FREDERICTON (CP) - The head of the investigation into an alleged RCMP coverup of a child sex abuse scandal at a New Brunswick reform school says the inquiry will continue despite her departure from the job this week.

Shirley Heafey will step down Wednesday as chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, leaving behind the unfinished investigation into allegations of RCMP wrongdoing at the now-closed Kingsclear reform school near Fredericton.

The Kingsclear investigation is the largest ever undertaken by the commission for public complaints, but Heafey said in a statement Tuesday she is confident the work can continue without her personal direction.

Heafey's departure has raised concerns among those anxious to uncover the truth about Kingsclear, where hundreds of boys were sexually abused during the 1960s, '70s and '80s.

Karl Toft, a former guard at the reformatory, is the only official to receive a major prison sentence - 13 years - for assaulting the children in his care. But victims say other officials, including a senior RCMP officer, were involved in the abuse.

"I have had nothing but negative responses from the federal government, its departments and agencies prior to Heafey's decision to go forward. Now I feel the integrity of the investigation has been called into question."

Peter Goldring, a Conservative MP who has championed the cause of Kingsclear victims, said it is a poor way to change leadership at the complaints commission.

The New Brunswick government held a public inquiry into Kingsclear in the mid-1990s. But there have been recent calls for another inquiry, this time with a closer look into the conduct of the RCMP.

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