Case of Wilfred Krichefski
President and Co-Founder - Jersey Jewish Congregation, Jersey, England
Haut de la Garenne
Named as an alleged child molester at a children's home where 200 are feared to have been attacked. Krichefski, who died from a heart attack in 1974, aged 58, allegedly visited Haut de la Garenne to abuse boys sexually.
Krichefski co-founded the island's synagogue with Rev Wiseman in 1972. "He was a proud Jew and proud president of the community,".
Krichefski was president of the community for 14 years. He held other high offices, including that of President of the States of Jersey Tourist Committee, and was made an OBE in 1958. The departure hall at Jersey Airport is named after him. He also had his own clothing store, W Krichefski and Sons.
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Table of Contents:
2008
- Politicians linked to Jersey abuse (03/05/2008)
- House of Horrors Reveals Its Secret (03/05/2008)
- Community leader linked to Jersey abuse (03/06/2008)
- Blood spots found in care home bath (03/07/2008)
- Letter to the Editor (03/13/2008)
- Jersey care home police find children's teeth (04/22/2008)
- Just why DID the Jersey police chief lie about that child's skull? (04/22/2008)
2009
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Politicians linked to Jersey abuse
By David Brown
The Australian - March 5, 2008
Police were yesterday preparing to hunt for a second network of cellars at a Jersey children's home at the centre of allegations of sexual and physical abuse amid claims that prominent island politicians were involved in the alleged crimes.
Search teams hope this week to complete their examination of an underground room they found at the Haut de la Garenne home in which former residents claim to have been brutalised.
A leading member of Jersey's political establishment was confirmed by police yesterday as among those named as an abuser.
Wilfred Krichefski, a senator in Jersey's Government and chairman of several committees on the British Channel island, was said to have regularly visited Haut de la Garenne to abuse boys until his death in 1974.
Living members of the island's establishment, who cannot be named for legal reasons, have also been identified as suspects.
One former resident has claimed he was repeatedly raped at the children's home by Krichefski in 1962 and 1963.
The man, now in his late 50s and living in the West Midlands of England, said that every month, he and another boy would be taken into a back room at the home and abused by two men.
The former resident said he would be woken by a care worker with the words: "There is someone here to see you."
The only person he told about the abuse was a psychiatrist who told him that he would be placed in a mental hospital if he repeated the allegations.
The activities of more than 40 suspects are being monitored by police as detectives confirmed they had received complaints of abuse that allegedly took place only months ago.
A police spokesman said: "There was an offence committed late last year which is being dealt with. It is not related to offences committed" at Haut de la Garenne.
Investigations into claims of abuse started in 2003, when a former resident of Haut de la Garenne, which closed in 1986, was convicted of blackmailing a care worker by threatening to expose him as a pedophile.
The investigation has been widened to include the Greenfields Secure Unit and the Sea Cadet force that used Haut de la Garenne. More than 200 alleged victims and witnesses have contacted police about abuse from the 1960s to 1986.
The first underground chamber to be uncovered at Haut de la Garenne is a room containing a 1.5m deep communal bath. A pair of shackles were found in the room. Detectives exploring the cellar hope to break through to an adjoining chamber that has a bricked-up doorway.
Former residents have told detectives that the cellar complex, referred to as Baintree, was used to punish misbehaving children. Victims have described being lowered into a "deep, dark pit" where they were left with other children in a large bath of cold water before being abused by care workers and outsiders.
Police believe a similar-sized underground complex could also exist in Haut de la Garenne's north wing, close to where a piece of a child's skull was discovered last month.
Detectives are reviewing the discovery at the spot in 2003 of other bones, which were thought to have come from an animal.
They will also investigate an underground storage area close to the building's swimming pool and two 3m-deep pits in the courtyard.
Detention cells in which former residents claim they were abused in the main building will be examined, as well as the newer Aviemore wing.
The investigation has damaged Jersey's image and threatened its tourist industry, the island's economic manager said.
