Appeal for information on child sexual abuse cover up

Cyril Smith

Police investigating allegations that child sexual abuse in Rochdale was 'covered-up' are appealing for information.

In the past week it has been revealed that Gillian Shephard, the Goverment education secretary in 1995, has confirmed that her office received a dossier containing detailed claims of rape and sexual abuse at Knowl View. The file was not acted upon, instead it was returned to Rochdale Council.

Former Liberal Democrat MP for Rochdale, Liz Lynne was the subject of an article in The Guardian in which it was said she has been accused of ordering a personal assistant to destroy a document containing allegations of abuse and mismanagement against the late paedophile Rochdale MP, Cyril Smith.

Ms Lynne is alleged to have told her constituency aide to get rid of a document detailing a cover-up at Knowl View.

Allegations have also recently surfaced of a so called 'deal' between the local Labour Party and the local Liberal Democrats whereby Labour agreed to keep quiet about Cyril Smith in exchange for the Liberal Democrats keeping quiet on allegations that a former Labour councillor had sex with two girls with special needs that were in his care. Those allegations are already the subject of investigation by Greater Manchester Police.

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

The main concerns relate to the response to child abuse over several decades connected to Knowl View School in Rochdale.

Detective Superintendent Pete Marsh, said: "This investigation is wide-ranging and complex, especially when you consider we are dealing with events that took place nearly 25 years ago.

"However we are committed to thoroughly investigating the very serious allegations, which are numerous.

"As various allegations are yet to be substantiated - some of which may lead to a criminal prosecution - and as many people are yet to be spoken to, I am not prepared, at this time, to talk about them in any great detail.

"That said, over the last week it has been reported in the press that agreements were made to cover up abuse and that people were told to shred and destroy documents.

"To be frank, some of the specific allegations I have read were not known to me but are obviously of great interest and we will be following these up.

"Clearly there are people who are willing to talk to the media who have not yet spoken to police and I want to encourage these people to call us in complete confidence.

"I am also interested in speaking to anyone who worked at the council at the relevant time or anyone else with information pertinent to this investigation.

"It is also important to note that the inquiry has the benefit of an independent scrutiny group, who will provide a high degree of scrutiny throughout the investigation."

Anyone with information is asked to call the incident room on 0161 856 0310.