Rolf Harris, sentenced last week, and Jimmy Savile, who died in 2011, that has darkened Britons’ view of their recent history and the behavior of some in positions of influence. | The inquiries opened a new chapter in a long-running narrative of sexual misconduct by high-profile figures like the entertainers Rolf Harris, sentenced last week, and Jimmy Savile, who died in 2011, that has darkened Britons’ view of their recent history and the behavior of some in positions of influence. |
| “I am absolutely determined that we are going to get to the bottom of these allegations, and we’re going to leave no stone unturned to find out the truth about what happened,” Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters during a visit to the British Midlands. “And it’s also important that the police feel that they can go wherever the evidence leads and they can make all the appropriate arrangements to investigate these things properly.” | “I am absolutely determined that we are going to get to the bottom of these allegations, and we’re going to leave no stone unturned to find out the truth about what happened,” Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters during a visit to the British Midlands. “And it’s also important that the police feel that they can go wherever the evidence leads and they can make all the appropriate arrangements to investigate these things properly.” |
| Ms. May said that Peter Wanless, the chief executive of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, would lead the first inquiry, lasting 8 to 10 weeks, into reports that, in the 1980s, scores documents relating to systematic sexual abuse of children by people in high office went astray — lost, destroyed or hidden — at the Home Office itself. | Ms. May said that Peter Wanless, the chief executive of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, would lead the first inquiry, lasting 8 to 10 weeks, into reports that, in the 1980s, scores documents relating to systematic sexual abuse of children by people in high office went astray — lost, destroyed or hidden — at the Home Office itself. |
| A second inquiry, to be conducted by an expert panel, would investigate whether public institutions had fulfilled their duty to shield children from abuse, she said. That investigation would likely take months. “Wherever institutions and individuals have failed to protect children from harm we will expose those failures and learn the lessons,” Ms. May said. | A second inquiry, to be conducted by an expert panel, would investigate whether public institutions had fulfilled their duty to shield children from abuse, she said. That investigation would likely take months. “Wherever institutions and individuals have failed to protect children from harm we will expose those failures and learn the lessons,” Ms. May said. |
| The Home Office said after a preliminary inquiry last year that more than 100 files went missing over a period of 20 years, including a sheaf of documents given to a senior politician, the former Home Secretary Leon Brittan, a Conservative former member of the European Commission who now sits as Lord Brittan in the House of Lords, the upper house of Parliament. | The Home Office said after a preliminary inquiry last year that more than 100 files went missing over a period of 20 years, including a sheaf of documents given to a senior politician, the former Home Secretary Leon Brittan, a Conservative former member of the European Commission who now sits as Lord Brittan in the House of Lords, the upper house of Parliament. |
| Lord Brittan, 74, said in a statement on Monday that it was “completely without foundation” to suggest that he failed to deal adequately with the documents. | |
| News reports have also chronicled how a leading member of the so-called Pedophile Information Exchange, a group that sought to legalize pedophilia before disbanding in 1984, had been given security authorization to work as an electrical contractor at the Home Office in the late 1970s and early 1980s. | News reports have also chronicled how a leading member of the so-called Pedophile Information Exchange, a group that sought to legalize pedophilia before disbanding in 1984, had been given security authorization to work as an electrical contractor at the Home Office in the late 1970s and early 1980s. |
| According to the BBC, the contractor, Steven Adrian Smith, wrote in a book in 1986 that he had “a furnished office completely to myself seven days a week on a rotating shift basis.” Much of his organization’s “less sensitive file material” concerning pedophilia, “was stored in locked cabinets there, where no police raid would ever have found them.” | According to the BBC, the contractor, Steven Adrian Smith, wrote in a book in 1986 that he had “a furnished office completely to myself seven days a week on a rotating shift basis.” Much of his organization’s “less sensitive file material” concerning pedophilia, “was stored in locked cabinets there, where no police raid would ever have found them.” |
| A prominent politician in the governing Conservative Party, Lord Norman Tebbit, said on Sunday that “there may well have been” a cover-up. | A prominent politician in the governing Conservative Party, Lord Norman Tebbit, said on Sunday that “there may well have been” a cover-up. |
| “At that time I think most people would have thought that the establishment, the system, was to be protected and if a few things had gone wrong here and there that it was more important to protect the system than delve too far into it,” he said in a television interview. | “At that time I think most people would have thought that the establishment, the system, was to be protected and if a few things had gone wrong here and there that it was more important to protect the system than delve too far into it,” he said in a television interview. |
| A senior civil servant, Mark Sedwill, said in a review last year that 114 files potentially relating to the scandal and dating to the period from 1979 to 1999 were “presumed destroyed, missing or not found.” | A senior civil servant, Mark Sedwill, said in a review last year that 114 files potentially relating to the scandal and dating to the period from 1979 to 1999 were “presumed destroyed, missing or not found.” |
| Mr. Sedwill also investigated the fate of a dossier passed to Lord Brittan when he was home secretary by a Conservative lawmaker, Geoffrey Dickens, in 1983 and relating to accusations of pedophile activity in government circles. | Mr. Sedwill also investigated the fate of a dossier passed to Lord Brittan when he was home secretary by a Conservative lawmaker, Geoffrey Dickens, in 1983 and relating to accusations of pedophile activity in government circles. |
| Separately on Monday, Lord Brittan confirmed reports that he had been interviewed by the police in connection with what was described only as a “serious allegation” not related to child abuse. He called the accusation “wholly without foundation.” | Separately on Monday, Lord Brittan confirmed reports that he had been interviewed by the police in connection with what was described only as a “serious allegation” not related to child abuse. He called the accusation “wholly without foundation.” |
| British media reports the case related to an allegation of rape in 1967, before Lord Brittan became a lawmaker. | British media reports the case related to an allegation of rape in 1967, before Lord Brittan became a lawmaker. |