Abstract
This chapter encloses the inquiry were suspicions that children had been sexually abused and even murdered at the former children's home of Haut de la Garenne on the Channel Island of Jersey. It also explains the institutional child sexual abuse scandal result in conviction for criminal offences and the life in small communities may appear to be idyllic, criminological literature reveals there is also a dark side to communal life. The chapter explains the criminological research into the ways in which moral regulation occurs in societies via the use of criminal sanctions also provides some useful insights that could help explain some of what happened on Jersey. The chapter also looked at the Jersey case according to more generalised ideas about the operation of privacy and moral regulation in small communities. The chapter concluded by describing the need for news media to play a critical public interest role in scrutinising police and political authority.