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John Jillings says some of the treatment was 'bestial'
A report written 17 years ago into claims of abuse at children's homes in north Wales in the 1970s and 1980s has been published.
Its author John Jillings told the BBC that abuse was widespread and that children "weren't treated like human beings" by some staff.
His 1996 report was shelved by the former Clwyd County Council because insurers feared compensation claims.
It was published in the wake of fresh investigations into the abuse.
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End Quote John Jillings Report authorThe treatment of children was bestial really; they weren't treated like human beings ... by some members of staff at any rate "
It begins by saying its investigations were limited by a number of "constraining factors", including that it was "unclear to what extent material held by North Wales Police might be available" to the report's panel.
It adds that "some former staff members and staff representing other organisations declined to meet" with the panel.
It also says there was a "lack of clarity" in relation to accessibility of some social services files, and at one point the report panel considered abandoning the investigation.
The concluding remarks of the Jillings report say: "Our investigations have led us to conclude that the abuse of children and young people in Clwyd residential units has been extensive, and has taken place over a substantial number of years."
However, the panel concluded they could not hope to address successfully the wider areas of concern, including that public figures had been involved in the abuse.
Separate inquiries have been looking at whether abuse claims were more widespread than previously thought.
Allegations of abuse at several children's homes, including the former Bryn Estyn home in Wrexham, emerged in the 1990s.
North Wales Police investigated the claims in 1991 and seven former care workers were convicted.
But as more claims of widespread abuse in almost 40 homes emerged, the former Clwyd County Council commissioned Mr Jillings in March 1994 to investigate.
SuicideMr Jillings, a former director of social services for Derbyshire, said the council was worried about costly insurance claims and his report never saw the light of day.
A redacted [edited] version of the 300-page report was finally made public and published online on Monday following a Freedom of Information (FoI) request by the BBC.
Interviewed shortly before its publication Mr Jillings told the BBC that abuse was widespread within a group of homes where children were isolated.
Separate abuse inquiries
In April, Operation Pallial, an independent investigation examining claims of historical child abuse at children's homes in north Wales found "significant evidence of systemic and serious sexual and physical abuse".
Investigators found evidence of 140 allegations of historical abuse between 1963 and 1992.
76 new complainants came forward and 84 suspected offenders were named.
A separate review by Mrs Justice Macur is investigating the terms of the Waterhouse abuse inquiry, which took place between 1996 and 2000.
The inquiries followed a victim's claims that Sir Ronald Waterhouse uncovered only a fraction of the abuse.
Those claims surfaced in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.
Home Secretary Theresa May ordered Operation Pallial following a Newsnight report last November which - as well as leading to a Tory peer being falsely accused of paedophilia - alleged that child abuse in north Wales from the 1970s was more widespread than reported.
He said: "They didn't have regular supervisory visits from headquarters staff, as I understand it. Or if they did, they weren't very searching.
"So the staff for 99% of their time were on their own with the children, could treat them as they wished.
"They regarded them as children who were out of control and they thought the way of dealing with that is by severely treating them.
"The treatment of children was bestial really; they weren't treated like human beings, by some members of staff at any rate.
"I mean some children died, 10 children died. Some of them committed suicide."
The Jillings inquiry was followed by another investigation by the late Sir Ronald Waterhouse, which took four years to complete.
Sir Ronald found there had been "appalling mistreatment" of children over a period of 20 years.
He had gathered evidence from 650 people, with most allegations focusing on seven homes.
Last year the scandal re-emerged after a victim claimed the Waterhouse report in 2000 had not uncovered the full scale of the abuse.
Home Secretary Theresa May then launched a new police inquiry into the abuse allegations.
And Clwyd council's successor authorities such as Flintshire County Council and Wrexham County Borough Council began searching their archives for a copy of that report.
The successor authorities are also due to publish a statement and outline the reasons for the redactions that have been made.
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