After a meeting of hotel and travel bosses in the capital, St Helier, Jersey-born Philip Ozouf said: "Nothing has changed - it's a caring, compassionate and secure island."
Jersey attracted nearly 400,000 visitors last year, 80 per cent of whom were British.
The island was "being portrayed in a sensationalistic way ... there is no evidence of anything for now", Mr Ozouf said.
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House of Horrors Reveals Its Secret
By Ammu Kannampilly
ABC News London - March 5, 2008
Until last month, the British Channel Island of Jersey was known mostly for its tourism, its status as an offshore tax shelter, and for the quality of its milk, courtesy of the famous Jersey cattle.
But now, something more sinister has clouded the island's reputation – a child-abuse scandal that threatens to destroy the reputations of some of Jersey's most well-known politicians and business leaders.
It began with the discovery – in February – of skull fragments at a former children's home called Haut de la Garenne.
Rumors about child sexual abuse at the establishment, which closed in 1986, have swirled around the island for years. Although Jersey police confirmed on Monday that results are still awaited on the fragments, the initial findings provoked a storm of phone calls to the police, some from alleged victims and others from people claiming to have witnessed abuse at Haut de la Garenne.
Last Wednesday, police officials were able to break into the cellar of the building, which had been blocked with bricks. They found a room measuring about 12 square feet, containing what appears to be a communal bath made of concrete. The discovery was hailed as "significant" by police, who later said that it seemed "to link with accounts from witnesses."
The police also found a pair of shackles in the cellar, and the first published pictures of the room show a wooden post next to the bath on which someone had scrawled: "I've been bad for years and years."
Abuse Claims Stretching Back Over 50 Years
Although many in the media have speculated on the significance of the cellar, alleging that the staff at the home would abuse children by putting them in freezing water in the bath, police would not confirm the reports.
But a former resident, Winnie Lockhart, tells ABC News that she remembered hearing threats about being taken "into a dungeon" during her days there.
Lockhart, now in her 60s, was only 13 years old when she was sent to Haut de la Garenne in 1955.
"I remember being woken up by screaming boys night after night," she recalls.
"But when I asked the boys about it later, they told me not to tell anyone. 'You will be taken to the dungeon as well,' they said."
Describing herself as a "rebellious sort," Lockhart says she finally plucked up the courage to tell an adult about the noises she was hearing.
"I went to the matron and asked her what was going on, but she just smacked me in response."
"Then," Lockhart adds, "I was sent to a psychiatrist. When I told her about the abuse in the home, she told me to stop making up stories."
"After that I was just too frightened to tell anyone else," she says.
Patricia Thornton oversaw Haut de la Garenne during the 1950s and early 1960s.
The octogenarian – who was awarded an MBE, a prestigious British award in 1996 by Queen Elizabeth for her services to the community – insists that no abuse took place under her watch.
"I am quite sure I would have known if there were such incidents," Thornton says in an interview with ABC News.
She even keeps in touch with some of the boys and girls she met in Jersey, such as Lockhart, who describes Thornton as "the mother I never had."
Lockhart's admissions of the abuse suffered by her and other children shocked Thornton.
"She asked me why I didn't come to her," Lockhart says, adding that she was "just too scared by then to talk to any adults about the abuse."
"Besides," Lockhart adds, "the staff changed character whenever Mrs. Thornton came by. She didn't live there, so they could do what they wanted while she was out."
Thornton herself is in a state of disbelief, as are so many Jersey residents.
"It's most disturbing. The whole thing is appalling," she says, her voice shaking.
120 Alleged Victims (and Counting)
Since the investigation began, a police spokesman confirmed to ABC News that 120 people have come forward to share their abusive experiences at Haut de la Garenne. He also disclosed that police have compiled a list of 40 suspects.
On Friday, a local TV station named 13 people as suspects, including a few high-profile government officials. One such individual is believed to be Wilfred Krichefski, a businessman and former Jersey senator who died in 1974.
