More come forward in Jersey abuse case

ST MARTIN, Jersey (Reuters) - More people have come forward with allegations of serious sexual assault in connection with a child abuse inquiry at a former care home on Jersey, police said on Friday.

Two people have made extremely serious allegations of a sexual nature, the island's Deputy Chief Police Officer Lenny Harper said.

More than 160 people have contacted police saying they were abused at the Haut de la Garenne house.

Delicate and painstaking forensic work is continuing in cramped dusty conditions in one of two bricked-up secret underground chambers found during the inquiry.

"It is a very slow, methodical and thorough operation to separate out any possible bits of evidence from the debris that is in there, and that will continue for days to come," Harper said.

Items had been found, which Harper refused to identify. He said it was unclear at this stage how significant they were.

Police have been given old plans of the home which suggest that what has been referred to as the cellar for the past 90 years may have originally been the ground floor.

They have also uncovered a trap door or homemade entrance to the cellar area, which corroborates evidence given by witnesses.

Seven sites are being excavated and another 12 investigators are to be brought in to help with the workload, Harper said.

More members of the public have come forward to indicate other areas which they think should be looked at.

"The net result of that is that with every passing day the inquiry looks as if it is going to take that little bit longer in there," Harper said.

Police are searching the house as part of an investigation into allegations of child abuse on the island stretching back to the 1960s but focused on the 70s and 80s.

The underground room has been identified by many of the victims.

He said there were suspects who came from all walks of life and there would be arrests, but police were not rushing the investigation. He denied any evidence of a government cover-up.

(Writing by Avril Ormsby; Editing by Paul Majendie)