Sex Abuse Alleged at Homes for Children

Britain’s largest child sex abuse inquiry resumes its investigation today into 650 complaints that children living in group homes in northern Wales were forced to eat dog food, raped or beaten, taken on sex trips to Amsterdam or made to perform in pornographic videos. The complaints allege that dozens of staff members at more than 30 children’s homes systematically abused youngsters in the 1970s and ‘80s. The inquiry is expected to last a year, cost as much as $1.6 million and hear from 180 alleged victims. Survivors say the abuse was covered up for decades by staff and social workers appointed by local officials. Most of the alleged victims were boys, some as young as 8. The tribunal, chaired by former High Court Judge Ronald Waterhouse and meeting in Wales, was convened after seven men were convicted in the early 1990s of assaulting youngsters in homes in northern Wales. Under the tribunal’s rules, the alleged victims and abusers may not be named. Few details of the allegations have emerged.