POLICE officers assigned to the Child Protection Unit visited the St Dominic's Children's Home on Tuesday, gathering evidence as investigation into allegations of abuse at children's homes continues.

The visit comes two months after the Prime Minister called on acting Commissioner of Police Mc Donald Jacob to investigate allegations made in a report done by a team led by Dr Robert Sabga into sexual, physical and emotional abuse at children's homes. The report, commissioned by government and completed some 25 years ago by a nine-member team, was never laid in Parliament and detailed systemic abuse at various children's facilities.

The 1997 report gained notoriety after another report into children's homes led by Justice Judith Jones was laid in Parliament on April 29.

While the Roman Catholic Church controls 12 children's homes and nurseries, only St Jude's and St Dominic's children's homes were highlighted in Justice Jones' report. Since then Archbishop Jason Gordon ordered an investigation into allegations of child abuse at the church's children's homes.

In May, head of the Special Victims Department Supt Claire Guy-Alleyne called for victims to come forward as the Child Protection Unit spearheads the investigations. She added that several of the offences listed in the report are indictable and therefore there are no limitations on when charges can be laid.

On Tuesday, four police vehicles entered the compound located off Belmont Circular Road with a past abuse victim at about 1 pm. The officers interviewed a current senior member of staff who was a nun when the victim attended the institution. They left at about 5 pm.

Police sources said the victim identified areas where the alleged sexual abuse took place while police photographed them.

The children housed at the compound were told to 'go for a walk' as police, the alleged victim and staff toured the compound. The police had a search warrant that allowed them to seize documents if necessary. The officers mostly searched a condemned area that was damaged by fire years ago which was in use during the time of the reported abuse.

Newsday was told that several documents the officers were searching for, such as visitors logs, could not be found and some were destroyed in the fire.

Calls to Guy-Alleyne on Tuesday went unanswered.

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