Bloodstains Found in Children's Care Home

LONDON, March 8, 2008 — -- Police investigating allegations of decades of abuse at a former children's home in the British Channel island of Jersey Friday found bloodstains in the building's cellar.

Rumors about child sexual abuse at the home, which closed in 1986, have swirled around the island for years.

But the discoveries, beginning in February, of human skull fragments, a bricked-in underground chamber, shackles and now bloodstains at the former children's homes, have led many to wonder if the trail could culminate in a mass-murder inquiry.

A rally was planned for noon today in Jersey's largest town, St. Helier, for people to show their support for the alleged victims and to press police to push more aggressively in their investigation.

Although Jersey police confirmed Monday that they were still awaiting test results on the skull 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 the former home, called Haut de la Garenne.

Friday morning a specialist sniffing dog found two blood spots that were invisible to the naked eye inside the bath. Later in the day, the police released a statement saying that "although the presence of blood in the bath corroborates the allegations made by some victims, there could also be an innocent explanation."

Results on the blood samples are expected next week.

On Feb. 27, police officials were able to break into the cellar of the building, which had been blocked off with bricks. They found a room measuring about 12 square feet, containing what appeared to be a communal bath made of concrete, as well as a pair of shackles.

Police hailed the discovery as "significant" and later said that it seemed "to link with accounts from witnesses."

A former resident of the home, Winnie Lockhart, told ABC News that while she was surprised to hear about the bloodstains, she clearly 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 recalled.

"I went to the matron and asked her what was going on, but she just smacked me in response," she said.