The four senior figures embroiled in the safeguarding scandal at Lincoln Cathedral
17 May 2018
The Lincolnite can reveal that a fourth senior figure at Lincoln Cathedral has stepped aside amid a police investigation into safeguarding issues.
Chapter Clerk and administrator of Lincoln Cathedral William Harrison was among those to step back in April.
He was responsible for the direction of operation management and administration at the cathedral.
A cathedral spokesperson said: “We confirm that the Chapter Clerk has temporarily stepped aside from his duties while the investigation relating to the Dean and Chancellor of Lincoln takes place.
“We can provide no further comment.”
The Diocese of Lincoln has been rocked by allegations of abuse and high level ‘cover ups’ by senior clergy across decades.
Latest investigations into serious safeguarding matters have seen a wave of bosses step aside, followed this week by the unprecedented suspension of the Bishop of Lincoln Christopher Lowson.
The leave of absence taken by Lincoln’s first female Dean Christine Wilson and Chancellor Paul Overend in April were connected to non-recent allegations of abuse, which took place outside of Lincolnshire.
The two figures are reportedly connected to alleged failures to report issues relating to vulnerable adults.
At the time, the Very Reverend Christine Wilson was said to have stepped down “for personal reasons”.
The simultaneous move from Paul Overend was explained by the cathedral as “for different reasons, connected to one issue”.
Christine Wilson was the 81st Dean of Lincoln and took up her position in 2016. Before this, she was the Archdeacon of Chesterfield in the Diocese of Derby since 2010.
Christine has also been a non-executive director of Ecclesiastical Insurance, the insurer trusted with advising the Church of England’s compensation claims, since 2017.
Lincoln Cathedral and the Church of England did not comment when asked if the company was providing services in relation to the investigation.
Revd Dr Paul Overend led the Cathedral’s work of public theology and Christian education. He came to Lincoln from Norwich, where he was the Lay Development Officer and Assistant Diocesan Director of Ordinands, and also a tutor in spirituality and ethics with the Eastern Region Ministry Course.
Bishop of Lincoln Christopher Lowson was on Thursday suspended from office by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.
He faces allegations that he failed to protect children and vulnerable people, but peers clarified he is not accused of committing abuse.
Lowson is the first bishop to be suspended over safeguarding issues.
He said he was “bewildered”, and would fully cooperate with investigations.
His position has been taken over by the Bishop of Grimsby, Right Reverend Dr David Court.
Church of England officials have declined to provide details about the allegations which led to the suspension.
Operation Redstone
It also comes during an ongoing Lincolnshire Police investigation codenamed Operation Redstone, though it has not yet been confirmed if recent allegations are part of the Lincolnshire Police investigation.
Operation Redstone previously uncovered shocking abuse at the hands of Diocese of Lincoln clergy and staff.
Three men have been convicted by Lincolnshire Police, Roy Griffiths, John Bailey and Stephen Crabtree for historical sexual offences against children and vulnerable people.
The trials highlighted a culture of coverups in the church.
Investigations found decades of allegations had been ignored by former Bishops of Lincoln.
Victims spoke out the first time in a BBC Panorama documentary last month.
Abuse cases were not referred to police until decades later, it was revealed in the Church of England Past Cases Review.
Operation Redstone investigations are still ongoing.
https://thelincolnite.co.uk/2019/05/the-senior-cathedral-figures-embroiled-in-safeguarding-scandal/
Paedophile Celtic Boys’ Club coaches Gerry King (far left), Jim Torbett (centre) and Frank Cairney (far right) and former kitman Jim McCafferty, front right, and the statement in the Celtic View in 1986 saying the abuse claims were scurrilous
Celtic FC cleared Boys’ Club bosses over ‘scurrilous’ abuse claims in 1986
Victims, families and lawyers call for action after Daily Record reveals statement printed in The Celtic View after a club investigation.
17 MAY 2019
Celtic FC investigated and cleared Celtic Boys’ Club “leaders” of wrongdoing after complaints in the 80s, the Record can reveal.
The club’s probe described abuse claims as “scurrilous” and said those “placed under a cloud” would go to court if necessary to make sure the stories “are buried once and for all”.
Concerns were voiced in the 80s about boys being taken out socially when no matches were scheduled, arriving home late, and being taken away to tournaments that did not exist.
But the club’s probe described abuse claims as “scurrilous” and said that those who had been “placed under a cloud” would go to court if necessary to make sure the stories “are buried once and for all”.
The Record can reveal Celtic FC were aware of claims surrounding the boys’ club as far back as 1986.
The Celtic View article confirms that the Celtic FC board thoroughly investigated claims of inappropriate behaviour at the Celtic Boys’ Club
On Tuesday, a former kitman for Celtic, Hibs and Falkirk was jailed for six years and nine months for sexually abusing young footballers over two decades.
Youth coach Jim McCafferty was revealed as a serial abuser more than two years ago following a confession when confronted by the Record.
McCafferty’s imprisonment comes in the wake of Celtic Boys’ Club predatory paedophiles Jim Torbett and Frank Cairney being jailed for sexual offences on boys spanning more than 20 years.
Torbett, 71, was jailed for six years in November for the systematic sexual abuse of boys from 1986 to 1994.
A third CBC official, Gerald King, 66, was convicted of a string of sexual offences against children at a school in Glasgow.
Earlier this year he was given a three-year probation order.
The revelation of the club’s 80s investigation appears to be at odds with Celtic FC’s present stance that the boys’ club is a totally separate organisation, and that it was first made aware of allegations of improper behaviour in the mid-90s.
Helene Gray, 70, the mum of Torbett victim Andrew Gray, said of the development: “This is horrendous and shocking.”
On Tuesday, a former kitman for Celtic, Hibs and Falkirk was jailed for six years and nine months for sexually abusing young footballers over two decades.
Youth coach Jim McCafferty was revealed as a serial abuser more than two years ago following a confession when confronted by the Record.
McCafferty’s imprisonment comes in the wake of Celtic Boys’ Club predatory paedophiles Jim Torbett and Frank Cairney being jailed for sexual offences on boys spanning more than 20 years.
Torbett, 71, was jailed for six years in November for the systematic sexual abuse of boys from 1986 to 1994.
A third CBC official, Gerald King, 66, was convicted of a string of sexual offences against children at a school in Glasgow.
Earlier this year he was given a three-year probation order.
The revelation of the club’s 80s investigation appears to be at odds with Celtic FC’s present stance that the boys’ club is a totally separate organisation, and that it was first made aware of allegations of improper behaviour in the mid-90s.
Helene Gray, 70, the mum of Torbett victim Andrew Gray, said of the development: “This is horrendous and shocking.”
Convicted paedophile Jim Torbett at a Celtic Boys’ Club event
Andrew bravely gave a statement before his tragic death aged 41 in an accident in Australia. The information helped convict the pervert in November.
Patrick McGuire, a partner with Thompsons Solicitors, who are representing the victims, said: “These new revelations uncovered by the Record go further than ever before in disproving the ridiculous assertion that the boys’ club and Celtic were separate organisations.
“The former directors of Celtic have got to be clear about what they thought they were investigating back in the mid-80s.
“The survivors my team represent deserve answers from the club about these investigations and they continue to be shocked and insulted that the board maintain that the boys’ club and Celtic FC are separate organisations.
“The survivors must receive an official apology from the club and be properly compensated for the terrible things that happened to them when, as children, they were under Celtic’s care.
“This is the morally right and decent thing to do but if Celtic continue to ignore us, as I have said before, we will see them in court.”
Kenny Campbell, another of Torbett’s victims – who waived his right to anonymity – said of our probe: “This makes me sick to the pit my stomach. It is a stunning development.”
Boys’ club general manager Frank Cairney, 83, was convicted in December last year and jailed for four years after sexually abusing eight boys.
He wrote in the Celtic View in December 1986 of his gratitude for the “tremendous support” he received from Celtic Park during the “recent difficult times”.
At the time of the 1986 investigation by the Celtic FC board, their then vice-chairman Kevin Kelly was also president of Celtic Boys’ Club.
He was also an employee of Torbett at his trophy business in Glasgow’s Shawlands.
At the boys’ club AGM in 1987 – just months after the allegations came to light – Kelly said that because of the way “true friends” had rallied round, the “criticism” of the boys’ club had made it stronger.
Torbett was previously jailed for two years in 1998 for abusing three former Celtic Boys’ Club players, including former Scotland international Alan Brazil, between 1967 and 1974.
At that trial, former Celtic photographer and boys’ club chairman Hugh Birt claimed Torbett was fired in 1974 after child abuse allegations arose.
But Torbett returned to the fold in the 80s.
Celtic FC’s investigation into the conduct of Celtic Boys’ Club “leaders” came after parents raised their fears.
The then boys’ club chairman Birt, who passed away five years ago, resigned because he believed the issue was not being dealt with properly.
The statement Celtic FC issued in Celtic View
Here is the statement Celtic FC issued in its own newspaper, the Celtic View, in December 1986, in response to claims in our sister paper the Sunday Mail.
The statement was reproduced the following month in the Celtic Boys’ Club magazine.
“A Sunday newspaper recently carried a story which cast a shadow over the Celtic Boys’ Club in general, and some of the leaders in particular.
“It also included a clear inference that the Celtic Football Club had not taken appropriate action with regard to the allegations contained in the article.
“In actual fact, the Celtic Board investigated the rumours and interviewed the men concerned in depth and could find nothing to substantiate the stories that were being circulated.
“During the course of the last 10 days, Celtic Football Club and the boys’ club have been in receipt of hundreds of letters and phone calls from boys and their parents, past and present, stating their complete support and backing of all involved with the boys’ club.
“It must be clearly emphasised that apart from this newspaper article, inspired by the former chairman of the boys’ club, not one single complaint has been received by any other person with a Celtic connection.
“The boys’ club leaders who have been placed under a cloud as a result of these rumours have instructed their lawyers to take the appropriate course of action and, if necessary, to go to a court of law to make sure these scurrilous stories are buried once and for all.”
In 1986, he said: “It appears the Celtic board want to look in the other direction in the hope the troubles will go away.”
But in an article published in the club magazine, the Celtic View, in December of that year, Celtic FC rubbished a story in the Record’s sister paper, the Sunday Mail, about the abuse.
It had listed complaints from parents about boys being kept out late, taken out socially when there was no game, and going to non-existent tournaments.
But the Celtic View stated: “In actual fact, the Celtic Board investigated the rumours and interviewed the men concerned in depth and could find nothing to substantiate the stories that were being circulated.
“The boys’ club leaders who have been placed under a cloud as a result of these rumours have instructed their lawyers to take the appropriate course of action, and if necessary to go to a court of law to make sure these scurrilous stories are buried once and for all.”
On the Celtic board at the time were chairman Jack McGinn, vice-chairman Kelly, Chris White, Tom Grant and Jimmy Farrell.
Helene revealed yesterday that the complaints in the 80s matched Torbett’s pattern of abuse when he preyed on Andrew.
She said : “This was exactly what Torbett did to Andrew. It is the first we have heard of Celtic holding an investigation as far back as that. To think it made Torbett’s position stronger is sickening.”
Kenny added: “I love Celtic. But people need to know the truth. For Celtic FC to claim they are separate from the boys’ club is total nonsense and this information uncovered by the Record shows that.”
Last night, Celtic FC made no comment on our revelations.
Following Torbett’s conviction last November, the club again claimed the boys’ club was not part of Celtic FC and did not refer to the investigation in the 80s.
It said: “Allegations regarding abuse at Celtic Boys’ Club first emerged in the 1990s. Although Celtic Football Club is an entirely separate organisation, we have always taken these allegations extremely seriously because of our historic contacts with Celtic Boys’ Club.”
A club source said yesterday: “It is not true to say that the investigation in 1986 is at odds with our statement released in November.
“That statement referred to the specific allegations against Torbett which led to his conviction in court. These allegations first emerged in the 1990s.”
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/celtic-fc-cleared-boys-club-16158020
Calls for public inquiry into historical child abuse on Caldey Island as another victim comes forward
Kevin O’Connell from Ceredigion recently revisited the island for the first time since he was abused there as an 11-year-old
There are new calls for a public inquiry into historical child abuse on Caldey Island as another victim of paedophile monk, Thaddeus Kotik, comes forward.
Kevin O’Connell from Ceredigion recently revisited the island for the first time since he was abused there as an 11-year-old. He contacted S4C’s current affairs programme, Y Byd ar Bedwar at the beginning of the year, in a bid to get answers from Church authorities who turned a blind eye to Kotik’s crimes.
He invited them to follow his emotional journey back to where he was abused 47 years ago
Caldey Island off the coast of Tenby in Pembrokeshire is renowned as an idyllic tourist attraction, popular among day-trippers. But others view the place as hell on earth due to the dark secrets hidden there for decades.
It is famously home to a group of Cistercian monks, an order of the Catholic Church who avoid unnecessary speech and focus on prayer and hard labour.
In 2017 it came to light that the island has a long history of child sexual abuse after six women received compensation from the island’s abbey after being abused by Kotik. There are 21 victims who have now come forward and reported similar offences to Dyfed Powys Police with cases going back to the 1960s.
On a family holiday to the island when he was six years old, Kevin O’Connell said that he met the monk, Kotik. He said that they became friends and he began spending time alone with him.
“Caldey Island was a paradise. It was beautiful. I played with other children, the beach, volleyball and football, it was special. Father Thaddeus became very special to me, and he gave me the love I didn’t get at home from my Dad.”
Kotik, a former soldier who fought for the Free Polish army during the Second World War, moved to the island in 1947 and joined the strict Cistercian Order. The monk was ordained a priest in 1956 and lived on the island until his death in 1992. It appears he was never questioned by police, who were not informed of allegations against him until 2014.
After the holiday Kevin says that Kotik kept in touch with him and sent him photos of Caldey Island in the post.
After becoming an altar boy he went on several more holidays to Caldey Island, arranged and funded by his local Catholic Church. He never told his parents what Kotic did to him.
In the programme, Kevin embarks on a quest to face his demons and find the ruins where he says he remembers the abuse taking place.
He led ‘Y Byd ar Bedwar’ presenter Dot Davies, to a derelict building in a secluded corner of the island.
“I’m looking for a square stone like a seat, maybe it’s still here, I don’t know.
“In here. This is where the abuse happened and other monks watched.
“This place is just full of nightmares. Every room here has a horrible memory, but I need to get it out of my head. I knew it was here.”
Six women received compensation from Caldey Abbey in an out-of-court settlement in 2016 but it was too late to bring criminal charges against Kotik as he had died in 1992.
It has come to light however that the abbey was told by a victim about the abuse in the 1980’s but did not report it to police until 2014. Instead the abbott at the time, Robert O’Brian, asked the victim for forgiveness.
ITV Wales asked the current abbot, Brother Daniel van Santvoort for his response to the latest evidence that Kevin O’Connell was also abused on the island. Despite contacting the Brother several times, he never responded.
ITV Wales also contacted the Diocese of Menevia in Swansea. Caldey Abbey is not under their responsibility but they have been advising the Abbey on their safeguarding policies and practices for the last 18 months.
The Bishop Tom Burns said that “however, the Abbey has insisted on retaining its oversight of any specific cases, past, present, or in the future.”
Kevin O’Connell is now determined to find the truth and is calling for a public inquiry into historical child sexual abuse on Caldey Island.
Assembly Member Darren Milliar called for a public inquiry in the Senedd in 2017.
“We need answers as to who knew what, when, and why the abbey didn’t report things to the police when they ought to have done when things were brought to their attention. ”
He’s now repeated his call on the Welsh Government to launch a public inquiry.
“This stinks of an awful cover-up, we need answers, who knows what, when and why.”
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “Our position is the same as set out in our response in 2017. We will of course reconsider the matter were new information to come to light.”
David Greenwood is a lawyer specialising in child sexual abuse cases and has worked on several high profile cases involving the Catholic Church.
“It’s a massive systemic problem with the Church. The internal rules and the way in which they defend their reputation has created this space in which paedophiles can get away with it.
“The church are covering things up and have been for a long time. There are still lots of cover-ups that I’m sure haven’t come to light. Their organisations, the way they are set up, their rules, are a danger to children.”
Coming back to the island was difficult for Kevin who says he has suffered with lifelong anxiety and depression.
“I’ve been wanting to come here for a long time to help my nightmares. In the ruins, I see now what I’ve been seeing in my nightmares. I won’t have closure until the truth comes out then maybe I can start living again.”
He’s urging other victims or anyone with information to come forward and tell the authorities.
Judge sets rapid pace to end fight over Jeffrey Epstein ‘sweetheart’ deal
U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra set a brisk schedule for prosecutors and the young women’s attorneys to help him unravel an unprecedented legal mess that was created in 2007.
WEST PALM BEACH — By August, a federal judge should have the information he needs to decide whether to throw out a controversial agreement that allowed billionaire Jeffrey Epstein to escape federal prosecution for having sex with teens at his Palm Beach mansion.
In an order on Monday, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra set a brisk schedule for prosecutors and the young women’s attorneys to follow to help him unravel an unprecedented legal mess that was created in 2007 when the deal was inked.
Marra in February ruled that federal prosecutors violated the women’s rights by not conferring with them before deciding to shelve a 52-page federal indictment accusing Epstein, 66, of having sex with minors. However, while finding that prosecutors violated the federal Crime Victims Rights Act, Marra didn’t fashion a remedy.
>>Jeffrey Esptein case: Victims’ attorneys blast prosecutors’ timetable
Attorneys representing two of the politically-connected money manager’s more than three dozen victims have long said they want the non-prosecution agreement to be thrown out.
Marra gave them 30 days to file court papers explaining how that could be done and suggesting others ways to compensate the women.
Federal prosecutors will have 30 days to refute or support the request from the victims’ lawyers. Then, the women’s attorneys will have another 15 days to respond to the prosecutors’ arguments, Marra said.
Epstein’s high-powered lawyers, including Miami attorney Roy Black and New York attorney Jay Lefkowitz, will also get a chance to weigh in before the end of July when all of the legal briefs are due.
Marra’s timetable gives federal prosecutors far less time than they wanted.
