Mr Murphy said there was no evidence of a high-level paedophile conspiracy, but that a paedophile ring around Cheshire and Wrexham had preyed on young people in care in the 1970s and 1980s. Individuals named in the report who were still working in childcare had been traced and risk-assessed, said Mr Murphy.
Efforts continue to trace others who have left the child-care system.
The Waterhouse tribunal at Ewloe in north Wales heard evidence from more than 650 people who had been in care from 1974. The three-man panel sat for more than a year. It cost more than 12m and took almost two years for its report to be completed and published. Sorry is not enough. Howarth was jailed in 1994 for 10 years.