The Times of London reported that Krichefski allegedly made regular visits to the home to abuse young boys. But police have not confirmed these reports.
Lockhart could not remember if any high-profile figures were involved in child abuse during her stint at the home. But, she says, it would not surprise her to find out that they were.
"I remember a doctor coming to see me when I had a throat infection," she recalls. "Well, he touched every part of my body except my throat. So this sort of thing was not uncommon then."
So far, only one man has been charged. Gordon Claude Wateridge, 76, a former member of staff at Haut de la Garenne, was charged with committing three offences of indecent assaults on girls under 16 between 1969 and 1979.
Until more suspects are charged, police are keeping a keen watch to ensure that no suspects leave the island.
A police spokesman also tells ABC News that veiled threats were made "by a former care worker to a potential witness." Since then, police have issued strict warnings, saying that people who interfere with the inquiry would find themselves in trouble with the authorities.
What's Next for Haut de la Garenne's Victims?
The investigation is expected to take months, with police hoping to break through the cellar to another adjoining underground chamber, and possibly through to a third such room, after witnesses allegedly described a network of rooms where children were abused for decades.
Most of the alleged perpetrators are likely to be "either old or dead," as Lockhart puts it. Still, she believes that the public attention now being given to these claims "will help the victims."
"It will bring peace to people," she says.
Still, as Lockhart herself knows all too well, "you never forget something like this."
"No matter how much time passes, the memories always come back. Every time I read about a child being molested somewhere, it takes me back to my childhood. It's scarred me for life," she says.
More than 50 years later, Lockhart and others like her are hoping to have their voices heard.
"Back then," she remembers," children would just go missing from the home, and we never found out what happened to them."
The discovery of human skull fragments has led many to wonder if the trail of abuse could culminate in a mass-murder inquiry.
For the 88,000 Islanders in Jersey, the traumatic saga spanning more than half a century has prompted many to wonder how their beautiful, peaceful community could harbor such a dark, disturbing secret.
Like many, Lockhart believes that "it will take a long time for Jersey to recover."
For now, the island's residents are waiting with a heavy heart to see what the next wave of findings will reveal about this once pristine place.
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Community leader linked to Jersey abuse
By Candice Krieger
Jewish Chronicle - March 6, 2008
The tiny Jersey Jewish community reacted with disbelief this week as former Jewish senator Wilfred Krichefski was named as an alleged abuser at a children's home where 200 are feared to have been attacked.
Krichefski, who died from a heart attack in 1974, aged 58, allegedly visited Haut de la Garenne to abuse boys sexually.
This week, police revealed that his name was among suspects named by those who made abuse complaints.
Stephen Regal, president of the Jersey Jewish Congregation, said: "I am totally shocked. I was a young lad at the time and it's not the Wilfred I knew. He was a great friend of my parents and I find the allegations incongruous."
Reverend Malcolm Weisman , minister for small communities, said he had fielded many calls. He said: "Wilfred Krichefski was a very well-respected man. Everyone is in a state of shock."
An Orthodox Jew, Krichefski co-founded the island's synagogue with Rev Wiseman in 1972. "He was a proud Jew and proud president of the community," said Rev Weisman.
"I used to take my kids to his house for seder night. I can't believe it, but who knows. I don't know what to make of it all. When he died, he was the UK representative of the Commonwealth parliamentary association. I think he was in line for a knighthood."
Mr Krichefski's son Bernard, a television producer, lives in Highgate, North London, and is a member of Muswell Hill Synagogue. He declined to comment this week.
Krichefski was president of the community for 14 years. He held other high offices, including that of President of the States of Jersey Tourist Committee, and was made an OBE in 1958.
The departure hall at Jersey Airport is named after him. He also had his own clothing store, W Krichefski and Sons.
Jersey Police said they were unable to comment on individual suspects.
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Blood spots found in care home bath
Express-UK - March 7, 2008
Specially-trained dogs have found traces of blood at a former children's home in Jersey which is at the centre of a major abuse investigation, police said.