In court papers filed Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jill Steinberg and Nathan Kitchens said they needed two months to talk to the more than 30 women who claim Epstein paid them for sex when some were as young as 14. After talking to the women, they said they wanted another roughly five months to decide how to redress the wrongs.
Marra said the prosecutors are free to meet with Epstein’s victims or their attorneys in the 60 days they have before they file their final papers. But, he didn’t make it mandatory.
>>RELATED: Settlement reached in billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein case
Former federal judge Paul Cassell, attorney for two Epstein victims who accused prosecutors of violating their rights, applauded Marra’s decision to move quickly to end the decade-old dispute.
“The Jane Does are pleased that Judge Marra has set up a rapid schedule for bringing this case to a conclusion and ultimately providing the victims with the remedies that they deserve,” Cassell said, referring to the women by the pseudonyms they have used since they launched the court battle in 2008.
The requests the women will make shouldn’t surprise federal prosecutors. In 2011, Cassell and attorney Bradley Edwards outlined 21 ways prosecutors and Epstein could be forced to atone for violating the women’s rights. Their top goal: throwing out the non-prosecution agreement.
While prosecutors have said that such action would stomp on Epstein’s rights, Cassell and Edwards disagreed.
“Such a remedy would not violate Epstein’s constitutional rights because he was and is a party to the illegal agreement — and, indeed, he orchestrated the illegality,” Edwards and Cassell wrote.
Scores of emails that are part of the court file reveal a cozy relationship between then-U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta, his prosecutors and Epstein’s attorneys. Acosta is now U.S. labor secretary. Some of the emails also show the bare-knuckle tactics Epstein’s attorneys used — tactics that at times inflamed prosecutors.
To avoid federal prosecution, Epstein agreed to plead guilty to two minor state prostitution charges. He served 13 months of an 18-month sentence in a vacant wing of the Palm Beach County jail — a cell he was allowed to leave 12 hours a day, six days a week. He also agreed to register as a sex offender and to compensate the women who filed civil lawsuits against him.
While throwing out what many described as a “sweetheart deal” would be a start, Cassell and Edwards also suggested other remedies.
Marra could order federal prosecutors to apologize for their behavior, compensate Epstein’s victims, pay their attorneys and explain why federal charges weren’t pursued. Marra could also spell out how victims should be handled in the future to prevent others from having their rights ignored.
In response, Marra indicated that their requests, including throwing out the agreement, were within the realm of possibilities.
“As a threshold matter, the court finds that the CVRA is properly interpreted to authorize the rescission or ‘re-opening’ of a prosecutorial agreement — including a non-prosecution arrangement — reached in violation of a prosecutor’s conferral obligations under the statute,” he wrote in 2011.
But, Marra emphasized, while he could throw out the agreement and order prosecutors to talk to the victims, he can’t force them to file federal charges against Epstein.
“What the government chooses to do after a conferral with the victims is a matter outside the reach of the CRVA, which reserves absolute prosecutorial discretion to the government,” he wrote.
The Bishop of Lincoln has been suspended by the Archbishop of Canterbury. No allegation of abuse against Christopher Lowson but it comes after @BBCPanorama uncovered a string of failures to act in Lincoln.
Former Kincora boys’ home resident suing police and government over sexual abuse claims
A former resident at a notorious Belfast boys’ home is suing the police and government bodies over claims he was trafficked for sexual abuse on both sides of the Irish Sea, it has emerged.
Richard Kerr has lodged High Court papers alleging a paedophile ring subjected him to years of rape and molestation in a campaign covered up by the state.
The 58-year-old, who spent more than two years at the Kincora home in the east of the city, is seeking damages against the Department of Health, the Northern Ireland Office, the PSNI and the Home Office.
His action involves claims for assault and battery, misfeasance in public office, breach of statutory duty and negligence.
Mr Kerr, who now lives in Dallas, Texas, has detailed a litany of alleged abuse during his time spent at institutions in the 1960s and 1970s.
As well as his time at Kincora, the case involves claims about his earlier treatment in care at Williamson House in north Belfast, and a later period at Millisle Borstal in Co Down.
He repeatedly alleges that he was plied with alcohol and sexually assaulted by a number of men.
Court papers set out claims of being taken to hotels in Belfast, Portrush and Bangor to be abused.
According to his case he was also attacked while working at horse stables near Larne.
Another alleged incident involved being molested by a former soldier after being sent to his home in west Belfast.
Mr Kerr further claims he was put on ferries to England, where he was picked up by men and taken to locations in Manchester and London.
He maintains that all investigations and inquiries to date have failed to expose the full abuse at Kincora, along with the alleged knowledge and role of British state agents.
His lawyers claim failures by the Royal Ulster Constabulary to investigate events at the home.
Based on his allegations, he has not accepted conclusions reached by the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) Inquiry.
It dismissed suspicions that senior politicians, civil servants and businessmen were complicit in a paedophile ring at Koncora which led to three staff members being jailed.
Confirming the commencement of his client’s civil action, solicitor Christopher Stanley, of KRW Law, said: “Richard Kerr will be seeking damages for personal injury and, importantly, discovery of material relating to his abuse held by the institutions he is suing.
“On issuing the statement of claim on behalf of Mr Kerr the institutions named therein must now respond.
MI5 report on undercover policing in the Troubles to stay secret
13 May 2019
AN MI5 report on policing compiled at the height of the Troubles will remain secret nearly half a century after it was written, Britain’s freedom of information watchdog has ruled.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said police do not have to disclose the so-called Morton Report, which recommended a shake-up of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) Special Branch in 1973.
In reaching its verdict, however, the watchdog confirmed for the first time how significant the report could be for understanding the history of policing in the Troubles.
The ICO said the report was instigated by the head of MI5, Sir Michael Hanley, who suggested to then RUC Chief Constable Sir Graham Shillington that a senior Security Service officer conduct a review of Special Branch in June 1973.
The officer chosen was Jack Morton, a former colonial police chief in India.
A year after Morton wrote his report on Special Branch, loyalist paramilitaries killed 33 people and an unborn child in a series of car bombs across Dublin and Monaghan. It was the deadliest attack of the Troubles.
An inquiry by former Irish Supreme Court judge Henry Barron concluded: “A number of those suspected for the bombings were reliably said to have had relationships with British Intelligence and/or RUC Special Branch officers.”
Morton’s report on the Troubles is so sensitive that it took the ICO 18 months to reach a decision, in what became one of the watchdog’s top ten longest-running cases.
Over 20 academics from Britain and Ireland have called for the Morton Report to be made available for their research, but to no avail.
This month, the Commissioner ruled the report could stay secret because it was supplied by MI5.
“The Security Service confirmed that the report was directly supplied to the then Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), now known as the PSNI [Police Service of Northern Ireland], by MI5.”
WALKER REPORT
The ruling appears to contradict a move by the PSNI to release a similar report on RUC Special Branch that was compiled by a different MI5 officer later in the conflict.
Last July, the PSNI declassified almost all of a report produced in 1980 by MI5’s Sir Patrick Walker, after campaigners from the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) took the police to court.
Reacting to the latest decision, Daniel Holder, deputy director of CAJ, said: “It is difficult to conceive how the 1973 Morton report can’t be released by the PSNI for national security reasons when the PSNI did – eventually – release most of the 1980 Walker Report to CAJ in a similar case.
“Both relate to the structures of RUC Special Branch, and both were authored by MI5 officers.”
He warned that such reports can “reveal wrongdoing by the state.”
The Walker Report advised the RUC to prioritise keeping informants active in paramilitary groups instead of prosecuting them for crimes they had committed.
Sir Patrick said: “All proposals to effect arrests, other than those arising directly out of an incident, must be cleared with Special Branch to ensure that no agents, either RUC or army, are involved”.
Mr Holder said this showed the importance of declassifying such material, and stressed that the public has a right to know about the past.
“The application of blanket national security vetoes over historic information is not human rights compliant,” he warned, “particularly when the documents in question may contain evidence of past security policies and practices that involved or facilitated human rights violations.”
Mr Holder said the Morton report should be disclosed to prevent “a repetition of past practices that fuelled conflict.”
WHO WAS JACK MORTON?
John Percival Morton, CMG OBE, better known as Jack Morton, was born in India in 1911.
He joined the Indian Imperial Police Service in 1930 in the midst of anti-colonial unrest.
In his memoirs, he expressed racist views, saying: “Indians were a sort of immature, backward and needy people whom it was the natural British function to govern and administer.”
He commanded an armed paramilitary police unit before becoming a colonial Special Branch officer.
While raiding an Indian independence activist’s house in Amritsar, India, he found literature about Michael Collins and Sinn Fein.
“The Irish connection and the wider ramifications of the revolutionary movement made a deep impression on me at the time”, he said. “My interest in Special Branch matters now quickened.”
In 1944 Morton took charge of India’s Lahore District at the age of 33, the youngest officer to command its 4,000-strong police force, earning him an OBE.
As partition unfolded, Morton was offered a job with MI5 in Baghdad.
He rose through the ranks, serving as director of intelligence during the so-called Malayan Emergency and later became a senior figure in the Security Service.
In 1965 he was a Security Intelligence Adviser in the Colonial Office, where he was decorated with the “Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George.”
In 1973, he advised the RUC how to revamp its notorious Special Branch at the height of the Troubles.
In 1979 he made two advisory trips to Sri Lanka where he recommended their army receive SAS training to tackle Tamil separatists.
He died in 1985.
Former Celtic kitman Jim McCafferty jailed after pleading guilty to sex offences
Police officer says McCafferty ‘used football to prey upon’ his victims
14 May 2019
Pervert youth football coach and kitman Jim McCafferty was sentenced to six years and nine months today after pleading guilty to a string of child sex offences stretching back 25 years.
McCafferty, 73, was involved in football in Scotland and Northern Ireland from the 1980s.
A total of 27 men who were coached by him took a claim against the former kitman and 10 claimants appeared on the lengthy indictment.
His crimes were all sexual and he was described as “physically intimidating” and overbearing.
Lord Beckett told Edinburgh High Court McCafferty that his actions had been “manipulative” and his offending had had a detrimental effect on his many victims.
McCafferty was initially arrested in Belfast
@ciabaudo
A few days ago, paedophile Stephen Madge from Sevenoaks in Kent was convicted of child abuse. MSM tells us little or nothing about the man, apart from the fact that he did charity work. Is he being protected? Let’s have a look … https://www.kentonline.co.uk/sevenoaks/news/paedophile-abused-child-during-charity-project-204148/ …
Perhaps his ‘daytime’ job may shed some light on the level of protection he enjoys. Stephen Madge provides training to law companies. He can be seen in the video below being interviewed at the University of Law: https://youtu.be/oq_-1rL_VJk http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=%22principle8%22&d=4850450151441996&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&w=x31ADhZNUgWdurdffyDYJdB5nXxMT_lr …
He also had high-ranking links to the military community, providing military consultancy and security services. Would he have worked with the vile convicted paedophile, child procurer and VAT expert Colin Peters? http://discover.sentium.uk/training-solutions-tactics-techniques-and-procedures-ttps/ … http://vatattack.co.uk/
Stephen Madge’s LinkedIn page has now been deleted but screenshots were luckily saved by LegalCheek, revealing his top-level connections and the duplicity of his life. https://www.legalcheek.com/2019/05/former-cripps-learning-and-development-manager-jailed-for-historic-indecent-assaults-against-teenage-boy/ … https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:s-B5NECgL8MJ:https://www.cripps.co.uk/profile/stephen-madge/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-b-1-d …
In the mid-Eighties, Stephen Madge, who attended Dover Grammar, became Director of Music at St.Martin’s School, Northwood, where he also taught geography. https://contactout.com/Stephen-Madge-76498937 …
The charity Madge worked for is Janmarek Music Foundation, now disbanded:
Stephen Madge who repeatedly abused teenage boy while involved in charity project jailed
MAY 7 2019
A paedophile who repeatedly abused a child while involved in a charity project more than 20 years ago has been jailed.
Stephen Madge, from Sevenoaks, was convicted of six counts of indecent assault at Maidstone Crown Court after targeting a teenage boy during the 1990s.
Allegations of abuse were first made to Kent Police in November 2014, when it was reported that Madge, 62, had been responsible for multiple offences during his charity work.
He was said to have developed an obsession with the victim, who he came into contact with in 1993 and repeatedly abused him throughout the year.
Officers arrested him at his home in Bradbourne Vale Road, Sevenoaks, in May 2015 and despite denials of any wrongdoing Madge was charged with six counts of indecent assault.
He pleaded not guilty and the case went to trial, where a jury unanimously found Madge guilty on all counts.
He was today sentenced to six years imprisonment, with an extended licence period of a further year.
Madge was also made subject of a sexual harm prevention order and added to the sex offenders register, both for indefinite terms.
https://theukdatabase.com/2019/05/07/stephen-madge-sevenoaks/
Jailed | Twitter Trending Topics UK – TRENDING-UK.com
Stephen Madge, a conductor of St Andrews Cantata based in Hever & founder of now disbanded charity Janmarek Foundation which he set up to invite choirs from Poland and also offer scholarships, jailed for 6 years for abusing teenage boy in 1990s: http://bit.ly/2DWWbGJ
Uxbridge & W. Drayton Gazette – Thursday 22 May 1986
John Mash, former headmaster of St Martin’s Preparatory School in Northwood, has avoided imprisonment despite admitting 7 counts of indecent assault on boys under 14.
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=cf293a48-b154-42cc-8f18-83d2befdc74b
Uxbridge & W. Drayton Gazette – Wednesday 15 April 1987
This charity was registered on 05 Apr 1993, It was removed from the register on 31 May 1994.
Reason for removal: Does not operate.
https://beta.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regid=1019739&subid=0&exportcsv=1
Former Cripps learning and development manager jailed for historic indecent assaults against teenage boy
Law firm ‘horrified’ to learn about Stephen Madge’s conviction
A former learning and development manager at recently-merged Cripps Pemberton Greenish (CPG) has been sentenced this week after being found guilty of six counts of indecent assault against a teenage boy.
Stephen Madge, who worked for CPG as an external consultant from January 2016 until April 2019, was sentenced yesterday at Maidstone Crown Court to six years in prison, with an extended licence period of a further year.
As reported by Kent Online, the allegations, first made to the Kent Police in November 2014, concerned abuse by Madge of a teenage boy while involved in a charity project during the 1990s.
Following the allegations, Madge — who according to his LinkedIn page (seemingly now deactivated, though Legal Cheek has retained screenshots) has worked for Holman Fenwick Willan (now HFW), Squire Sanders (now Squire Patton Boggs) and RPC — was arrested in May 2015 at his home in Sevenoaks and was charged with six counts of indecent assault. He was subsequently found guilty on all counts.
In addition to the sentence of six years in prison, Madge, aged 62, has been made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order and has been added to the sex offenders register, both for indefinite terms.
Responding to the news, Gavin Tyler, managing partner at CPG, told Legal Cheek:
“We were horrified to learn about Stephen Madge’s conviction, and his sentencing [yesterday], for such shocking offences. Our knowledge of Mr Madge was in his capacity as a respected legal education and training specialist, used by many law firms besides ourselves. He worked for us as an external consultant from January 2016 to April 2019. We did not know about his offending, the charge and his conviction until after his contract ended.”
1984 – St Martin’s School Northwood
Head of St Martin’s School, Northwood, avoids Jail for Sexual Abuse
John Mash, former headmaster of St Martin’s Preparatory School in Northwood, has avoided imprisonment despite admitting 7 counts of indecent assault on boys under 14.
The 79 year old was appointed headmaster of the boarding school in or around 1980. He used his position to sexually abuse young boys in his care. Mash would enter the dormitories at night and sexually abuse the young boys whilst they were in their beds. The headmaster preyed upon young boys who had been sent to the boarding school by their parents for an enriching education. Instead, they were abused by Mash for his own desire.
Mash received a sentence of 2 years imprisonment suspended for 2 years and a 2 year supervision order. He was also sentenced to 1 year in prison, suspended for 2 years, at Isleworth Crown Court on 1 April 2016. He is also required to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years.
The police commended the 4 survivors for their courage in coming forward. The school had over 200 pupils at the time that Mash worked there. It has been commented upon that Mash may have abused more than the 4 individuals who have bravely spoken out against him.
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=cf293a48-b154-42cc-8f18-83d2befdc74b
Law chief to rule on ‘legal establishment sex abuse ring’
May 13 2019
Claims that a paedophile ring operated at the highest echelons of the Scottish legal establishment are being considered by prosecutors.
Police Scotland spent five years investigating allegations that senior Scottish lawyers carried out acts of child sexual abuse in the 1970s and 1980s.
Among the alleged members of the paedophile ring were the late Tory MP Sir Nicholas Fairbairn, QC, a close ally of Margaret Thatcher, and the late Robert Henderson, QC.
The investigation was triggered by Henderson’s daughter, Susie, who described being repeatedly raped between the ages of 4 and 12 by her father and other men.
Police Scotland has passed a report on its findings to the Crown Office.
The lord advocate, James Wolffe, QC, Scotland’s chief prosecutor, will now decide whether anyone should face charges. If he does decide to prosecute, it will send shockwaves through the legal establishment.
Ms Henderson, 52, said that she hoped her allegations would lead to the men being charged.
“The awful things I went through as a child, things no child should ever experience, have affected every day of my life and will continue to haunt me,” she said.
“To see even one man on trial and having to answer for what they did to me would mean that the last five very difficult years had not been for nothing.”
Ms Henderson told detectives in 2014 that she had been abused and raped from the age of four or five by Sir Nicholas, the solicitor-general for Scotland between 1979 and 1982, whose responsibilities included the prosecution of sex offenders.
She also alleged that she was subjected to horrific sexual abuse by her father and some men that he brought to the house. Many are dead, but it is understood that at least three of the accused are still alive.
Police Scotland and the Crown have kept a tight lid on all the information gathered by detectives, but it is likely that, as with all allegations of historical child sex abuse, corroboration will be the key to the final decision on whether to prosecute.
