Knowl View child sex abuse investigation: ‘People need to be patient with us’, say police

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Detective Superintendent Peter Marsh speaking at a press conference about the police investigation into child sex abuse at Knowl View

The investigation into the ‘cover up’ of abuse at Knowl View School is taking time due to the amount of files, boxes and enquiries the police have to go through and make.

Speaking at a press conference this afternoon (Thursday 16 October) Detective Superintendent Peter Marsh, who is leading the investigation said: “The reason that this investigation is taking so long is because we have 25 years of information to look at. There are boxes and boxes of things that we need to look at. There are confidential records and medical records that we need to access and we can’t just go and get them. It will take time and people need to be patient with us.”

In July 2014, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) announced that it was conducting a criminal investigation into how previous reports of child sexual abuse were handled or allegedly covered up.

Detective Superintendent Marsh added: “We are committed to completing this inquiry. There are two investigations currently ongoing. One is in relation to the sexual abuse that took place at Knowl View and the second is in relation to any action or inaction that was or was not taken at the time. Whatever evidence we find we will look into and we will work with.”

The investigation is currently focusing on the actions of GMP and Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) and what opportunities were taken to investigate allegations of child abuse in Rochdale in relation to Knowl View School.

“We want to speak to council workers at the time and in particular Social Workers who may know things about that time. Even if it is just a trivial piece of information, it could help. We have seen that people are going to the media and not coming to us. We are asking that those people come to us because the media can’t prosecute. We can. All information will be treated with confidence and no one will know you have spoken to us,” added Detective Superintendent Marsh.

Recent media reports have also suggested that documents were shredded as part of the cover up. In response to these allegations, Detective Superintendent Marsh said: “If documents were shredded then we want to know about it. We need to establish what shredding is and if it is part of the process of this investigation. If people witnessed that or saw that happen then we want to know about it because that is evidence if it did take place.”

It is currently unclear how much longer the investigation will take but whilst the inquiry is taking place, an independent investigation by Rochdale Council has been halted.

“In regards to the investigation by Rochdale Council, they were told that if any information came to light that might show misconduct in the work place then that was to be referred to us. We were approached because it was thought that there may have or may not have been activity that showed misconduct in public office and that is why we took over,” added Detective Superintendent Marsh.

Detective Superintendent Marsh is heading up the investigation with a team of 15 other people. Those include police officers, retired police officers, and retired investigators.

So far there have been no arrests in relation to the alleged cover up.

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/91934/appeal-for-information-on-child-sexual-abuse-cover-up