SAINT HELIER, Jersey, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- A memo from the senior investigator in the Isle of Jersey child abuse and killing probe says the investigation is being hampered by prosecutors.
The memo is part of the Justice for Families' application to a British court to name Justice Secretary Jack Straw head of the investigation, The Times of London reported Thursday. The organization says the memo shows the investigation should be removed from the island's oversight because of a perceived conflict of interest among island officials.
Lenny Harper, who found remains of five children in a former boys' home, said he is having difficulty getting witnesses to come forward because they fear the alleged abusers won't be tried, the Times said. Harper said the victims hold the island's attorney general's office in "total contempt."
Esther Rantzen, founder of Childline, said she urged the Jersey government to ask London to intervene.
"I am not impugning the integrity of individuals," she said. "I am just saying that in a society which is so interwoven and has such a small number of people in high office you have just got to ask for help from outside."
Harper has been looking into decades-long allegations of child abuse that have been overshadowed by grisly discoveries at the Haut de la Garenne children's home.