Ms Henderson waived her right to anonymity when she made her allegations. Since then she has refused to discuss details of her claims before any possible trial or decision on prosecution.
She said last night, however, that the investigation had been “a nightmare, a brutal ordeal” and that her life had not been her own for almost five years.
Detectives at West Lothian have been carrying out the investigation and have travelled widely to gather evidence and get witness statements. Sources have said that Mr Henderson would have faced charges had he still been alive.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/law-chief-to-rule-on-legal-establishment-sex-abuse-ring-6xd080rv8
Fermanagh: Specialist team to investigate historic abuse
Police have appointed a team of specialist child abuse detectives to investigate reports of historic sex abuse in County Fermanagh.
It follows a series of interviews carried in the Impartial Reporter. More than a dozen people told their stories to the paper.
The PSNI said they were taking the reports very seriously.
Journalist Rodney Edwards said this was a “huge issue” which came to light because of the bravery of victims.
The head of the Public Protection Branch, Det Chief Supt Paula Hillman said: “One of the roles of Public Protection Branch is to investigate historical child sexual abuse.
“Currently we are reviewing evidence and speaking to victims and this will take time. We will take that time,” she said.
“As head of Public Protection Branch, I, and detectives working alongside me, are committed to supporting victims and ensuring we thoroughly investigate these reports of historical sexual abuse, whether in Fermanagh or other parts of Northern Ireland.
“I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult it must be for someone to report historical sexual abuse.”
She said anyone who came forward would be treated with sensitivity and the utmost care.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-48150317
An alleged victim of a suspected paedophile ring in Northern Ireland says he believes “hundreds” of other children were abused. More than a dozen people have made allegations of historical abuse in County Fermanagh – one woman claims that her childminder sold her and other children to paedophiles. The Police Service of Northern Ireland says it is investigating the claims
Gilbert Law & Co.Ltd @RolandMcVeigh1
Could there be a link between the Fermanagh historic sex abuse allegations and the Anglo Irish vice ring including Portora Royal School ?
@ciabaudo
Isn’t it amazing that the man who gave his name to the Hart inquiry (or was it a coverup?) is closely linked to that school?
@AdamLangton1
Truly amazing and it was a whitewash.
The Marquis of Hamilton MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone his cousin, Lord Robert Grosvenor (later Duke of Westminster).
He is also a relative of Diana, Princess of Wales as he is the first cousin of Diana’s father, the 8th Earl Spencer. The current duke’s father, the 4th Duke of Abercorn was the brother of Diana’s grandmother, Cynthia Spencer, Countess Spencer. Their Royal Highnesses The Duke of Cambridge, The Duke of Sussex, Prince George of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, and Prince Louis of Cambridge are his distant cousins.
09 September 1965
Pie-linked Peter Tatchell wants teenagers to be taught masturbation in school. His proposal supported by Stephen Fry
Peter Tatchell Foundation
Stephen Fry backs our call to revise sex education
Stephen Fry is backing calls for the Education Secretary, Damian Hinds, to undertake a further review and upgrade of relationship and sex education (RSE) in schools ahead of the roll out of mandatory RSE in 2020. The aim of this upgrade is to ensure the sexual and emotional health and happiness of young people.
In a letter to the Education Secretary, the Peter Tatchell Foundation says that political, religious and cultural sensitivities should not be allowed to thwart mandatory age-appropriate RSE in every school, including in faith and independent schools, from the first year of primary education onwards.
The letter is co-signed by five other people, including actor Stephen Fry and four others involved in education and school’s work and draws on their experience listening to pupils and teachers. See their names and titles at the end of this news release.
“We are proposing a restricted parental opt out, the promotion of safer alternatives to intercourse and overcoming sex shame to tackle abuse. As well as warning pupils about the risks of sex, lessons should also inform older pupils about sexual pleasure and how to achieve it for both themselves and a partner, with the aim of helping them secure mutual sexual happiness,” said Peter Tatchell Foundation Director Peter Tatchell.
https://www.petertatchellfoundation.org/stephen-fry-backs-our-call-to-revise-sex-education/
Neil Moran @museofwoolwich
The optics don’t look good here. So, you are recommending, inter alia, advice for teenagers on sex / masturbation techniques? Who will provide this? There is something deeply creepy about old men who have an interest in teenage sexuality. Don’t you get this?
#RSE #PeterTatchell
Teachers who have specialist training will do it
A trust setup to teach teenagers how to wank? Sounds a lot like PIE.
@joanna_chivers
David Steel ‘has Lib Dem whip restored and suspension lifted’
MAY 9 2019
DAVID Steel has had the Liberal Democrat Party whip restored and his suspension lifted following an internal investigation into remarks he made about child sex abuse claims concerning the late MP Cyril Smith, according to a senior party source.
Lord Steel, the former Liberal Party leader, was suspended and had the parliamentary whip removed in March following the remarks, which he had made to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
The 80-year-old peer explained how in 1979 he had asked his colleague about allegations that he had abused boys at a Rochdale hostel in the 1960s after an article appeared in the Private Eye satirical magazine.
Lord Steel said he came away from the conversation “assuming” Smith had committed the offences. He explained: “It was before he was an MP, before he was even a member of my party. It had nothing to do with me.”
The inquiry was told that the party had held no formal inquiry into the claims against Smith, which had been investigated by the police in 1969 but no prosecution was brought.
Lord Steel, the former Holyrood Presiding Officer, described recommending his colleague for a knighthood in 1988 and pointed out that he did not pass on any child abuse allegations because “I was not aware of any such allegations other than the matter referred to…which appeared to have been fully investigated”.
Richard Scorer, a lawyer acting for seven victims in the abuse inquiry, said Lord Steel’s “inaction was an appalling dereliction of duty” and that his admission that he had assumed Smith had committed offences would “cause victims great anger”.
The claims against the late Lib Dem politician came to public prominence after Smith died in 2010. In the 1960s, he was a Labour councillor in Rochdale before becoming the Liberal and then Lib Dem MP for the town between 1972 and 1992.
Last night, a senior party source told The Herald: “The fact is the whip has been restored to Lord Steel in the House of Lords and as a result the suspension has been lifted.”
When the party was approached for a response, a spokesman said: “The process is ongoing,” adding there would be no further comment while this was the case.
@craftymuvva
WTAF is going on with the @LibDems? He admitted wrongdoing and you’ve just let him get away with it. You lot deserve no votes whatsoever. You’re a disgustingly shameful excuse for a collective group of apathetic sympathisers who knowingly allowed a grotesque nonce to hurt kids!
I mean, we’re not talking about stuffed toys @LibDems, we’re talking about little children. Innocent little beings violated by that monstrous paedophile, Smith. Steel admitted he knew and did nothing and you have effectively endorsed that by lifting his suspension.
@Therealstevieb
They certainly do look after their own don’t they?. Disgraceful…
Vince Cable defends Lib Dems’ inquiry into Lord Steel
Vince Cable has defended his party’s handling of an investigation into former LibDem leader Lord David Steel about his answers to a child abuse inquiry.
But the current LibDem leader said that the party was now looking at it improving it’s disciplinary systems.
In Scotland to back his European election candidates, Mr Cable denied that the inquiry into Lord Steel was a whitewash, and added: “He had made some comments at the child abuse inquiry that weren’t clear, so there was a detailed inquiry by the Scottish party – as he’s a member of the Scottish party – and there was nothing ultimately to answer.”
Lord Steel, the first Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, was suspended from the party after he told an independent child abuse inquiry that he had “assumed” abuse allegations against the late MP Sir Cyril Smith were true but “it had nothing to do with me”. The Scottish Liberal Democrats investigation concluded that “there are no grounds for action” against Mr Steel.
Asked if he felt the internal process was sufficiently robust, Mr Cable said: “We have made a decision to improve our complaints process and that is due to come into effect, but the one we used is a proper disciplinary process and I’m satisfied it’s been carried out properly.”
The investigation resulted from a meeting the then-Liberal-Party-leader had with Smith in 1979 about claims he had abused boys at a Rochdale hostel in the 1960s. Police had previously investigated allegations about the abuse of teenagers at the Cambridge House hostel but no one was prosecuted.
Lord Steel said he had discussed the allegations with former Rochdale MP Smith after an article appeared in Private Eye magazine. At the child abuse inquiry, Lord Steel – who is now 81 – that “the matter had been investigated by police, no further action was taken and that was the end of the story”.
However, during questioning by inquiry counsel Brian Altman QC, Lord Still suggested he had “assumed” the allegations were true.
Announcing the conclusion of the investigation into Lord Steel, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Willie Rennie MSP, said: “The Executive of the Scottish Liberal Democrats has determined, after careful consideration, that there are no grounds for action against David Steel.
“We take the issue of vigilance and safeguarding incredibly seriously, so it was important to investigate following the evidence that David Steel gave to the independent public inquiry.
“The clarifications that David Steel has provided to us state clearly that Cyril Smith did not confess to any criminality which is why he took no further action at the time.”
Lord Steel added: “I believe in the highest standards of safeguarding for young and vulnerable people. As such, I voluntarily attended the IICSA hearing and offered open and honest answers, some of which have been erroneously reported and taken out of context.
“These inaccurate elements led some to question my own such commitment. Opinions and assumptions are not facts, and those expressed in some quarters have caused me great personal distress.”
Church of England put reputation above abuse victims’ needs, inquiry finds
Report into Peter Ball case criticises ex-archbishop George Carey as well as Prince Charles
May 9 2019
The Church of England put its own reputation above the needs of victims of sexual abuse, with a serious failure of leadership by the former archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, in its handling of the case of a bishop who eventually went to prison, an official inquiry has concluded.
It also found that Prince Charles and other members of the establishment were misguided in their expressions of support of Peter Ball as he battled the accusations.
Ball, a former bishop of Lewes and Gloucester, was jailed in 2015, more than 20 years after allegations were made against him that were largely ignored or downplayed by the church. Ball accepted a police caution in 1993 and resigned as bishop but was allowed to continue officiating in the C of E.
Ball “seemed to relish contact with prominent and influential people”, a 250-page report published on Thursday by the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA) said. He “sought to use his relationship with His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to further his campaign to return to unrestricted ministry”.
The prince and his private secretary spoke about Ball with the archbishop of Canterbury and arranged for the Duchy of Cornwall to buy a property to be rented by Ball after he resigned as a bishop.
The prince had been “misguided”, and his actions “could have been interpreted as expressions of support for Peter Ball and, given the Prince of Wales’s future role within the Church of England, had the potential to influence the actions of the church”, the report said.
It said Carey showed compassion to Ball that was not extended to the bishop’s victims, and displayed overt support for Ball’s innocence despite having no justification. Carey was archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002.
The church’s response to allegations of abuse by Ball and others in the diocese of Chichester was marked by secrecy, prevarication and avoidance of reporting alleged crimes, the report said.
Disclosures of abuse were handled inadequately by the church, and responses failed to display an appropriate level of urgency or appreciation of the seriousness of allegations made.
The report said “clericalism and tribalism” in the diocese of Chichester contributed to an abuse of power. During the inquiry’s public hearings last year, senior clergy squabbled about responsibility for failing to deal with past sexual abuse.
“The damaging consequence of this overriding allegiance to one’s own ‘tribe’ was that child protection was compromised,” the report said.
Perpetrators, about whom there were allegations or even convictions, were provided with unrestricted access to children and young people, the report found.
Apologies given by Justin Welby, the present archbishop of Canterbury, and other senior church figures over the C of E’s failures were “unconvincing”, it said.
Ball’s “charm, charisma and reputation” enabled him to avoid a criminal conviction until 2015, the report said. He was sentenced to 32 months in prison for sexual offences against 18 young men, and was released on licence after serving four months.
Alexis Jay, the inquiry’s chair, said: “For years, the diocese of Chichester failed victims of child sexual abuse by prioritising its own reputation above their welfare. Not only were disclosures of abuse handled inadequately by the church when they came to light, its response was marked by secrecy and a disregard for the seriousness of the abuse allegations.
“Peter Ball is one example of how a senior member of the clergy was able to sexually abuse vulnerable teenagers and young men for decades. The public support he received is reflective of the church’s culture at the time; a support that was rarely extended to his victims.”
The report recommended amending the 2003 Sexual Offences Act to include clergy among those defined as being in a position of trust. Such a move would criminalise sexual activity between clergy and a person aged between 16 and 18 over whom they exercise pastoral authority.
The inquiry held a hearing into the church’s handling of Ball’s case last July, taking evidence in person from two former archbishops of Canterbury – Carey and Rowan Williams – and Welby, the current incumbent. It also received a six-page written submission from the prince.
Carey told the inquiry that with 25 years of hindsight, he should not have been so generous in his views of Ball. He was “under great pressure” from Ball’s supporters to believe his protestations of innocence, he said.
William Chapman, representing survivors, told the inquiry: “The story of Peter Ball is the story of the establishment at work in modern times.”
Ball had been able to call upon the “willing assistance of members of the establishment. It included the heir to the throne, the archbishop and a senior member of the judiciary, to name only the most prominent,” Chapman said.
In his statement, the prince said he had been deceived about the true nature of Ball’s activities, but denied he had sought to influence the outcome of police investigations.
He wrote to Ball in February 1995, saying: “I wish I could do more. I feel so desperately strongly about the monstrous wrongs that have been done to you and the way you have been treated.”
Neil Todd, who made the first complaint against Ball to the police in 1992, killed himself in 2012 after several previous attempts.
A separate independent review of the Ball case, commissioned by the C of E and published last year, found evidence of collusion and a cover-up at the highest levels over a 20-year period.
Responding to the IICSA report, Peter Hancock, the bishop of Bath and Wells and the church’s lead bishop on safeguarding, said: “The report states that the Church of England should have been a place which protected all children and supported victims and survivors and the inquiry’s summary recognises that it failed to do this. It is absolutely right that the church at all levels should learn lessons from the issues raised in this report.”
He added that the church was committed to introducing changes to better protect children and vulnerable adults from abuse, and said it would consider the report’s conclusions and recommendations.
Richard Scorer, a specialist abuse lawyer at Slater and Gordon, who acts for a number of victims, said: “We may never know the true harm caused by Prince Charles’s intervention and support for Ball, but welcome the fact that the inquiry did not shy away from highlighting his role in this scandal.
“This report is a damning indictment of years of church cover-up, facilitation of child abuse and denigration and dismissal of victims. It rightly criticises senior church figures for serious failings, but it also exposes alarming cultural and structural problems in the Church of England.
“Yet again this shows the urgent need for an independent oversight of safeguarding and a mandatory reporting law to protect innocent and vulnerable people.”
Inquiry publishes report into the Diocese of Chichester and Peter Ball
The report highlights the evidence heard by the Inquiry of appalling sexual abuse agains children in the Diocese of Chichester and the inadequate response of the Church in cases including Peter Ball.
The report considers how Peter Ball abused his position as Bishop of Gloucester to deliberately manipulate vulnerable teenagers and young men for his own sexual gratification, which included naked praying, masturbation and flagellation.
The report concludes that the Church’s response to claims of child sexual abuse was marked by secrecy, prevarication and avoidance of reporting alleged crimes. It states that the apology given by the Church remains unconvincing.
Professor Alexis Jay, Chair of the Inquiry, said:
“For years, the Diocese of Chichester failed victims and survivors of child sexual abuse by prioritising its own reputation above their welfare. Not only were disclosures of abuse handled inadequately by the Church when they came to light, its response was marked by secrecy and a disregard for the seriousness of abuse allegations.
“Peter Ball is one example of how a senior member of the clergy was able to sexually abuse vulnerable teenagers and young men for decades. The public support he received is reflective of the Church’s culture at the time; a support that was rarely extended to his victims.”
https://www.iicsa.org.uk/news/inquiry-publishes-report-diocese-chichester-and-peter-ball
Rochdale abuse: ‘Insufficient evidence’ for perjury charges
Nxivm cult leader Keith Raniere’s first sex slave is revealed as a Mexican girl aged just FIFTEEN who he ordered to sexually assault a shackled and blindfolded woman, court hears, as jurors are shown an explicit photograph he forced her to pose for
- The trial of Nxivm leader Keith Raniere got underway on Tuesday in Brooklyn with opening statements
- He made a 15-year-old Mexican national his first sex slave after convincing her and her three sisters to travel with him to upstate New York, said U.S. Attorney
- Prosecutor Tany Hajjar said that Raniere began to rape the girl and make her pose for nude photographs, one of which was shown in court
- He also imprisoned her sister for 21 months after she showed interest in a man other than him, said Hajjar
- His youngest victim was also allegedly forced to sexually assault other women for Raniere’s pleasure, said the prosecutor
- Raniere is facing life in prison if convicted, and has been incarcerated since March 2018 when he was extradited after fleeing to Mexico
May 7 2019
The trial of Nxivm leader Keith Raniere got underway on Tuesday with opening statements from both the defense and prosecution.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanya Hajjar did not hold back in her remarks, outlining how the defendant made a 15-year-old Mexican national his first sex slave after convincing her and her three sisters to travel with him to upstate New York.
Once there, Hajjar said that Raniere began to rape the girl and make her pose for nude photographs, one of which was shown in court.
In that image the teen could be seen lying on Raniere’s bed, one of the hundreds of graphic nude pictures that the cult leader is said to have kept in his possession over the years.
Stephen Madge who repeatedly abused teenage boy while involved in charity project jailed
MAY 7 2019
A paedophile who repeatedly abused a child while involved in a charity project more than 20 years ago has been jailed.
Stephen Madge, from Sevenoaks, was convicted of six counts of indecent assault at Maidstone Crown Court after targeting a teenage boy during the 1990s.
Allegations of abuse were first made to Kent Police in November 2014, when it was reported that Madge, 62, had been responsible for multiple offences during his charity work.
He was said to have developed an obsession with the victim, who he came into contact with in 1993 and repeatedly abused him throughout the year.
Officers arrested him at his home in Bradbourne Vale Road, Sevenoaks, in May 2015 and despite denials of any wrongdoing Madge was charged with six counts of indecent assault.
He pleaded not guilty and the case went to trial, where a jury unanimously found Madge guilty on all counts.
