Guidelines for sex abuse inquiries

New guidelines are to be introduced to help police investigate allegations of sexual abuse against children in care.

Dyfed-Powys Police Chief Constable Terry Grange - spokesman on sexual crimes for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) - led the research team which has developed the new programme.

He had denied that the guidelines have been drawn up in response to concerns that people may have been wrongly jailed after police spread the net on catching paedophiles.

Sir Ronald Waterhouse: Child abuse report

The manual on 'best practice' for such inquiries, which has taken two years to draw up, has already been approved by Acpo and will be issued to investigating officers in February.

Wales has been the focus of the biggest investigation into allegations of child abuse in the care system.

The Waterhouse report, Lost In Care - published in February 2000 - concluded widespread sexual and physical abuse had taken place at care homes in north east Wales.

The report was prompted by a series of court cases during the 1990s.

Former social worker Geoffrey Morris was arrested in 1996 and later jailed for 12 years for a series of sexual assaults on seven young boys, stretching over 21 years, at council-run children's homes in Cardiff.

There remains a possibility that something can go wrong

Terry Grange Chief Constable Dyfed Powys Police

His arrest sparked a police inquiry into the Taff Vale home - that probe expanded to South Wales Police's Operation Goldfinch examining allegations of abuse at 50 homes across Wales.

In 1999, former Welsh Office social services director Derek Brushett was found guilty of 27 charges of indecent assault against boys in his care 25 years earlier.

In December 2000, he lost an appeal against his conviction in which he argued he was the victim of a police "trawl" for evidence against him.

Chief Constable Grange is adamant the new guidelines are not a response to such concerns, merely the accumulation of 'best practice' advice for officers involved in sex abuse inquiries.

"For a number of years, there have been increasing incidence of allegations of sexual abuse in children's homes and care institutions," he said.

Derek Brushett said police 'trawled' for evidence

"The intent (of the guidelines) is that they should provide good practice and as better practice develops so that will take the place of what there is now.

"But we are engaged in investigations that are somewhat complex.

"Despite the fact that the police do their investigations properly, despite the fact that the jury does their job properly, there remains a possibility that something can go wrong - there always will do."