SOCIAL SERVICES ignored the children of a Derry man when they insisted he had not sexually abused them, the High Court in Belfast has been told.
His daughter claims the authorities refused to listen to their denials and instead subjected them to medical examinations from which they still suffer 13 years on.
The man, who cannot be identified, was investigated amid allegations that he was part of a paedophile ring. He and his family are now suing Foyle Health and Social Care Trust for negligence in how it dealt with claims of abusing his own children.
During a two-week civil action, he has accused its representatives of a failure to follow proper protocols and has also alleged assault and battery against those who examined his children.
He was put under investigation in 1997 after a teenage girl reportedly claimed that he was involved in child sex abuse with more than 20 others. Her accusations led to further allegations that he had abused one of his own sons.
The girl later retracted her statement of complaint, leading to his children being removed from an at-risk register. Police inquiries resulted in no relevant charges being brought against him.
Cross-examining John Doherty, a Foyle Health and Social Care Trust senior official, yesterday about events at the time, the man’s daughter said: “We spoke about [how] we weren’t abused, but we weren’t listened to, and then had to go through the medical examinations.”
Mr Justice Gillen described this as a fundamental point in the case. “What she is saying is that the voice of the child was not listened to, that this was played out at an adult level, that your trust failed to listen to their voice before these examinations took place, after the examinations took place, and so on.”
Mr Doherty said they had been attempting to gain access to the children, without any influence from their parents, to establish whether any abuse was going on.
The daughter claimed they were still suffering from what they were put through by the authorities. However, Mr Doherty contended that, according to an experienced doctor, the process was not normally harmful to children.
He said access to the children had been denied, and rejected any suggestion that anyone in the trust had made accusations against her father. “Our responsibility is to investigate allegations, not to make allegations,” he said.
The man’s wife also questioned the senior civil servant, raising with him her difficulties in convincing social workers that the allegations were untrue.
The hearing continues.