He was today sentenced to six years imprisonment, with an extended licence period of a further year.
Madge was also made subject of a sexual harm prevention order and added to the sex offenders register, both for indefinite terms.
https://theukdatabase.com/2019/05/07/stephen-madge-sevenoaks/
Jailed | Twitter Trending Topics UK – TRENDING-UK.com
Stephen Madge, a conductor of St Andrews Cantata based in Hever & founder of now disbanded charity Janmarek Foundation which he set up to invite choirs from Poland and also offer scholarships, jailed for 6 years for abusing teenage boy in 1990s: http://bit.ly/2DWWbGJ
Uxbridge & W. Drayton Gazette – Thursday 22 May 1986
Uxbridge & W. Drayton Gazette – Wednesday 15 April 1987
This charity was registered on 05 Apr 1993, It was removed from the register on 31 May 1994.
Reason for removal: Does not operate.
https://beta.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regid=1019739&subid=0&exportcsv=1
Former Cripps learning and development manager jailed for historic indecent assaults against teenage boy
Law firm ‘horrified’ to learn about Stephen Madge’s conviction
A former learning and development manager at recently-merged Cripps Pemberton Greenish (CPG) has been sentenced this week after being found guilty of six counts of indecent assault against a teenage boy.
Stephen Madge, who worked for CPG as an external consultant from January 2016 until April 2019, was sentenced yesterday at Maidstone Crown Court to six years in prison, with an extended licence period of a further year.
As reported by Kent Online, the allegations, first made to the Kent Police in November 2014, concerned abuse by Madge of a teenage boy while involved in a charity project during the 1990s.
Following the allegations, Madge — who according to his LinkedIn page (seemingly now deactivated, though Legal Cheek has retained screenshots) has worked for Holman Fenwick Willan (now HFW), Squire Sanders (now Squire Patton Boggs) and RPC — was arrested in May 2015 at his home in Sevenoaks and was charged with six counts of indecent assault. He was subsequently found guilty on all counts.
In addition to the sentence of six years in prison, Madge, aged 62, has been made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order and has been added to the sex offenders register, both for indefinite terms.
Responding to the news, Gavin Tyler, managing partner at CPG, told Legal Cheek:
“We were horrified to learn about Stephen Madge’s conviction, and his sentencing [yesterday], for such shocking offences. Our knowledge of Mr Madge was in his capacity as a respected legal education and training specialist, used by many law firms besides ourselves. He worked for us as an external consultant from January 2016 to April 2019. We did not know about his offending, the charge and his conviction until after his contract ended.”
1984 – St Martin’s School Northwood
Head of St Martin’s School, Northwood, avoids Jail for Sexual Abuse
John Mash, former headmaster of St Martin’s Preparatory School in Northwood, has avoided imprisonment despite admitting 7 counts of indecent assault on boys under 14.
The 79 year old was appointed headmaster of the boarding school in or around 1980. He used his position to sexually abuse young boys in his care. Mash would enter the dormitories at night and sexually abuse the young boys whilst they were in their beds. The headmaster preyed upon young boys who had been sent to the boarding school by their parents for an enriching education. Instead, they were abused by Mash for his own desire.
Mash received a sentence of 2 years imprisonment suspended for 2 years and a 2 year supervision order. He was also sentenced to 1 year in prison, suspended for 2 years, at Isleworth Crown Court on 1 April 2016. He is also required to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years.
The police commended the 4 survivors for their courage in coming forward. The school had over 200 pupils at the time that Mash worked there. It has been commented upon that Mash may have abused more than the 4 individuals who have bravely spoken out against him.
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=cf293a48-b154-42cc-8f18-83d2befdc74b
Carl Beech: Trial of Westminster VIP paedophile ring accuser set to last months, judge warns
May 7 2019
Christ’s Hospital ex-teacher Gary Dobbie guilty of abuse
3 MAY 2019
Dobbie will be sentenced on all counts on 12 June.
Daniel O’Donnell comforts Cliff Richard after he’s accused of sex attack on teen
Irish singer shows his support for his old friend as they enjoy a relaxed evening out with friends in Portugal
Daniel and Majella O’Donnell enjoy an evening with Cliff Richard in Portugal
Daniel O’Donnell is comforting his pal Cliff Richard after sex abuse claims were made against him.
The Donegal star, 52, and wife Majella were spotted with the Bachelor Boy on Monday in his first public appearance since the accusations surfaced.
The 73-year-old singer – who is back in the charts with a re-release of his 1992 single I Still Believe In You –
is under investigation over claims he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old boy at a religious rally in 1985.
The singer emphatically denies the allegations.
These exclusive photos show Daniel and Majella enjoying dinner with Cliff 10 days after a raid at the singer’s UK penthouse.
https://www.irishmirror.ie/showbiz/irish-showbiz/daniel-odonnell-comforts-cliff-richard-4113419
When Marys uncle was called in for questioning to Ballyshannon Mc Eniff put pressure on senior Garda to have him released. The Mc Eniff family have controlled the “Country and Irish” music scene iNW Ireland from the 1970’s till the present day.
One of the most prestigious schools in Ireland changes its name out of the blue and amalgamates with another. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portora_Royal_School…
……………..
SNP activist, Willie McRae, ‘killed over child sex files’
A FIREBRAND SNP activist who died in mysterious circumstances was to expose a paedophile ring that would have brought down the Government, it was claimed last night
Willie McRae was said to have discovered child abuse by cabinet ministers and other leading members of the establishment on both sides of the Border. Shortly before his death he was seen photocopying a dossier of names in case something should happen to him.
Mr Morrison said he believed McRae may have first heard of the ring from his friend Lord Mountbatten, the Queen’s cousin who was killed by the IRA in 1979, or from somebody linked to him.
McRae had been Lord Mountbatten’s aide-de-camp in India, when he was a young lieutenant-commander in the Royal Indian Navy.
McRae never went public with his allegations as he was found shot dead in his car off a remote road in Wester Ross on April 6, 1985.
htts://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/541793/SNP-activist-killed-over-child-sex-files
Neighbors – Cawleys
……..
Boiling Over
Mary Boyle murder and its cover-up may be linked to Anglo-Irish paedophile ring, of which Lord Louis Mountbatten was an alleged member
Mary Boyle’s disappearance. Ever since she vanished on St. Patrick’s weekend in 1977, a veil of secrecy has shrouded the case of the Donegal schoolgirl who is Ireland’s longest and youngest missing person.
There are few scandals that embarrass the establishment more, not least because of the sinister role played by senior political, Garda and media figures in suppressing the truth about what happened to the six-year-old. Yet despite a virtual blackout by the mainstream media on all of the astonishing new revelations in the case, the lid is slowly being lifted on this sad and sordid story, and the public is hungry for justice.
Few believe the story as it was spun in 1977 when Mary went missing during a visit to her grandparents’ home in Cashelard, Ballyshannon. It is implausible that a little girl, who was born in Birmingham, could simply vanish without trace on an isolated farm while in the company of at least 10 members of her family.
A ‘Cold Case’ review, set up in the days immediately after the documentary’s release, has resulted in nothing almost a year and a half on, and there is no conclusion in sight.
Fianna Fáil politician Sean McEniff tried to stop their investigation in its tracks.
Charles Haughey with Sean McEniff
Sean McEniff with President de Valera
It appears now that this review – one of several that have led to nothing – was established to placate public outrage over allegations contained in the film, especially those made by retired gardaí who claim that Fianna Fáil politician Sean McEniff tried to stop their investigation in its tracks.
Expert legal opinion suggests the Gardaí have ample evidence to make charges, yet nobody has been arrested.
Gerry Gallagher
The last person known to have seen Mary, her uncle and local Fianna Fáil stalwart Gerry Gallagher, has given several unconvincing and inconsistent accounts of what happened the day she went missing.
Some officers who were first on the scene that day say they are in no doubt Gerry Gallagher was responsible for Mary’s disappearance.
Sergeant Collins also alleges that another close relation of Mary came to him in tears at Ballyshannon station in the days after her disappearance, repeating the claim that he believed Gallagher was responsible.
Retired detective Aidan Murray, one of the lead Gardaí in the original ‘investigation’ supports Collins’ theories. He claims that during an interview with Gallagher, he was on the brink of getting a confession when he got a ‘nudge’ under the table from his superior officer who ordered Murray to leave the room and get water for the suspect.
More disturbingly, both officers say they are in no doubt Mary was sexually assaulted before her death. Ann Doherty makes the same claim and says Mary was going to blow the whistle on the alleged abuse and had to be silenced.
The retired Gardaí also allege that Fianna Fáil’s longest-serving councillor, the late Sean McEniff, made a phone call to Ballyshannon Garda station ordering that none of the Gallagher family were to be made suspects in the case.
Shortly before his death earlier this year, McEniff denied their claim yet Aidan Murray, the former head of Special Branch in the area, has stated on camera: “I know that as a result of that phone call, certain people were not allowed to be interviewed. It was all hands off them and we were to look somewhere else”.
Given the power McEniff wielded in almost every aspect of Donegal life, there is little doubt his intervention could have derailed the investigation.
His legacy of corruption is notorious and was well documented in a recent obituary of him in Village magazine, not least because of his close relationships with Gardaí whom he seems to have been able to order around with impunity, especially where his illegal gaming operation in Bundoran was concerned.
A 1985 RTÉ documentary ‘Law and Order in Donegal’, reveals the control McEniff had over local superintendent Dom Murray, who was in charge of the Mary Boyle investigation and who told a number of lies about the case in media interviews through the years.
It offers a damning insight into the incestuous relationship between Fianna Fáil and the Gardaí, which has been used to protect the party from scandal on numerous occasions, not least in the aftermath of the Fr Niall Molloy murder in Offaly in 1985.
Gerry Gallagher was a crony of Sean McEniff who canvassed for the politician with his brother Michael in the rural townlands of Ballyshannon.
Like the archetypal mafia don, McEniff’s modus operandi was to acquire dirt on people who might be a threat to him, walk them into compromising positions and dangle the threat of exposure in their faces.
Superintendent Dom Murray’s wife had a gambling habit which McEniff is claimed to have nurtured while she ran up debts in his Bundoran casinos. This ensured the politician had the officer in his pocket and could use him to bend the law when required.
In recent months, more disturbing allegations have emerged about McEniff. a young woman has come forward making claims that he groomed and sexually abused her as a child. She says he also forced her to have sex with other men in some of his hotels, while he looked on.
The woman, who has never spoken publicly about the abuse but is a contributor to RTÉ and other media about another aspect of her life, also says a complaint she made to Gardaí about the abuse went nowhere.
For decades, there have been rumours that a powerful paedophile network operated in south Donegal involving politicians, businessmen, and other VIPs.
Its most southerly town Bundoran was home to two notorious industrial schools which housed many vulnerable children who could have been preyed upon by local and visiting abusers.
St Martha’s, which was run by the St Louis nuns, was dreaded for its brutality. The institution became infamous for the ‘Bundoran shave’, following an incident in 1963 in which eight girls caught trying to escape had their heads completely shorn as punishment.
Sean McEniff was one of the first on the scene in Mullaghmore harbour on the day of the explosion.
Eyebrows were raised when the Donegal councillor later called for the erection of a memorial to Mountbatten in sligo, generating consternation in some quarters as to why a Fianna Fáil politician from outside the area would take such a stance, and questions were asked as to who exactly he was trying to impress.
Fianna Fail’s connections with Mountbatten’s close friend Jimmy Saville are well documented. The ‘Top of the Pops’ host who sexually abused hundreds of children at the height of his fame in the 1970s was a regular visitor to Charles Haughey’s Dublin home ‘Abbéville’ in Kinsealy.
Another close associate of Mceniff, Bundoran beef baron Hugh Tunney, became an unlikely friend of Mountbatten during his stays in Sligo.
The former butcher’s apprentice, who went on to own the Gresham Hotel in Dublin, came to his aid when he could no longer fund the running of Classiebawn.
In 1976, a leasing agreement was put in place between the pair which allowed the British royal to visit the 3000-acre estate every August.
Reported to be a devout Catholic, Tunney was said to be present in the castle saying his rosary on the day the explosion struck.
Local affection for Tunney, who died in 2011, is thin on the ground.
Within the castle grounds, a graveyard containing the remains of dozens of unbaptised infants has become the subject of controversy in recent years. In 2006, a group of locals asked Tunney if they could erect a memorial to the children in the burial ground known as Cill na mBochtan, but he turned them down.
They were forced to place it on the roadside outside the estate instead, leaving a sour taste in the community for the millionaire cattle-dealer. Questions linger as to why he would not grant permission for it.
Earlier this month, Mountbatten’s murder again came under scrutiny when it emerged that a former British military police officer who worked as his security guard in Sligo had warned superiors several times that his old fishing boat was vulnerable to a bomb attack. The officer, Graham Yuill, said his concerns met deaf ears.
He was removed from his post shortly before the bombing and was told that Gardaí would be looking after Mountbatten from then on, an unusual decision given his status in the royal family.
These revelations add credence to theories that his IRA killers may not have acted alone and that he may have been killed for reasons that went deeper than the conflict in Northern Ireland.
Was a darker side to Mountbatten’s life in Sligo about to be revealed? Did others, apart from the Provisionals, want him dead? Why was security around him so lax given the fact that he was such an obvious target?
There’s little doubt that powerful forces were involved in Mary Boyle’s disappearance and the cover-up that followed. Is it possible that the sordid world of Anglo-Irish child abuse trafficking networks in London and Belfast, and of associated secret-service blackmailings, outlined in recent months by Joseph De Búrca in Village, had tentacles that reached into Cashelard in Donegal? This might explain the baffling failure by so many Garda commissioners, justice ministers and Irish governments to deal with a case that many believe could easily be solved. it could also provide an insight into why the British authorities have turned their backs on Mary Boyle, even though she was one of their own who went missing, abroad.
Two of Donegal’s most prominent councilors are working on a proposal to erect a memorial to Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was killed by the IRA thirty years ago this week.
The Mayor of Donegal, Cllr. Brendan Byrne, and veteran councilor, Sean McEniff , are working on a plan to commemorate Mountbatten and the three other victims who died on August 27, 1979.
Cllr. Sean McEniff, who was one of the first on the scene at Mullaghmore thirty years ago, said, “I remember the day as if it was just yesterday-it was a terrible day for Ireland.
Haughey believed Jimmy Savile would be a good mediator for Thatcher dealings
A letter in the National Archives reveals details of a meeting between the pair at the Central Remedial Clinic in the 1980s.
Dec 28th 2013
CHARLES HAUGHEY BELIEVED BBC presenter Jimmy Savile would make a good mediator for meetings between the British and Irish governments.
Charlie Haughey & Sean Mceniff were good friends of Jimmy Savile & Lord mountbatten who were linked with a strong paedophile ring in Donegal & Sligo. A young girl went missing over 40 years ago & Sean Mceniff told garda to stop interviewing the chief suspect. #MaryBoyle
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Sergeant Martin Collins names the Fianna Fail politician who ordered a cover-up in Mary Boyle case
Sergeant Martin Collins, who led the police investigation into the 1977 disappearance of Mary Boyle, names Fianna Fail’s Sean McEniff as the politician whom he claims instructed gardai that certain people known to Mary were not to be considered suspects.
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Haughey believed Jimmy Savile would be a good mediator for Thatcher dealings
Savile said: “All I have to do is call my friends in the IRA. They’ll have someone waking up in hospital the next morning eating their breakfast through a f***ing straw.
“I know the IRA, men from the IRA, and you don’t need to ask these guys twice.
“I’m serious. Don’t f***ing think I’m not serious. I can get them done – just with a phone call. That’s all it takes, young man.”
“More than £8.5m flowed through Haughey’s secret bank accounts to fund his lavish lifestyle.”
Jimmy Savile in Dublin with Charles Haughey, 1980. 1987 papers reveal ‘MI5 plot to kill Irish PM Haughey’
Charles Haughey, the former Prime Minister of Ireland, introduced Jimmy Savile to his daughter Eimear when she was a young teen.
Savile was a regular visitor to the Haughey home in Dublin.
Savile visited Dublin for 15 years from the mid-1970s to lead charity walks for the CRC (Central Remedial Clinic) co-founded by Valerie Goulding.
My meeting with Savile – Haughey girl
Savile is believed to have been an agent of the UK security services at a time when the UK security services were reportedly planning to assassinate Charles Haughey.
Charles Haughey was told that MI5 had ordered his assassination, declassified state papers show.Records from his office while he was ‘taoiseach’ in 1987 reveal that the UVF, the Protestant terror group, wrote to him as follows:
“In 1985 we were approached by a MI5 officer attached to the NIO (Northern Ireland Office) and based in Lisburn, Alex Jones was his supposed name.
“He asked us to execute you.”
According to the letter, on UVF headed paper, the MI5 operative gave details of Haughey’s cars, his home, his island, and his yacht, Celtic Mist.
Given the power McEniff wielded in almost every aspect of Donegal life, there is little doubt his intervention could have derailed the investigation.
His legacy of corruption is notorious and was well documented in a recent obituary of him in Village magazine, not least because of his close relationships with Gardaí whom he seems to have been able to order around with impunity, especially where his illegal gaming operation in Bundoran was concerned.
A 1985 RTÉ documentary ‘Law and Order in Donegal’, reveals the control McEniff had over local superintendent Dom Murray, who was in charge of the Mary Boyle investigation and who told a number of lies about the case in media interviews through the years.
It offers a damning insight into the incestuous relationship between Fianna Fáil and the Gardaí, which has been used to protect the party from scandal on numerous occasions, not least in the aftermath of the Fr Niall Molloy murder in Offaly in 1985.
Gerry Gallagher was a crony of Sean McEniff who canvassed for the politician with his brother Michael in the rural townlands of Ballyshannon.
Like the archetypal mafia don, McEniff’s modus operandi was to acquire dirt on people who might be a threat to him, walk them into compromising positions and dangle the threat of exposure in their faces.
Superintendent Dom Murray’s wife had a gambling habit which McEniff is claimed to have nurtured while she ran up debts in his Bundoran casinos. This ensured the politician had the officer in his pocket and could use him to bend the law when required.
