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First Step Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland
Supporting male survivors of sexual abuse and rape (aged 13+), and their loved ones

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[heading_block]Leicestershire County Counsil Set Aside £2 Million for legal representation and to support the welfare of victims in the Greville Janner inquiry[/heading_block]
The Leicestershire County Council has set aside £2 Million to cover the cost of the inquiry into Greville Janner’s alleged sexual abuse of boys in its care.

The council ran the children homes in the city and county, where the former Labour politician, Greville Janner,  allegedly met, groomer and then sexually abused the boys. They believe £2Million will cover the cost of the legal representation and the actual inquiry. The council have also said that the money will also be used to support the welfare of the alleged victims.

Leicestershire County Council will give their account of their actions to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, (IICSA) later this year. Greville Janner was accused of 22 sexual offences between 1963 and 1988, but the former politician died aged 87 shortly before Christmas. His death put a stop of the alleged victims evidence ever being tested in a criminal court.

The IICSA will hear the testimonies of the alleged victims, and the organisation will issue a “finding of facts”. Justice Lowell Goddard chairs the IICSA, and they have requested that both the Leicestershire Police and the Labour Party to give evidence to the inquiry as they find out why Janner was not charged with the offences when he was alive, and they knew about his sexual interest with children.

Greville Janner’s family have suck by him, saying he was innocent of any wrongdoing.

County council leader Nick Rushton said of the broad inquiry: “The abuse of children is totally unacceptable and it is vital that the voices of people who were abused are heard. We remain fully committed to co-operating with the inquiry to ensure that events are fully investigated and any lessons learned. Clearly, preparing for an unprecedented event on this scale is significant and challenging and we’re taking our role extremely seriously. By adopting a thorough approach, we’re ensuring we provide the most comprehensive and accurate information possible, supporting the inquiry’s investigation.”

This case is just one of the 12 strands of a much bigger investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by significant public figures, and they include those within the Anglican and Catholic churches. The Janner inquiry is expected to take 6 months to complete, and the larger investigation could run beyond 2020.

Last year, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Alison Saunders said Lord Janner was too ill with Alzheimer’s disease to stand trial. The DPP also revealed Lord Janner should have been charger with offences against children following a previous investigations in 1991 and 2002. However the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) declined the police’s requests to charge Janner on both occasions.