IRELAND
The Irish Times
CONOR LALLY, Crime Correspondent
The Garda Inspectorate has identified significant shortcomings in the force’s investigation of sexual offences against children.
It said basic record-keeping was so poor that the official crime figures did not capture up to 65 per cent of sex crimes against children reported to the Garda in recent years.
The situation had only become apparent after the Garda was unable to supply the inspectorate with annual figures for sexual offences against children.
The inspectorate requested paperwork to be checked in all 112 Garda districts. The disparity that emerged between the paper records and the Garda computer database of crime rates called into question the integrity of all child abuse figures, it said.
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