In recent months, more disturbing allegations have emerged about McEniff. a young woman has come forward making claims that he groomed and sexually abused her as a child. She says he also forced her to have sex with other men in some of his hotels, while he looked on.
The woman, who has never spoken publicly about the abuse but is a contributor to RTÉ and other media about another aspect of her life, also says a complaint she made to Gardaí about the abuse went nowhere.
For decades, there have been rumours that a powerful paedophile network operated in south Donegal involving politicians, businessmen, and other VIPs.
Its most southerly town Bundoran was home to two notorious industrial schools which housed many vulnerable children who could have been preyed upon by local and visiting abusers.
St Martha’s, which was run by the St Louis nuns, was dreaded for its brutality. The institution became infamous for the ‘Bundoran shave’, following an incident in 1963 in which eight girls caught trying to escape had their heads completely shorn as punishment.
Meanwhile, in the neighbouring Sligo village of Mullaghmore, the once-cherished legacy of Lord Louis Mountbatten, mentor and godfather to Prince Charles, is gradually being revised as allegations persist about his possible links to the Kincora Boys Home scandal and paedophilia.
His bizarre friendship with predatory sex offender Jimmy Saville, whom Mountbatten introduced to the inner circle of the British royal family, has added fuel to the claims.
Belfast writer Robin Bryans was considered at length in an article by Joseph De Búrca last month in Village. His family connections to the Orange Order gave him access to the secret lives of some members of the British aristocracy. In 1990, he claimed that Mountbatten was involved in an old-boys’ network that held gay orgies in country houses.
There is growing disquiet about what really went on behind the austere walls of Mountbatten’s Sligo castle, ‘Classiebawn’, where he employed young boys to work for him.
One of them, Paul Maxwell from Enniskillen, Fermanagh, was his waiter and ‘boat-boy’.
He was just 15 when he died alongside Mountbatten (79) in an IRA bomb attack during a fishing trip in august 1979.
Maxwell attended Portora Royal College in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland’s most hallowed school, about which allegations have been made that vice rings were able to procure some of its well-bred students.
On summer trips to his imposing Victorian castle, Mountbatten got to know locals with influence and similar interests.
Sean McEniff was one of the first on the scene in Mullaghmore harbour on the day of the explosion. Eyebrows were raised when the Donegal councillor later called for the erection of a memorial to Mountbatten in sligo, generating consternation in some quarters as to why a Fianna Fáil politician from outside the area would take such a stance, and questions were asked as to who exactly he was trying to impress.
Fianna Fail’s connections with Mountbatten’s close friend Jimmy Saville are well documented. The ‘Top of the Pops’ host who sexually abused hundreds of children at the height of his fame in the 1970s was a regular visitor to Charles Haughey’s Dublin home ‘Abbéville’ in Kinsealy.
Another close associate of Mceniff, Bundoran beef baron Hugh Tunney, became an unlikely friend of Mountbatten during his stays in Sligo.
The former butcher’s apprentice, who went on to own the Gresham Hotel in Dublin, came to his aid when he could no longer fund the running of Classiebawn.
In 1976, a leasing agreement was put in place between the pair which allowed the British royal to visit the 3000-acre estate every August.
Reported to be a devout Catholic, Tunney was said to be present in the castle saying his rosary on the day the explosion struck.
Local affection for Tunney, who died in 2011, is thin on the ground.
Within the castle grounds, a graveyard containing the remains of dozens of unbaptised infants has become the subject of controversy in recent years. In 2006, a group of locals asked Tunney if they could erect a memorial to the children in the burial ground known as Cill na mBochtan, but he turned them down.
They were forced to place it on the roadside outside the estate instead, leaving a sour taste in the community for the millionaire cattle-dealer. Questions linger as to why he would not grant permission for it.
Earlier this month, Mountbatten’s murder again came under scrutiny when it emerged that a former British military police officer who worked as his security guard in Sligo had warned superiors several times that his old fishing boat was vulnerable to a bomb attack. The officer, Graham Yuill, said his concerns met deaf ears.
He was removed from his post shortly before the bombing and was told that Gardaí would be looking after Mountbatten from then on, an unusual decision given his status in the royal family.
These revelations add credence to theories that his IRA killers may not have acted alone and that he may have been killed for reasons that went deeper than the conflict in Northern Ireland.
Was a darker side to Mountbatten’s life in Sligo about to be revealed? Did others, apart from the Provisionals, want him dead? Why was security around him so lax given the fact that he was such an obvious target?
There’s little doubt that powerful forces were involved in Mary Boyle’s disappearance and the cover-up that followed. Is it possible that the sordid world of Anglo-Irish child abuse trafficking networks in London and Belfast, and of associated secret-service blackmailings, outlined in recent months by Joseph De Búrca in Village, had tentacles that reached into Cashelard in Donegal? This might explain the baffling failure by so many Garda commissioners, justice ministers and Irish governments to deal with a case that many believe could easily be solved. it could also provide an insight into why the British authorities have turned their backs on Mary Boyle, even though she was one of their own who went missing, abroad.
Seán McEniff, Ray McSharry and Brian Ó Domhnaill canvassing in Donegal town in 2010.
Ireland’s longest serving councillor, Seán McEniff, died on Friday at the age of 81.
The hotelier had been seriously ill in hospital in Dublin following an accident in the Canary Islands last October.
He was a councillor for 55 years, having served first on Bundoran Town Council and later also on Donegal County Council. He served periods as Cathaoirleach on both councils.
He was known as Mr Bundoran because of his enormous contribution, in business and tourism, to his native town.
And he was a brother of former Donegal All-Ireland football manager Brian McEniff.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin led a host of tributes, saying “Seán was a proud Donegal man and played an integral role in the promotion and development of business and tourism in the county and the North West region”.
Brian McEniff (born 1 December 1942) is a former Gaelic football manager. Regarded as a Gaelic football Godfather-type figure,[1] the high point of his managerial career was his masterminding of Donegal‘s 1992 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final victory over Dublin. In his most recent spell as manager of his county team he led them to the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-finals in 2003.
McEniff has also managed Ulster for 25 years from 1982 until 2007,
IRA member’ Seamus Marley jailed for raping two boys
An alleged IRA member, originally from Ardoyne in north Belfast, has been jailed for seven years for raping and sexually assaulting two teenage boys in the early 1990s.
The incident happened at what was described as a republican safe house close to the border in County Louth.
In April Seamus Marley, 45, was convicted of six counts of sexual assault and two counts of rape.
The offences took place when the two boys were 13 or 14 and 16 or 17.
During Marley’s trial, the Dublin court heard he had threatened one of the boys that if he ever told anyone about what happened he would be found dead on a border road.
One of the victims had told the court, in a victim impact statement, that Marley preyed on him, groomed him and ruined him during his most important years.
He said when he later found himself in a psychiatric hospital and rang someone from Sinn Féin to get him out and get the help he needed, he knew he was on his own and that people with power were seeking to protect their own interests.
But he said “if you are right and truthful, keep shouting”, as eventually someone will listen.
The other victim said he had lived in a mental state of despair for 27 years over what had happened.
But he said there would be no more sleepless nights and he was taking his life back.
Both said they had suffered from alcohol abuse and sleeplessness.
The court was told most of the abuse happened in a house where IRA volunteers were brought in the 1980s and 1990s and stayed for a few days or weeks.
The court also heard Marley, who is now a born-again Christian, has been in a relationship with a Spanish man for 16 years and engaged in extensive charitable work in that period.
His father, Larry Marley, was a leading republican who was murdered by loyalists in 1987.
Larry Marley is said to have been the mastermind behind the 1983 IRA mass prison escape from the Maze.
One of the victims said Marley had introduced alcohol to the house and given it to him. He said he did not think anyone would believe him if he complained.
The other man told the court he had been abused by Marley beginning when he was 17 years old. He said he was told by Marley that he could be found dead on a border road if he told anyone.
Detective Garda Seamus Nolan told the court gardaí (Irish police) had no intelligence that he was involved in any paramilitary organisation until the complainants came forward with their allegations.
Marley gave evidence in his own defence and denied the allegations.
Defence counsel John Fitzgerald urged the court to sentence his client as he was now.
Sentencing Marley, Judge Paul McDermott noted that he had pleaded not guilty and had not offered sincere remorse.
The judge ordered that, when Marley completes his sentence, for the protection of society he complete a two-year supervision programme.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48135126
Former Bishops of Lincoln ignored abuse claims, investigation finds
Two former Bishops of Lincoln “turned a blind eye” to alleged abuse cases and did not report them to police until decades later, a BBC Panorama investigation will reveal tonight.
A list of 53 Lincoln Diocese clergy and staff was also eventually referred to the police in 2015, eight years after a review into past safeguarding disclosures was announced.
The Church of England Past Cases Review which examined thousands of records in 2008 and 2009, including some child abuse cases, found that some names could have been referred years earlier.
The police investigation that followed resulted in the conviction of three people.
The BBC Panorama programme Scandal in the Church of England airs tonight on BBC One at 8.30pm.
Viewers in East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire can see more on Look North tonight at 6.30pm.
The joint investigation, carried out with Look North, was told by Lincoln Diocese that it was committed to learning from mistakes.
Detective Superintendent Rick Hatton who led the force’s Operation Redstone told journalists the list was “whittled down to 25 names” of staff and clergy who had committed offences or there was an issue with risk to members of the public.
There was also a concern that they were still working with children, he added.
Of the 25 people investigated, seven were arrested and three were convicted by Lincolnshire Police, Roy Griffiths, John Bailey and Stephen Crabtree.
The cases
Roy Griffiths was jailed for six years.
One of the cases that will feature on tonight’s programme is that of abuse carried out by Roy Griffiths, former deputy head teacher at Lincoln Cathedral School.
Investigations found the late Rt Revd Kenneth Riches was told in 1969 about child sexual abuse. Neither the Lincoln Diocese or Lincoln Cathedral School informed police and Griffiths went on to work at a school in Papua New Guinea.
It wasn’t until 45 years later that police were informed about the allegations.
He is now serving a prison sentence of six years and seven months.
Griffiths’ abuse victim Kevin Bennington will feature in the episode on BBC One. He accuses the church of “turning a blind eye”.
John Bailey walking to court to be sentenced. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Panorama also found that a seconder former Bishop, Rt Revd Robert Hardy, did not act when an employee has admitted to assaulting a young girl but that it was a “one-off”.
The employee was John Bailey, who was the director of education for the Diocese of Lincoln from 1996 until he resigned in 2002. He pleaded guilty in court in 2017 to 25 charges on indecent assault against three girls, more than 60 years later.
Bishop Hardy said he ‘would have investigated’, but that no one contacted him at the time, and that he regretted trusting Bailey’s word.
‘Concern for church’s reputation’
Panorama also saw new evidence of cases that were left out of the review altogether.
Internal investigations had not required the examination of files relating to dead clergy, and the dioceses were also told they were not expected to talk to survivors of abuse.
Spearheaded by orders from the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, all diocese were later asked to investigate cases of dead clergy – but none made the results public.
Rt Revd Nicholas Chamberlain, Bishop of Grantham, and now lead bishop on safeguarding for the Diocese of Lincoln, told BBC Panorama: “The Diocese of Lincoln wishes to acknowledge that past matters have not been handled well.
“The diocese is committed to learn from its mistakes. I am very sorry that it took so long for justice to be served.”
Rt Revd Peter Hancock, Bishop of Bath and Wells, who leads on safeguarding at the Church of England, told the BBC there had been “too much concern about the reputation of the church and not enough care for victims of abuse.”
The Church of England released a statement from the National Safeguarding team: “BBC Panorama this Monday (April 29) will feature interviews with survivors of church-related abuse in a programme entitled ‘Scandal in the Church of England’.
“We have worked with the producers to provide information and a response to the range of issues raised, particularly around the Past Cases Review.
“There will be a personal response from Bishop Peter Hancock, the Church’s lead safeguarding bishop, once the programme has been aired. Bishop Peter has also been interviewed for the programme.”
Investigations and Operation Redstone are continuing.
Lincoln Cathedral’s first female Dean Christine Wilson took a leave of absence “for personal reasons” after three years in the role.
Chancellor Revd Canon Paul Overend has stepped back after just a year at the same time, “for different reasons, connected to one issue”.
Lincolnshire Police are leading an investigation into a historical safeguarding matter. The Church of England confirmed their departures are linked.
There has been no confirmation if the latest investigation falls under Operation Redstone.
JRR Tolkien’s son ‘sexually abused by one of father’s friends’
Lord of the Rings fans who settle down to watch the film Tolkien this week will be told the story of love and young friendships that later inspired the author to write his tales of Middle-earth. What the biopic won’t show, however, is the dark scandal of abuse that continues to haunt JRR Tolkien’s family more than 45 years after his death.
Last year the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA) heard evidence of how the eldest son of The Hobbit’s author, Father John Tolkien, abused young boys during his time as a Catholic priest in Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent.
Now it has emerged that the cleric said that he himself was abused as a boy, and that he was assaulted in the family home by at least one of his father’s learned Oxford friends.
In a tape-recording made by one of the priest’s chief accusers and heard by the Observer, a man said to be him is heard discussing his childhood during the 1920s. At the time, JRR Tolkien was professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford and a fellow of Pembroke College. His friends included CS Lewis, a fellow academic and author of the Narnia novels, and among his students was the poet WH Auden.
When the priest was asked if he had been abused himself as a child, he said: “When I was a boy I was constantly surrounded by my father and colleagues of my father. Almost without exception, his colleagues were academics and, you know, some of them were pretty strange fellows …. Often, people would stay the night at our house …. I often awoke in the morning to find someone sharing my bed. More often than not, it would be … well, I don’t intend to name names, just to say that this particular person who I loved dearly, not in a sexual way, you understand, this person would be fast asleep, huddled up next to me when I woke in the morning. Well, let’s say things had gone on in the night. I knew this. If you wake up with your pyjamas off and they were on when you went to sleep you would wonder, wouldn’t you?”
The recording was made in June 1994 by Christopher Carrie, a Birmingham man who told the IICSA that John Tolkien sexually assaulted him twice in 1956. He first made allegations in 2001 but the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to charge the priest in view of his health. He died in 2003. Before then, Carrie had tracked Tolkien down with a view to challenging him. Carrie died last year, but the recording he made of his conversation with Tolkien is in the hands of his family and its solicitor. Carrie received out-of-court compensation from the Catholic church.
Richard Scorer of Slater and Gordon solicitors, which has acted for victims of the priest, said: “Tolkien’s family name and consequent status in the Catholic community probably gave him even more power and he exploited it to the full.”
The Tolkien family declined to comment.
Ex-Army officer Andrew Whiddett admits child webcam abuse
25 Apr 2019
A former British army officer has admitted arranging for children to be sexually abused in the Philippines while he watched online.
Andrew Whiddett, a retired lieutenant colonel appointed MBE for his service in Northern Ireland, admitted six child sex charges at Croydon Crown Court.
He paid thousands of pounds for the abuse, the National Crime Agency said.
A judge warned the 70-year-old, of Minerva Crescent, Portsmouth, he would be jailed when sentenced on 22 May.
In total the defendant made 49 payments totalling £8,584 between January 2015 and July 2017, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.
The abuse happened after his army service and after he left employment as head of security at the British embassy in Baghdad.
‘Soul-destroying abuse’
He admitted attempting to cause or incite a nine-year-old girl and another aged under 16 to engage in sexual activity.
He also pleaded guilty to arranging the commission of a child sex offence in September 2016.
The NCA said he told a contact he wanted to sexually abuse a child when he visited the Philippines the following month.
Whiddett also admitted three further charges of making indecent photographs of a child when he appeared in court on Wednesday, the NCA said.
NCA officer Gary Fennelly said: “Andrew Whiddett was directly responsible for the soul-destroying abuse of children thousands of miles away from him.
“He thought he could get away with abusing Filipino children from the comfort of his own home.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-48053050
Timothy Lancelot Fanshawe Royle (born 1931) was founder and chairman of the Control Risks Group.[1]
Andy Whiddett
Guildford, United Kingdom
Independent Security Consultant
Security and Investigations
Control Risks January 2010 – July 2010
Minimal Risk Consultancy Limited July 2006 – July 2009
DHL July 2004 – July 2006
Batelco July 1997 – July 2004 Skills
Personal Security, Firearms, Military, Access Control, Surveillance, Private Investigations, Weapons, Personal Protection, Intelligence Analysis, Security Audits, Physical Security, Security Training, Risk Management, Risk Assessment, Crisis Management, Army, Emergency Management, Security Operations, Tactics, Maritime Security, Counterterrorism, Investigation, Executive Protection, Security Management, Corporate Security, Security Clearance, CCTV, Business Continuity, Contingency Planning, Close Protection, Protection, Security
The McCanns are formal suspects in the inquiry into the girl’s disappearance.
A number of media organisations have reported that private security firm Control Risks Group (CRG) were employed four months ago to check reported sightings and build up profiles of likely abductors.
Mr Mitchell refused to confirm or deny reports.
A new breed of commercial intelligence company
https://companycheck.co.uk/company/04939593/MINIMAL-RISK-CONSULTANCY-LIMITED/companies-house-data
TONY LING LTD
Private security activities – Management consultancy.
| Mr Andrew Whiddett | Director | |||
| Mr Andrew Whiddett | Company Secretary |
https://companycheck.co.uk/company/07362921/TONY-LING-LTD/companies-house-data
@ciabaudo
Anthony Royle, Baron Fanshawe of Richmond, piqued my interest as he keeps cropping up in various guises in the context of 27 Barnes Lane. Royle was MP for Richmond (the Surrey one) from 1959 until he retired in 1983, only a year after the raid on Elm Guest House child brothel.
