Select a region
Police officers in Guernsey have been forced to take the rare step of replying to rumours circulating on social media after individuals were "erroneously" named in connection with an alleged "paedophile ring".
In a statement shared on Monday evening, a spokesperson confirmed that officers are "aware of misinformation that has been widely shared across social media and chat groups over the weekend".
"This alleged that police were undertaking an investigation into a group of islanders for sexual offences relating to children and had requested assistance from the UK," they added.
While Express has chosen not to share the posts, at the time of writing some remain publicly availably on social media, though Guernsey Police said they had contacted Facebook and X to report them.
Officers said they were "compelled" to respond publicly to this situation because of the gravity of what has been said.
"Misinformation can undermine trust and confidence in policing and jeopardise any subsequent investigation. More importantly it can have a significant impact on safeguarding and wellbeing for individuals named erroneously," said a spokesperson.
"To clarify the position, claims of such a group committing offences against children are unfounded, and there is no current evidence that we are aware of to support such a claim.
"None of the individuals on a list we understand is being shared (based on the version we have seen) are currently being investigated by police.
"However, two of the people named have previously been investigated, both have been charged with sexual offences relating to children and their cases are currently going through the courts, and have already been publicised by the media. There is no evidence to suggest these two cases are linked.
"It is coincidental that separately, a prison officer appeared in court today (Monday) for unrelated offences."
One of the posts shared on Facebook via the 'Guernsey People Have Your Say' forum, that was seen by Express, alleged that a police force from the UK had been tasked with overseeing an investigation involving numerous people, alleged to be involved with sexual offences against children.
The police spokesman said this is also categorically not true, along with other related rumours.
"A UK force has not been asked to come to Guernsey to investigate these allegations, and there are no plans, nor any requirements, for one to do so," said the spokesperson.
"No one has taken their life or provided a letter to the police, relating to these unfounded allegations.
"Guernsey Police continues to take sexual offences involving children extremely seriously, and always proactively investigates these matters. If anyone has evidence of any criminal wrongdoing, whatever the offence, we would encourage them to contact police."
Express has asked a number of questions in response to the statement issued by Guernsey Police. None of which have been answered at the time of publication.
The police spokesperson said: "we're not going to comment further than our statement" adding that they don't comment on ongoing court proceedings.
One of the questions asked by Express concerned staffing at Les Nicolles Prison and how many (if any) prison employees are currently suspended.
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.