The animals were brought in to an underground chamber at Haut de la Garenne, dubbed the "house of horrors" after the remains of a child was found buried in a stairwell last month.
Two spots of blood were identified in a concrete bath, a police spokeswoman.
Police have confirmed 100 people claim they were abused at the home and 25 people are suspected of a catalogue of sex crimes and physical assaults, including senior members of staff and a former politician.
The investigation team, which is looking into abuse allegations at a number of Jersey organisations, said a further 262 calls were being processed and there are more than 40 suspects in the inquiry as a whole.
Accusations of abuse at Haut de la Garenne date back four decades and mainly focus on the 1970s and 1980s.
Forensic teams have uncovered a network of four secret underground chambers where victims said they were kept in solitary confinement and abused.
It closed as a children's home in 1986.
One former resident has claimed she was abused by Colin Tilbrook, a headmaster during the 1960s who has since died.
Former senator Wilfred Krichefski, who died in 1974, is also understood to have been named by victims.
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Letter to the Editor
Leave the dead alone
Jewish Chronical (London) - March 13, 2008
I was both saddened and perplexed by your decision to promulgate the suspicions of the police as to the involvement of a former communal leader in an historical allegation of sexual abuse (Community leader linked to Jersey abuse, March 7).
The man in question died over 30 years ago. It follows that there would hardly be an opportunity for him to deny or put forward his recollections, if any, on the matter, yet you deemed it necessary to both name and approach his son.
This was not a case of someone in respect of whom it could be said that recent and credible evidence needed to be ventilated. At a time when, alas, there appears to be an increasing number of our co-religionists appearing in the courts, and with an insatiable appetite on the part of the national press to pick up such gems, it is unfortunate that such appetite needs to be satisfied by unproven tit-bits.
His Hon Barrington Black, London NW3
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Jersey care home police find children's teeth
By Aislinn Simpson
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By Aislinn Simpson
The Telegraph - April 22, 2008
The discoveries, in cellars under Haut de la Garenne, follow the unearthing of a child's skull under a concrete floor in another part of the house.
Sniffer dogs led forensic archeologists sifting through rubble in the final pair of cellars under the house to the latest remains.
Two milk teeth were found, along with bones, near to an area wherebloodstained items were found last week.
"We cannot be sure at this stage if the bone is human or animal and it will be forwarded to the UK for tests," Deputy Chief Officer Lenny Harper, who is leading the inquiry, said.
"The teeth could have come from the same child although further tests will be necessary to try and ascertain if that is the case, and how the teeth might have come to be there."
The same sniffer dogs previously led police to the child's skull fragments unearthed on Feb 23.
Since police began their meticulous search, they have uncovered four bricked-up cellars under the former children's home - matching descriptions from alleged victims who have come forward to tell detectives about a "deep, dark place" where they were locked before being taken out to be abused.
During their search of the cellars, police found a communal stone bath and a pair of shackles - corroborating reports of rape and torture by alleged victims.
On a vertical wooden beam rising up from the bath in the first cellar, the words "IV BEEN BAD 4 YEARS & YEARS" were written in black marker pen.
On April 16, police revealed they had found large amounts of lime, which can be used to disintegrate corpses, in a pit which they were told about by a witness.
The witness said he was asked to dig it then return to fill it in, but was given no explanation as to why it was needed.
A large quantity of lime was also found around the child's skull, and had almost entirely destroyed it.
Since police launched their inquiry over a year ago, 40 suspects have been named by around 160 people, who have made claims of abuse at the home dating back to the 1960s and 70s.
Among those accused of perpetrating the abuse, and playing a part in the alleged cover-up that followed, are formerly senior figures in Jersey's establishment, including senator Wilfred Krichefski, a well-known figure in the 1960s who founded the island's TV station, Channel TV.
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Just why DID the Jersey police chief lie about that child's skull?
By Andrew Malone
Daily Mail - May 23, 2008
Daily Mail - May 23, 2008
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