Rupert Charles Ponsonby is the 7th Baron de Mauley, a life peer, and is married to Hon. Lucinda Royle, the daughter of Anthony Royle, Baron Fanshawe of Richmond. Lucinda stars in the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s famous little black book:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1508273-jeffrey-epsteins-little-black-book-redacted.html…
The name Diana Dors, a car fanatic, frequently crops up in the Elm Guest House context, with her wild orgies and links to the Kray twins. Shirley Worthington, one of Dors’ close friends, married Anthony Royle. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2955656/Diana-Dors-youngest-son-court-claims-punched-girlfriend-head-alleged-screen-legend-mother-father-paedophiles.html…
In 1967, Colin Peters, patron of EGH, was caught ferrying young boys to Ischia for the pleasure of the likes of Benjamin Britten. He was convicted of buggery years later. Peters worked for the Foreign Office where Royle, MP for Richmond, was minister until 1974.
‘Runaway Royle’, a critic of noisy Heathrow overflights, does not appear to have been a good constituency MP, but, unlike the washing machine salesman Keith Vaz, he was keenly aware of the goings-on on Barnes Common as the next tweets will reveal …
https://www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/news/392168.0/
Keith Vaz was duty solicitor at Richmond and worked closely with the equally questionable Louis Minster of Social Services. However, when asked on Twitter what he knew about Elm Guest House, right across from the Common, he responded with a monosyllabic ‘No’.
Isn’t it ironic then that the local MP Anthony Royle considered the problems on Barnes Common, right opposite a known brothel, sufficiently serious to contact the Home Secretary, Thatcher’s Everyone-Needs-A-Willie Whitelaw? And that Vaz knew how Whitelaw would respond?
Kenneth Newman is head of the RUC during a crucial time in the Kincora scandal.
Then Sir Kenneth Newman is the Metropolitan Chief Commmisioner at the time of the Elm Guest house scandal.
Both scandals have been greatly covered up and both involve sinister elements
Islington Gazette, 30th March 1984
On Friday 25th March 1984 the London Programme was broadcast on TV reported on a police inquiry into corruption at Islington Town Hall ran into a “masonic network”.
MP Chris Smith called on Met Police Commissioner Sir Kenneth Newman to initiate an official investigation and said “the operation has interfered with the process of justice. I find this deeply disturbing.”
At the FCO, Anthony Royle, an Establishment man, appears to have played a very dubious role in Anglo-Irish politics. In this role, it is highly likely he was aware of the role Kincora played in this murky relationship, not least because Kincora was on the same circuit as EGH.
Anthony Royle MP even gets an honourable mention alongside a cabinet minister allegedly easily recognised by his ‘shrunken testicles’ in ‘Shame and Modernity in Britain: 1890 to the Present’ By Anne-Marie Kilday and David S. Nash!
Wouldn’t it be good to have the right people overseeing sound broadcasting in an era dominated by Savile and an infiltration of pirate/private radio by paedophiles and far right nutwings (Radio 270, Radio Pennine, Radio Enoch)?
A year after entering the HoC, Anthony Royle was chosen to become Julian Amery’s PPS, a far-right Monday Club member and close friend of Harvey Proctor. Amery’s brother, John Amery was a Nazi sympathiser who made pro-Hitler broadcasts and was hung for treason in 1945.
What a claim to fame: Anthony Royle MP made the plastic and rubber bullets that killed and maimed Irish men, women and children.
Anthony Royle MP was called by PaedoProtector-in-Chief Margaret Thatcher to be Vice Chairman of the Tory party at Conservative and Unionist Central Office, where he worked closely with her bag carrier Alistair McAlpine.
‘I’d like your permission to approach Virginia?’. Anthony Royle, in his drive to get more women into positions of responsibility in the party, put Virginia Bottomley’s name forward after sounding out her hubby, the man who never visited Elm Guest House!
According to Hansard, Anthony Royle suggested withdrawing Westland’s licence to operate the Battersea heliport in 1975. That is interesting because Royle became a director of Westland in 1985 and remained there until 1994. Westland featured in the Barnes Elm Guest House saga …
Anthony Royle worked hand in hand at Westland with Sir John Cuckney (MI5), involved with Millbank Technical Services, the Midland Bank and Jimmy Savile’s Thomas Cook. I covered Cuckney in a thread showing the links between PIE and the Midland Bank:
https://twitter.com/ciabaudo/status/1111934907549388801?s=19 …
Let’s turn our attention to Anthony’s brother, Timothy Royle, son of Sir Lancelot. Timothy is a church man involved with convicted paedophile Bishop Peter Ball. Ball was asked to officiate at his son Nicholas Royle’s wedding and was told he could not.
Royle and Cuckney were joined at the hip at Westland. Royle’s daughter appears on Epstein’s list. Epstein is closely linked to Ghislaine Maxwell who features in the Harvey Proctor story, and now it transpires that Cuckney was tasked with restoring Maxwell’s raided pension funds.
Belvoir castle tour guide ‘Whacko’ Proctor and Barbara Hewson’s criminal cousin Jonathan Denby were two peas in the same right-wing pod. When Denby went on the run for a year, the Government took charge of his shady deals with Iran. Cuckney presided over 5 Iran-linked firms …
Years before the Maxwell blackmail threat, the uncle of Barbara Hewson and Jonathan Denby, Richard Denby, was retained by activists who had aligned themselves with the Duke to oppose NCB plans to mine in the Vale of Belvour. Denby and Cuckney were both knighted on the same day.
It’s uncanny how names keep cropping up. Anthony Royle’s brother Timothy was chair of the Kinsley Educational Trust. Patrons included Adrian Cadbury and Tonypandy. Cadbury was a trustee of The International Students Trust with Hayman and Sir John Henniker-Major and Lord Denning.
Timothy Royle seems to have had more than one finger in the intelligence industry pie. Control Risks was set up in 1975 by former Army officer Timothy Royle. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10632228 …
Timothy Royle seems to have had more than one finger in the intelligence industry pie. Control Risks was set up in 1975 by former Army officer Timothy Royle.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10632228 …
Michael Alison MP was parliamentary adviser to the Lindley Trust and PPS to Thatcher when child abuse among her cabinet colleagues was at its peak. He also had a hand in warmonger and paedophile protector George Carey becoming Archbishop of Canterbury.
https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105399
Lord Coggan also had close links with Timothy Royle’s Lindley Educational Trust. Donald Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Alison also endorsed the Iwerne Trust, later Titus Trust, which spawned the sadistic John Smyth QC, cruel beater of boys.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-45181824 …
Michael Alison MP of the Iwerne Trust was also a Trustee of the OKClub (Oxford Kilburn Youth Club) where Paul Boateng was Patron. Boateng was both a friend of Janner and Michael Jackson, both paedophiles, and had close ties with convicted paedo Carroll.
Michael Alison MP: ‘Almost useless’ but sought divine guidance about which scriptures he would read to Margaret Thatcher, a PM who presided over a cabinet of perverts, during their car journeys together.
Given his multiple contacts to paedophiles, his time in Northern Ireland and his mantle of religiosity, it comes as no surprise that Michael Alison MP was keen to reject calls for an inquiry into Kincora.
Given his status as Health Minister in Northern Ireland at the time, uber-Christian Michael Alison is bound to have been privy to intelligence on McGrath, his links to Paisley and many accounts of widespread buggery at Kincora
Michael Alison MP certainly had a penchant for associating with criminals, above all those who had turned to Christ. One such gangster was the born-again Chuck Colson, Nixon’s fixer, who even visited Alison’s Earls Court flat!
In his early seventies, Timothy Royle embarked on an improbable second career as an undertaker, a very unusual choice. He was also Honorary Alderman if Cotswold District Council.
https://www.eveshamjournal.co.uk/news/6683896.funeral-firm-has-new-owner/ …
Timothy Royle’s son Ivan is married to Tanya Royle née Gordon. Both are involved with the family funeral business. Tanja Royle is also director of the charity Build Africa which started out as International Care & Relief ICR.
Tanya Royle
Tanya was appointed a Trustee in August 2018, having previously served as President of Build Africa Inc. During that tenure Tanya sought opportunities to raise the profile of BA Inc and raise funds. Tanya is a Director of Fanshawe Consulting Ltd and previously worked at Daiwa Europe, Shandwick Consultants and Elegant Days. Tanya has a degree in Modern Languages and among her interests are horticulture and nutrition.
‘Extravagant’ chaplain, 67, at £35,000-a-year private boarding school ‘plied pupil with oysters, Turkish cigarettes and fine wines then molested him as pair watched Morse on TV
- Gary Dobbie is accused of molesting one of his pupils between 1986 and 1991
- The pupil was being bullied and had turned to the chaplain for support
- But at parties and on one-on-one visits he would touch him, court was told
23 Apr 2019
The chaplain at a £35,000-a-year private boarding school is accused of plying a pupil with smoked oysters, Turkish cigarettes and fine wines and molesting him.
Gary Dobbie, 67, assaulted the young boy over a five-year period between 1986 and 1991 when he worked as a chaplain and teacher at the prestigious Christ’s Hospital School in Horsham, West Sussex, his trial heard.
He would invite the alleged victim to lavish dinner parties at his on-site lodgings but also had him over when it was just the two of them, when they would sit in the dark and watch Inspector Morse, Hove Crown Court was told.
It was during these visits the chaplain allegedly molested the boy.
His trial was told Dobbie was an ‘extravagant’ chaplain who liked to dress up in full ecclesiastical robes in church and burn incense in the school chapel.
Opening the case Abigail Husbands, prosecuting, said: ‘He was treated to food and alcohol while at Mr Dobbie’s and offered smoked oysters, Turkish cigarettes and good wine.’
During these visits the court heard Dobbie would molest the pupil, pushing his hands down the front of his shirt and rubbing his chest and back. He would also swing him onto his lap and grope him, she told the court.
Christ’s Hospital is one of the oldest boarding schools in the country, dating back to the 16th century when it was founded in London by King Edward VI, who signed a Royal Charter for it just 11 days before his death in 1553.
Famous alumni include poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Sir Barnes Wallis – the inventor of the bouncing bomb.
Miss Husbands said the pupil in question had suffered a difficult time at the school and had been repeatedly bullied by his peers.
She said he turned to Dobbie for refuge and had become close to him.
But the jury was told the visits were ‘not all innocent’ and on ‘many, many times’ Dobbie had molested the boy at his home.
On one occasion the pupil went on a reading trip with him where Dobbie allegedly got drunk before violently manhandling him and pushing his hand down his shirt.
He was also assaulted on another school trip, the court was told.
The victim left Christ’s Hospital School after completing his A levels and went on to university.
The court heard he put the matter behind him and continued with his life but was contacted by police last year and was later interviewed by them in relation to the chaplain’s behaviour.
Dobbie was later arrested and charged with three counts of indecent assault relating to multiple offences between 1986 and 1991.
The case, which is expected to last more than a week, continues.
Did County Hall paedos abuse vulnerable children? The secret report Essex Council REALLY doesn’t want you to read…
24 Apr 2019
ESSEX Council paid an independent consultant to spend years investigating allegations that some of its employees had molested children – but now refuses to publish her report, claiming she didn’t find anything out.
The Yellow Advertiser has taken legal action in an ongoing battle with County Hall over the report, which was written in 1998 ’to provide senior managers with a view of issues relating to certain individuals’.
It contains ’many allegations’ of abuse and ’identifies people, organisations and places’.
The YA is fighting to force Essex Council to publish the report after learning that at least one witness gave evidence to its author about the ’cover-up’ of a 1980s Shoebury paedophile ring.
The YA has been investigating the ’Shoebury Sex Ring’ since 2015 and was this month nominated for four national awards by the Society of Editors for its work.
Police sources told the press when the ring was uncovered in 1989 that its members were thought to include civil servants.
But in an effort to get out of publishing the report, Essex Council has now rubbished its contents as ’speculative, conjectural, unproven and un-evidenced’, claiming its author was ’unable to reach any concrete conclusions or recommendations’.
The author was Helen Kenward, an independent consultant who had run similar investigations for other local authorities. The Essex document is therefore known as ‘The Kenward Report’. Mrs Kenward has failed to respond to previous approaches for comment from the YA.
Despite Kenward’s supposed failure to deliver on the 1998 report, the YA has seen evidence that County Hall continued to pay her to investigate internal child sex allegations for years afterwards.
A letter sent to one whistleblower by an Essex Council lawyer in early 2001 said Kenward was still interviewing witnesses and her work was expected to continue for ’the next few months’.
Last year, the YA published excerpts of evidence given to Kenward by a whistleblowing ex-social worker in 2000, some of which concerned the ‘Shoebury Sex Ring’.
The YA has filed legal papers with the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) seeking a tribunal, after the Government-funded Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) backed Essex Council’s claim that covering up the report would help keep other children safe in future.
The council’s monitoring officer claimed releasing the 21-year-old report would dissuade Essex Council from commissioning investigations into future child sex complaints, in case somebody asked to see those down the line as well.
They wrote in formal advice to the council: “A report of this nature cannot easily be destroyed for many decades because records relating to allegations of this nature may have future relevance. The only safe option would be to not commission reports of this nature.”
Therefore, they said, by suppressing the child sex report, the council was actually ’promoting the wellbeing of children’.
The ICO’s report revealed the council’s safeguarding director, director of children’s services and executive director for children and families had all also been involved in suppressing the report.
The ICO sided with the council, writing: “The commissioner is convinced by the arguments that disclosure could deter the council’s senior management from commissioning similar reports in the future, thus impacting on its ability to offer an effective public service.”
Peter Saunders, founder of abuse charity NAPAC, said: “What it sounds like to me is, Essex Council is saying that if they are forced to be open and transparent on this occasion, they will ensure that there can be no openness and transparency in future. In my opinion, it sounds almost like they are blackmailing you.
“I’ve never heard of children’s lives being endangered because of appropriate openness and transparency. I’ve only heard of children being endangered by secrecy and cover-ups.
“What has Essex got to hide, that it feels it has to put this pressure on our media, which represents us, the people? It seems very dark and very sinister.”
Essex Council claimed last year it could have redacted and released the report, but that would have taken ’many hundreds of hours’, rendering the YA’s request ’vexatious’.
The YA later discovered the report was only 142 pages long – shorter than some documents the council has previously redacted and released without complaint under the Freedom of Information Act.
The YA complained to the ICO about the council’s extreme time estimate and said that in truth, it was entirely possible for County Hall to redact and release the report.
But when the ICO adjudicated over the case, it failed to even acknowledge the council’s bizarre claim. Thus, the YA has filed papers with the MOJ seeking a tribunal.
Essex Council also claimed last year that there was ’no public interest’ in releasing the report, which the YA is strongly disputing.
*To read some of the evidence given to Helen Kenward about Essex Council, click on the stories below.
Also in the news
http://www.yellowad.co.uk/article.cfm?id=141679
The secret tangled web of Bishop Eamonn Casey’s life exposed: Behind the lovable rogue persona he began a smear campaign against his niece Patricia, allegedly raped and abused, while protecting her brother – Fr Michael Donovan, another alleged abuser
@calamiTcat76
Necker Island, of course is RIGHT BESIDE paedo Epsteins island. which in turn is right beside Haiti.. Funny that eh?!
‘Sex cult’ led by Smallville actress Allison Mack ‘held wild parties on Richard Branson’s private Caribbean island in a bid to recruit the billionaire’
- Members of Nxivm ‘sex cult’ reportedly held two wild parties on Necker Island
- Necker is billionaire businessman Richard Branson’s private Caribbean island
- Members, including co-founder Nancy Salzman, visited island in 2007 and 2010
- Former Nxivm publicist Frank Parlato claimed the visits were Nxivm’s attempt to ‘reruit Branson into the organization’
- A Virgin Management spokesman said that ‘there is absolutely no association between Sir Richard and the Nxivm group or its leader’
- Nxivm founder Keith Raniere did not visit the island during the alleged visits
- Raniere was arrested on the sex trafficking charges in Mexico in March
- Actress Allison Mack was also arrested for her role in the sex slave cult Nxivm
- Raniere and Mack are both facing life sentences in prison if convicted of charges
Members of the Nxivm ‘sex cult’ led by Smallville actress Allison Mack reportedly held wild parties on billionaire Richard Branson’s private Caribbean island at least twice.
According to The Sun, several members, including co-founder Nancy Salzman, visited Branson’s Necker Island for two seminars in 2007 and 2010.
Former Nxivm publicist Frank Parlato told the newspaper: ‘I was told the reason they staged the seminars on Necker was they hoped to recruit Branson into the organization.’
Parlato said that the businessman ‘would have been the biggest score they ever had’.
Nxivm ‘sex cult’ members reportedly held wild parties on billionaire Richard Branson’s private Caribbean island at least twice. The Sun obtained photos that showed Branson and Sara Bronfman (pictured) together. The photos were reportedly taken on Necker Island in 2010
One of the visits was reportedly paid for by billionaire heiress and Nxivm follower Sara Bronfman, whose late father, businessman Edgar Bronfman Sr, knew Branson, according to the Sun.
Sara’s sister, Clare, is also one of Nxivm’s longtime followers. Clare recently took over as leader for the ‘sex cult’ after actress Allison Mack and leader, Keith Raniere were arraigned on sex trafficking charges.
According to the Sun, Raniere did not visit the island during the alleged visits. Raniere was arrested on the sex trafficking charges in Mexico in March.
The Sun obtained photos that showed Branson, Sara and Mack together. The photos were reportedly taken on Necker Island in 2010.
Parlato claims that Salzman ‘said she did the teaching by day. But she said he [Branson] became increasingly restless and hosted really crazy parties that started earlier and earlier’.
Branson told the newspaper that he was not aware of any seminars. He claims he has never heard of Raniere and never met him.
One of the visits was reportedly paid for by billionaire heiress and Nxivm follower Sara Bronfman, whose late father, businessman Edgar Bronfman Sr, knew Branson. Sara is pictured, (right) with her sister, Clare (left), who is currently running Nxivm
A Virgin Management spokesman said that ‘there is absolutely no association between Sir Richard and the Nxivm group or its leader’.
It seems unlikely that Raniere will be able to strike any deals with the US attorney’s office, who successfully petitioned to have him held without bail in a letter to the court stating that the cult leader had sexual relationships with two minor females, aged 15 and 12, in the past.
The allegations against Raniere and Mack were outlined in a Complaint and Affidavit in Support of Arrest Warrant that was filed back on February 14.
Special Agent Michael Lever with the FBI had been investigating Raniere and speaking with former cult members, including two women known as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2.
Lever states that Raniere came up with the idea for Nxivm’s sex slave program, known as DOS, during the summer of 2015.
A woman by the name of CC-1, who was revealed to be Mack in subsequent filings, was his first ‘slave,’ and provided ‘collateral’ which guaranteed she would remain faithful to him by providing Raniere with damning material.
‘CC-1’s email was titled “vow 3” and included an attached letter. The letter pledged CC-1’s “full and complete life” to 14 RANIERE,’ reads the complaint.
‘In the letter, CC-1 used the terms “slave” and “master” to refer to herself and RANIERE. Moreover, the letter identified “collateral” to “cement” the vow made by CC-1.
‘This collateral was described as: (1) a letter regarding CC-1’s mother and father that would “destroy their character”; (2) a contract that transferred custody of any children birthed by CC-1 to RANIERE if CC-1 broke her commitment to RANIERE; (3) a contract that transferred ownership of CC-1’s home if the commitment to RANIERE was broken; and (4) a letter addressed to social services alleging abuse to CC-1’s nephews.’
It is not clear if any of the claims made in those letters were true.
Soon, CC-1 was recruiting slaves of her own and filling out the pyramid that Raniere had hoped to create, selecting Jane Doe 1 as one of these women.
Allegations of Raniere’s alarming and illegal sexual predilections are also outlined in a letter sent by US Attorney Richard P Donoghue to Judge Steven M Gold back in March.
The allegations against Raniere and Mack were outlined in the Complaint and Affidavit in Support of Arrest Warrant that was filed back on February 14
‘According to confidential sources, the defendant had repeated sexual encounters with multiple teenage girls in the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s,’ reads the letter.
‘In one instance, the defendant met a fifteen-year-old girl while he was in his 20s and had repeated sexual contact with her. In another instance, the defendant met a twelve-year-old girl whose mother worked for the defendant and began tutoring her.’
The letter goes on to say: ‘Shortly thereafter, the defendant began having regular sexual intercourse with her, including at his home where he lived with multiple adult sexual partners.’
Raniere is also said to have voiced his belief that the age of consent should be lowered to when a parent believes their child is capable to sexual activity.
Mack was arrested and arraigned on federal charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit forced labor.
Those are the same charges thatRaniere, 53, is being charged with, and both are facing a possible sentence of life behind bars.
The group has a large base in Albany, but a number of its most high-profile members decamped to Mexico earlier this year.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire Part two of the boy on the meat rack, the story of Alan Kerr
He socialised with Royalty and was abused by a future Lord, though his brother had revealed the key story about MI5 abuse of Kincora boys
18 April, 2019
RECAP OF PART ONE
In Part One of this story, Alan Kerr described how he was sexually abused by three men at Williamson House, a Belfast Corporation Welfare Department care home in Belfast, in the 1970s. He was only six years of age when he was first raped. One of his abusers was Eric Witchell, the Office-in-Charge of the home. Witchell was a friend of the paedophile gang which ran the infamous Kincora Boys’ Home, also in Belfast.
Later, Alan was moved to Shore House where he was abused by another two men, one of whom may have been William McGrath, the Housefather at Kincora.
Alan eventually fled from institutional care for a life on the streets of Belfast. Desperate, and in need of food and shelter, he worked for a spell at a brothel on the Lisburn Road where boys as young as 13 were made available to Belfast’s paedophile community. At the very least, the brothel enjoyed a measure of shelter from the wall of protection built around NI’s paedophile rings by the UK intelligence community. In order for the spies’ paedophile exploitation and blackmail operations to thrive in NI, it was necessary for the local paedophile population as a whole to flourish. If it wasn’t for this, Alan and many others might never have been abused.
HUNGRY, ALONE AND FIGHTING THE BITING COLD
Alan was abused by Billy ‘B’, a man he describes as a “toilet creeper”: “I met him out of the blue one time [in Belfast] while I was on the run from Rathgael [Training Centre]. He followed me into the toilet and smiled at me”, Alan recalls. B would prove to be one of Alan’s most prolific abusers.
When Alan was 15 or 16 B took him to London via the Belfast-Liverpool car ferry in his silver BMW. At the time Alan was subject to a care order which was not due to expire until he was 21. Alan stayed in London after B headed back to Belfast because he did not want to return to Ireland but this proved no more than jumping out of the Belfast frying pan and into a London hellfire. With no support, trade or qualification, he would spend his youth as a “rent boy” at such places as Victoria Station and on the ‘Meat Rack’ at Piccadilly Circus, also known as the “Dilly”. Over time, he would get to know boys from all over Ireland who were in the same dire straits as he was. The men who abused the young teenagers referred to them as ‘chickens’; the boys called their abusers ‘punters’. Alan would never return to live in NI again.
Victoria Train Station was an infamous hunting ground for paedophiles. “There were pubs inside the station in those days. Some of the men who went to them were only there to have sex with the boys. There was another pub nearby, the Shakespeare, which was similar. Soldiers used to go there a lot. At the weekends there would be a lot of military police outside it”.
The police knew perfectly well what was going on at Victoria Station. Not long after his arrival, Alan was approached by a British Transport Police (BTP) officer who asked him who he was and then went away to make inquiries about him. When he returned, he told Alan that since he wasn’t in trouble in NI, he wasn’t going to do anything about him. Clearly, the officer had been able to make enquiries with Belfast – presumably through the communication facilities in the BTP office in the station – and must surely have discovered that Alan was still under a care order. Nonetheless, he abandoned him to a life as a rent boy.
Finding somewhere to sleep was a priority for Alan, and the Victoria Station offered some shelter. “In those days, the station was open all night. It is unrecognisable now. I slept on trains that pulled into it for the night”. Sometimes he found himself drenched in so much sweat that his clothes would be wet, even in winter. Then, as the night and early morning crept in, he would begin to freeze while still damp if not actually wet. He recalls having to go to the toilets to try and warm himself up by using the hand dryer. ‘In the morning the police would come onto the trains and turf you off”.
One of the visitors to the toilets at Victoria Station was John Imrie, an MI5 officer named by Ken Livingstone in the House of Commons in connection with the Kincora scandal. Imrie was arrested at the station and convicted for exposing himself. See Village March 2018.
QUEER-BASHING AND SEXUAL ABUSE AT THE HANDS OF THE POLICE
During his early years in London, Alan was assaulted by police officers on a number of occasions. Typically, this happened as he was being escorted towards Vine Street Police Station from the Dilly. “They would start pushing and pulling you to make it look like you were causing them trouble. They would use this as an excuse to punch you in the stomach; always in the stomach; up against the wall outside the station. They never bruised your face as you might be going up before the Bow Street magistrates”.
One British Transport Police officer Alan got to know was a pederast, something that would explain how the abuse was able to thrive at the station. He developed a liking for Alan and frequently abused him, even taking him back to his flat. Some of the officer’s colleagues suspected what was afoot and attempted to persuade Alan to talk about it but he refused. The abusive officer has long since died. He operated out of the Transport Police office at Victoria Station. Alan didn’t reveal the nature of the relationship he had with this officer when he was interviewed by his colleagues because he was “afraid of the police”.
THE EARL’S COURT ‘CLINIC’ ON THE LONGRIDGE ROAD
One night Alan was approached by an Oriental man called Peter, in his 30s or 40s at Victoria Station. He escorted him to a house at 51 Longridge in Earl’s Court which masqueraded as a ‘clinic’. What Alan didn’t realise at first was that he was being sampled to see if he might be suitable to work for the man at his brothel; one that catered for older men who exploited teenage boys. “Peter always tested the boys himself to see if they were any good. He gave me a few quid the first time we had sex but never again. He never felt he had to pay for sex and had sex with the boys whenever he felt the urge. You couldn’t say no to him”.
“Peter was friends with another Thai man who ran a brothel on Sydney Street. They were always looking for chickens for their places. When I first started working for him, he was in a house in Earl’s Court called the ‘Earl’s Court Clinic’. It was all done up in an Oriental fashion with Oriental statues and flowers. Oriental boys and some Australian boys worked in it. Some of the Oriental boys looked about 13 or 14 but you had no way of knowing their age. Mainly, the boys were around my age. There was one older lad who was in his late 20s but he was more like Peter’s right-hand man. He would take over running the place when Peter wasn’t there”.
Peter later moved the Clinic to a basement at Nevern Place, also in Earl’s Court.
THE LONDON PAEDOPHILE CIRCUIT THAT REVOLVED AROUND ELM GUEST HOUSE, THE EARL’S COURT CLINIC, THE PHILBEACH HOTEL AND THE BROTHEL ON SYDNEY STREET
By the time Alan had arrived in London in the mid-1980s, Elm Guest House, an infamous boy brothel, had been raided and closed down by the police. Until 1982, the Elm was where the likes of Sir Cyril Smith MP abused boys. Once inside the doors, abusers could mingle with each other. There was, for example, a sauna which was available to all of its patrons. Cyril Smith once reportedly trapped himself inside it due to his obesity.
The closure of the Elm did not put an end to child abuse in London. It just moved – or intensified -at other establishments. One venue where underage boys were exploited was the Philbeach Hotel in Earl’s Court. Both Alan and his older brother Richard were abused at it. Richard had been held in the hotel by two men after he came to London. Richard had also been exploited at the Elm. A return visit he made to Elm guesthouse as an adult with a team from Channel 4 news is available on YouTube.
Richard Kerr says that Peter, the Thai child pimp, was involved in both the Elm and the Philbeach. Richard recalls a picture of Peter which hung on one of the walls in the Philbeach. It featured him amid a group of men.
On the surface, the Philbeach was nothing more than a raucous party venue for consenting homosexual adults. Suffice it to say, many of those who frequented the hotel had no part in the abuse of underage boys. The LGBT Archive recalls it fondly in the following terms: “Philbeach Hotel in Philbeach Gardens, Earl’s Court, was a gay-owned hotel, catering for a gay clientele. Long before Soho became So-Homo, Earl’s Court was the gay capital of London. And if the walls could talk at the Philbeach, London’s most in-your-face gay hotel, they’d have some saucy tales to tell. It’s typically English B&B material, if a bit grubby. But people [didn’t go to it] for the chintz. For the Philbeach had gained a reputation as a cruisy hotel. If you don’t enjoy being propositioned in the bathroom, request a room with ensuite facilities. The Philbeach Hotel was open for 27 years and was one of the largest gay hotels in Europe. The Philbeach hotel was the only gay hotel in London that was owned by homosexuals and run by homosexuals. The hotel closed on January 31, 2008. It had 35 rooms on three floors.”.
The Earl’s Court Clinic and the brothel on Sydney Street run by Peter’s friend, form the third and fourth parts of a London abuse circuit. No doubt there were many other venues in the city.
THE ‘CLINIC’ WAS MORE DISCREET THAN ELM GUEST HOUSE
The ‘Earl’s Court Clinic’, was a far more discreet establishment than the Elm. “The punters who visited it came up the steps outside it and through the front door and into a hall. There was a door inside the hall with a bit of glass in it that acted as a one-way mirror because the hall was kept in semi-darkness but the room next to it – where we were – was well lit. The punters would peer through the glass at us – we would be sitting inside – and pick one of us out. In the first building – the house – Peter would walk into the room after the punter had made his choice and call out the name and shout “upstairs”. After we moved to the basement [premises], we would be sent to a room along the corridor. There was also a darkened window in the basement for the punters to look through at the lads. Peter would make recommendations about who was suitable for the punters who didn’t make up their mind immediately”.
FOR SALE: ASSAULT AND BATTERY
Peter allowed the ‘punters’ to assault his boys if they were prepared to pay enough. “The most I ever got was from a man who wanted to lash me with a leather belt. He paid me £20 per slap. I made a few hundred quid that night”, Alan recalls.
“We always got a cash payment but the commission was half. Peter always took half”.
‘The punters were rich. Most of them wore suits. There were no roughs. Most of them were in their 40s and upwards. The oldest was about 70. The older men were the worst. They were dirty down below. Some of them had already got cum in their pants they were that excited. They made me sick but you just had to get on with it. You had to be good to stay in the Clinic. If you didn’t make money, Peter got rid of you. I worked for him for about a year. Then I went back on the streets again. I haven’t seen Peter in a long time. The last time I saw him he was old and had grey hair”. Assuming the competence of the Independent Statutory Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) led by Professor Alex Jay to look into high-profile instances of non-recent child sexual abuse, it will have long since found out about Peter. If he is still alive, it will have asked him searching questions about what he knows about VIP paedophiles. It is hard to imagine a potentially more important witness for its work.
GREVILLE JANNER MP AND THE APARTMENT AT DOLPHIN SQUARE
After his time at the Clinic, Alan went to the Meat Rack on the ‘Dilly’ at Piccadilly Circus. One night, Greville Janner, then a Labour MP, “came up behind me and started talking to me”. A short while later, he escorted Alan to the bar in Dolphin Square. Alan slept with Janner each night during the week that followed. “I was desperate for somewhere to live at the time. I wanted accommodation, food and security”.
Janner would throw him back on the street in the morning and then hook up with him at night. Janner made no attempt to hide who he was or what he did. One morning Janner warned him he had “a late sitting” that night but that he was to wait for him. This, presumably, was a reference to a late sitting in the Commons.
THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER
During the course of the week, Janner invited him to go to a show in Earl’s Court. Alan was surprised but happy to accept. Janner then told him that he had to submit his – Alan’s – name for security clearance as they would be on Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s guest list. Alan obliged by providing his full name and his sister’s address. Janner subsequently told him that everything was “fine” with the security people.
Shortly afterwards, they attended The Prince and the Pauper at Earl’s Court‘s Olympia with the Royals. Janner and Alan sat directly behind the Royal couple who were in the front row, or very close to it. While they were waiting for the show to begin, Alan and Prince Andrew conversed. They also chatted during the intermission. “I had a good conversation with him. He had character. He was a cheerful guy. He was not snobby or anything. He told me he was going to open a hospital in Northern Ireland. I didn’t feel I had to bow down to him. I wasn’t nervous. Janner let me do the talking. They seemed to know each other quite well. That’s why I was able to talk to him. Sarah Ferguson didn’t speak much. She really just ignored us.”.
The guest list and the vetting records relating to this performance should still exist in an archive somewhere.
WHAT WAS JANNER PLAYING AT?
Janner obviously knew Alan was from Belfast and that his name would be run by MI5 and the RUC Special Branch during the security vetting process. It must have occurred to him that Alan could easily have had one or more convictions for male prostitution under his belt. And Alan did indeed have a number of convictions. He believes – but is not certain – that he incurred some of them before he met the Prince. So, why was Janner prepared to submit his name to the officials responsible for protecting the Royals? Had he reason to believe he had nothing to fear from MI5 and the police?
Why did Janner – a married man, politician and author – take a male prostitute in his early 20s to the performance instead of his wife or some other friend? There must have been many influential people who would have been indebted to Janner for just such an invitation.
If the tabloid media in the UK had discovered that Prince Andrew had enjoyed a social interaction – however fleeting and innocuous – with the brother of a Kincora boy, that fact alone could have generated waves of negative publicity for him, especially with the unrelenting reports about Kincora which the heavyweight campaigning journalist Paul Foot was publishing in Private Eye and the Daily Mirror.
There are other puzzling features about the event. Janner was a great communicator, so much so that he published multiple editions of a book entitled, ‘Janner’s Complete Speechmaking’. So why did he sit back – literally – and let Alan dominate the discussion with Prince Andrew?
MI5’s ‘DOLLY MIXTURES’
If MI5 had done its homework properly, it would have realised that Alan was the younger brother of Richard Kerr, the courageous boy who had exposed the Kincora scandal. Significantly, it was Richard’s social workers who had informed the Irish Independent about it. The link between the brothers was hardly a secret: when he had lived in Belfast, Alan had occasionally visited Richard at Kincora.
MI5 certainly kept an eye on the sexual antics of VIPs in the 1980s. It had a dedicated unit which monitored the sexual antics of Tory VIPs. It was called the ‘Dolly Mixtures’. In February 1985 Frank Doherty reported in the Phoenix magazine, that the ‘Dolly Mixtures’ had been set up on the “personal orders” of Margaret Thatcher to avoid embarrassing Tory sex scandals. It is highly likely that it or a parallel unit also monitored the young Royals. Indeed, the so-called ‘Squidgygate’ tape featuring Charles and Camilla is suspected of emanating from an MI5 leak. There is no space to analyse the Squidgygate affair in this article but it is discussed at length elsewhere, e.g. Wikipedia.
Frank Doherty’s Phoenix article about the ‘Dolly Mixtures’ (published five years before the Squidgygate scandal erupted) revealed that the ‘Iron Lady’ had ordered the establishment of the unit on account of “her fear of a repeat” of the Profumo scandal. ‘Since 1981, on her personal orders, an elite section of MI5, operating from Gordon Street, W1, has kept a discreet eye and an attuned ear on the personal and sexual indiscretions of Tory MPs. This section, known as the “Dolly Mixtures”, is composed of tall, blonde males, green-wellied Sloane Rangers, Young Fogie homosexuals, and young blue-chip ‘wets’ who together form a unit superbly equipped to socialise with and report on the morale, morals and mores of Tory MPs”.
MI5 certainly appreciated the real and present danger posed by Richard Kerr to the British Establishment, and had done so for years before the performance at the Earl’s Court Olympia which his younger brother attended. In the early 1980s Richard had lived in Preston and later in London. He had become the target of heavy-handed officials at both locations. In 1981 he had been warned by the RUC, who visited him in Preston, not to return to Belfast to give evidence at the Kincora trial. The RUC only wanted boys who had been abused inside the walls of Kincora by the staff to get into the witness box; not those like Richard who had been taken out of the home to places such as the Park Avenue hotel where they were made available to MI5 surveillance targets including at least one senior member of the DUP (the ‘Wife Beater’) and his friend John Dunlop McKeague, the leader of the Red Hand Commando. Later, a group of police officers had assaulted Richard in London to keep him quiet. On one particular occasion, he was assaulted by an undercover officer who had been listening to what he was telling his friends about Kincora in a fast food restaurant in London.
JANNER’S FRIENDS ON THE BENCH
Janner knew that Alan occasionally got into trouble with the law. When Alan found himself up before the magistrates at Bow Street on another charge later on, he informed the MP – with whom he had now become quite friendly – about his looming appearance. Janner, who was also a barrister and friendly with a number of judges, penned a letter for him. Janner attended the hearing but didn’t have to move from his seat during the hearing. In the event, Alan was found not guilty.
Alan is aware that at least one of the magistrates Janner knew also visited the Dilly to procure sex from the rent boys at it.
Overall, Alan was impressed by Janner. “He came across as a very intelligent man”, he says.
Others were impressed with him too: Janner was later made a member of the House of Lords.
ALAN NOW
The only occupation Alan has ever had is that of a male prostitute and a brief moment as a model for a pornographic gay magazine. He now lives in a small flat in London. A report from his counsellor states that his experiences have left “him feeling extremely isolated and [he experiences] regular traumatic flashbacks and debilitating bouts of anxiety and depression”. He is a poor sleeper and becomes physically shaky when agitated.
He has attempted suicide by inhaling gas. On another occasion he punched his hand through plate glass resulting in severe injuries. He has engaged in other bouts of self-harm.
He is not in a relationship and has no children.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
Looking to the future, he is eager to give evidence to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse in London about the VIP child abuse.
QUESTIONS FOR PROFESSOR ALEXIS JAY
The London-based Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) is currently carrying out its inquiries. A number of questions arise about what Professor Alexis Jay, Chair of IICSA, is and is not doing. They include the following:
• Will she ask MI5 for its files on Alan and Richard Kerr?
• Will Professor Jay let Alan and his brother Richard (who was abused by a string of Westminster MPs and a Tory Cabinet Minister) appear before IICSA? If not, why not? The revelation about the abuse by the Cabinet Minister was broadcast on Channel 4 News a number of years ago. IICSA can hardly be unaware of it. • Will Professor Jay ask the department responsible for the security vetting for the Earl’s Court Olympia performance of The Prince and the Pauper which Alan Kerr attended with Lord Janner, for all of its relevant records?
• Will she ask MI5 for the reports and files generated by the ‘Dolly Mixtures’ about Tory VIP sexual misbehaviour to vet them for child abusers?
• Will she ask MI5 and the Home Office for their files on Lord Janner who abused Alan Kerr and the various other MPs who abused his brother Richard?
• Will she investigate Peter, the Thai child pimp who ran the Earl’s Court Clinic, and his rich clients? Will she ask MI5 for any files it might have concerning him?
• Will she interview Eric Witchell?
• Will she ask MI5 for its files on Haroon Kashir, Carol Kashir and John Imrie?
• Will she also find out why MI5 and MI6 gave evidence to the Hart Inquiry in NI which was manifestly false? (See Village February and March 2017.)
THE DIETRICH GAMBIT?
In the celebrated film of Agatha Christie’s ingenious Witness for the Prosecution, Marlene Dietrich plays a cunning witness for the prosecution who testifies at a murder trial with the premeditated intention of being exposed as a liar and thereby discrediting the prosecution. Village has aired its reservations on numerous occasions that equally dark forces are conducting a comparable gambit in an effort to control the VIP sex abuse scandal with the tacit – if not outright – support of MI5 and MI6.
They have spent years promoting manifest hoaxers with remarkably similar farfetched yarns in the media and on the internet. Ultimately, their wild allegations were exposed as decidedly unhinged.
Some of these characters have tried to present their yarns to IICSA with straight faces. The overarching intention of this audacious stratagem is for the so-called ‘victims’ to paint credible witnesses such as the Kerr brothers with the same absurdist brush with which they have been tarred.
This murky scenario provides a plausible explanation for the otherwise senseless behaviour of the British police and the BBC during the fiasco that engulfed Cliff Richards, a patently innocent man falsely accused of sexual wrongdoing.
The reaction of the British public to the outrageous ill-treatment of such a beloved figure has been to diminish and undermine concern about VIP abuse rings.
There have been other victims such as Lord Brammal and Paul Gambaccini. The common denominator in each case is a police force which seems to have lost control of its senses.
The cumulative effect of these scandals is that quite a number of British TV and radio broadcasters, along with invited guests, have become sceptical about the existence of a VIP child sex abuse network of any sort and antagonistic towards those who are probing it.
This was quite evident after the release of the careful, considered and credible report by the Wiltshire Police concerning the abuse of boys by former Tory PM, Ted Heath, in October 2017.
On the other hand, the Establishment sceptics would have us believe that {i} a string of fantasists, {ii} none of whom knew each other, {iii} concocted absurd stories with similar themes by sheer coincidence and {iv} were then uniformly treated as credible by credulous police forces who {v} all overreacted in a grossly unprofessional manner against entirely innocent men with high profiles such as Richards, Brammal and Gambaccini.
Either way, it is up to Professor Jay to distinguish between the real and the artificial.
The lazy option will be to lump them all together and dismiss them as a motley collection of unreliable fantasists.
Smyth abuse-survivors dispute Welby claim
18 April 2019
SURVIVORS of abuse perpetrated by John Smyth have written to Lambeth Palace to correct the Archbishop of Canterbury’s assertion that Smyth was “not actually an Anglican” — a comment made during an interview on Channel 4 News last week.
In total, the letter lists 14 points of dispute about the Archbishop’s comments.
During the interview on Friday, which explored the Church of England’s response to Smyth’s abuse, Archbishop Welby said that Smyth “was not actually an Anglican. The church he went to in South Africa was not Anglican, and Iwerne was not part of the Church of England.”
Smyth was living in South Africa when a disclosure of abuse was made in Ely diocese in 2013, and died there last year. He was a former chairman of the Iwerne Trust, which ran holiday camps for boys at English public schools, and is now part of the Titus Trust. A six-month Channel 4 News investigation, broadcast two years ago, found that both the Iwerne Trust and Winchester College had learned of allegations of abuse by Mr Smyth in the 1980s, but failed to report them to the police (News, 10 February 2017).
One of the survivors who wrote to Lambeth Palace this week, Graham*, described the claim that Smyth was not an Anglican as “farcical”, given that he worshipped in the C of E.. The letter tells the Archbishop that Smyth had in fact been a licensed Reader in the diocese of Winchester.
A spokesperson for the diocese of Winchester said: “When the allegations first came to light we reviewed our records. There was nothing to suggest that John Smyth had had a formal role within the diocese and so no further investigation was undertaken.”
Graham also listed the many links between the Iwerne Trust and the C of E, pointing out that survivors in the United Kingdom and trustees of the Trust — some of whom were ordained — had attended Anglican churches.
In his interview, Archbishop Welby said: “The Church of England was never directly involved, but we take responsibility because there was a Church of England clergyman, though not on the payroll, who was in charge of the Iwerne Trust and there were Anglicans there . . .”
He also emphasised that the allegations did not pertain to the Iwerne Trust’s camps — the abuse had taken place at Smyth’s home.
But Archbishop Welby did not mention that the report commissioned by the Iwerne Trust and compiled in 1982, prompted by a suicide attempt by a survivor, was written by a C of E priest, the Revd Mark Ruston, when he was Vicar of Holy Sepulchre with All Saints, Cambridge. It described what it called the “beatings” of 22 young men.
“The scale and severity of the practice was horrific . . . eight received about 14,000 strokes: two of them having some 8000 strokes over three years.”
The contents of the report were disclosed to a number of Anglican clergy. Smyth went on to live in Zimbabwe, where he continued to run holiday camps — Zambezi Ministries — and South Africa.
“Had any one of these men spoken out about what they knew, upwards of 60 African children might not have been viciously beaten, and Smyth might have faced the justice he deserved,” the letter says.
Archbishop Welby told Channel 4 News that he had had “no idea” of Smyth’s abuse until 2013. “I heard a report about an allegation of abuse; it was made in Ely diocese, and the Bishop of Ely had contacted the statutory authorities . . . and I wrote to the Primate in South Africa.”
In fact, it was the Bishop of Ely, the Rt Revd Stephen Conway, who wrote to the Church in South Africa.
Asked about a promised review, Archbishop Welby told Channel 4 News that it could not take place until the Church had secured the participation of the other organisations involved: a reference to Scripture Union, Winchester College, and the Titus Trust.
“Unless you can get everyone in you are never going to get anywhere near the truth,” he said. “We’ve written to them; we’ve not had answers from all of them; and I would very much like them to reply promptly and quickly, and let’s get on with it and discover what we need to learn.”
Several survivors of Smyth’s abuse have launched a civil claim against the Titus Trust (News, 24 August 2018), and it is understood that the Titus Trust will consider a review only once these have been concluded (News, 1 March).
Graham suggested that it was “perverse that the decision as to which organisations should have the veto on a review has been taken before the review itself, when all of the facts are not yet known”.
He also disputed the Archbishop’s comment that there had been “very rapid contact” with the survivors, and that the bishop in charge of safeguarding and safeguarding officers had met them.
On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Lambeth Palace declined to clarify the Archbishop’s comments but said that he hoped to meet survivors “as soon as possible”.
@Graham1munro
The Iwerne Camps were endorsed by Lord Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury. Not Anglican !!! What a stupid thing to say
Iwerne Minster Summer Holidays 1983
Leaders
David Fletcher,
Peter Wells,
Mark Bishop,
Simon Brignall,
Ian Gilmour,
Nick Harris,
Mike Keep,
John Knight,
Richard Knight,
James Nairne,
Mike Neville,
Rod Pellereau,
Sandy Russell,
William Taylor.
Lord Coggan, formerly Archbishop of Canterbury,
Bishop of Norwich, Michael Alison MP,
Prof Sir Norman Anderson OBE,
Sir Frederick Catherwood,
Sir Maurice Dorman,
Admiral Sir Horace Law,
Judge Ruttle expressed their appreciation and warm support of previous holiday
ISN survivors tell of Savile link to LBI childrens homes and Cyril Smith visiting Gisburne House LBI home in Watford
Paedophile politicians – the ones that got away
Sympathetic support for lowering the age of consent, child porn, pederasty and even an established Westminster paedophile ring have been covered up in the corridors of power
WHILE the country obsesses about Brexit and the mainstream media feed off each other in their reportage, many stories are passing under the radar which would normally warrant some close attention.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse is progressing slowly but revealing details not widely known, such as the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) being funded for three years in the 1970s by the Home Office. At the time, the PIE was campaigning to legalise sex with children under 16 and was supported by the National Council for Civil Liberties, then led by Blairite stalwarts Patricia Hewitt and Harriet Harman.
The inquiry was ordered by Theresa May when she was home secretary, started in 2014 and now focuses on Westminster and allegations against MPs. It had its origins in the revelations that emerged after Jimmy Savile’s death. Many of his victims were disabled or dying in specialist hospitals such as Stoke Mandeville, and Leeds General Infirmary. The subsequent report showed 214 criminal offences, including 34 rapes, recorded against Savile’s name across Britain between 1955 and 2009. Police said the Top Of The Pops presenter had sexually abused a teenager at a hospice, one of 14 medical sites he used to prey on his victims. He also committed 14 offences at schools across the country, some of them when children had written to him for his popular BBC series Jim’ll Fix It.
Some staff at the BBC have admitted they knew of his activities but declined to report him to the police as he was a big star drawing big audiences. He was a Tory supporter, friendly with Margaret Thatcher and duly rewarded with a knighthood in 1990, the same year Pope John Paul II awarded him a Papal Knighthood.
MPs have also been mired in the paedophilia scandal. The example of former Liberal MP Cyril Smith, another predatory paedophile, is a salient example. Like Savile, he targeted the most vulnerable children, usually in children’s homes and, like Savile, his paedophilia was well-known among senior Liberals, other members of Parliament and top public figures in his home town of Rochdale.
But when Liberal Party leader David Steel appointed him chief whip he had access to and leverage over Liberal and other MPs with secrets to hide. When Steel was questioned recently at the inquiry about Smith he admitted he knew about the paedophile issue but chose not to report anything to the police. He was not asked whether Smith threatened to expose other Liberal MPs or councillors in return for his silence. Recently the police admitted they had avoided three separate chances to prosecute Smith for the rape of minors, suggesting that civil servants and MI5 took control of the case and did nothing.
In June 2014 a senior Downing Street aide Patrick Rock was charged with allegations of downloading computerised child abuse imagery. His brief was to advise David Cameron on internet security for filtering online pornography.
Conservatives Edwina Currie, Gyles Brandreth and Rod Richards have previously made damning statements of how well-known in Westminster circles it was that MP Peter Morrison was a dangerous paedophile, and yet his career was unaffected as he rose to be deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. He was Thatcher’s parliamentary private secretary in 1990 and her campaign manager that same year despite this knowledge having been around for many years.
In 1991 Frank Beck, who ran care homes in Leicestershire, was found guilty of abusing more than 100 children in the 1970s and 1980s. During the trial, a 30-year-old man claimed he had been abused by Lord Greville Janner, who was still a Labour MP at the time. However, Lord Janner was not prosecuted and he insisted there was “not a shred of truth” in the claims.
One of Tony Blair’s former senior aides Phillip Lyon, who previously arranged his weekly prime minister’s question time, was arrested after police raided his Commons office. Lyon was found guilty of downloading child pornography and jailed for a year. Stephen Carnell, who was agent for Labour MP Chris Bryant during the 2010 general election campaign, was caught with more than 12,000 indecent images and 450 films. He was jailed for three years for collecting and distributing what the judge described as “appalling” images of child sexual abuse.
Cameron failed to make good on his promise to order a full-scale investigation into allegations of widespread paedophile activity within Parliament after a request by the Labour MP Tom Watson made in 2012. Hansard recorded that the police file relating to Peter Righton, who was convicted in 1992 of importing child pornography from Holland, needed to be re-examined.
Watson suggested that the evidence file used to convict Righton, if it still existed, contained clear intelligence of a widespread paedophile ring linked to the corridors of power. The central allegation was that a large body of material seized in the police raid on Righton’s home prior to his conviction had not been fully investigated.
Subsequent testimony by retired police officers at the inquiry claimed that police were stopped from their criminal investigations by Special Branch and MI5, and a file containing details of paedophile MPs handed to the Home Office has “disappeared.”
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/paedophile-politicians-ones-got-away
Mike Pulsford, pictured here in 2005, abused three boys and three girls while he was a Christian youth group leader
Michael Pulsford jailed for Christian camp child abuse
18 Apr 2019
A lawyer who represented defendants accused of sexual offences has himself been jailed for molesting children.
Michael Pulsford, 68, abused three boys and three girls while he was a Christian youth group leader between 1974 and 1989.
The victims, who were aged between 12 and 15, were abused in Wiltshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
Pulsford admitted 16 counts of indecent assault. He was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison.
Southampton Crown Court heard Pulsford groomed children while he was viewed as a “pillar of the community” during summer camps, at his home and in his office.
His victims described Pulsford, of Corsham in Wiltshire, as “an evil manipulator” who had taken their “childhood innocence” by “abusing his position of trust”.
One complainant came forward in 2011 but Pulsford denied the allegations and no further action was taken.
‘Appalled at cases’
But police reopened the investigation in 2017 when another victim reported Pulsford for indecent assault.
A man told the court that coverage of the Jimmy Savile scandal prompted him to recall his own experiences of Pulsford, who had qualified as a solicitor-advocate and represented clients in criminal proceedings.
“I remember googling Mike Pulsford and being appalled at the number of child abuse cases he had defended,” the man said.
He said he told police about being molested when asked if he had witnessed any abuse against another victim at a Christian camp in the 1970s.
Two more women came forward with allegations of indecent assault after media coverage of the case began, the court was told.
In mitigation, defence barrister Michael Phillips said the incidents of abuse were “extremely unpleasant, but not as unpleasant as they could have been”.
He added: “He has accepted the title of being a paedophile, which is a rarity in these kinds of cases… hopefully it shows there is remorse.”
Judge Peter Henry said the youth group Pulsford led had the aim of “instilling Christian values”, but he had only been “pretending” to have those values.
“Throughout this period you were in a position of considerable power, influence and trust,” the judge said.
“What you did in this period amounts to a gross abuse of this trust.”
RESPECTED solicitor who defended paedophiles in court has been jailed for more than eight years for sexual assaults on young girls and boys from a church youth group three decades ago.
‘Evil’ Mike Pulsford sexually assaulted three boys and three young girls, forcing them to kiss him, touching them inappropriately and even telling one victim it happened because the then 12-year-old boy was ‘pretty’.
As a solicitor, Pulsford spent decades representing a series of sex offenders in the Swindon courts, despite knowing he had abused children – starting when he was just 23 years old.
The 67-year-old, formerly of Corsham but who gave the courts an address in Streatham, south London, admitted 16 counts of indecent assault which happened between 1974 and 1989.
Pulsford, who had worked for Chippenham law firm Jeary and Lewis before his victims came forward, was a youth club leader and volunteer with the Corsham-based church group Urban Saints for around 30 years.
He was working as a clerk to the justices when he was admitted as a solicitor in 1980, becoming a deputy clerk to the North Wiltshire Magistrates a year later.
The solicitor was one of the first in the country to receive rights of power to be heard in a crown court, despite not actually being a barrister.
He has since defended clients including a number of convicted sex offenders and, at the time, Britain’s youngest drink driver.
The solicitor also represented aristocrat the Earl of Cardigan when he was cleared of assaulting a man in a row over family paintings which were being sold.
One victim bravely stood and faced his abuse, questioning whether Pulsford joined the Crusaders just to get to children and telling him that describing him as a man or even an animal ‘would be a travesty’.
Another told the court Pulsford, who sat emotionless as his victims faced him, would even read a specific chapter from the bible, titled Love to her while they were alone together.
The solicitor carried out the sick sexual assaults on youngsters while volunteering for church group the Crusaders, now known as the Urban Saints.
Judge Peter Henry told Pulsford he had pretended to live by Christian values he was teaching people, but the whole time he took advantage of his position to abuse young children.
The judge said: “You were a sexual predator. Whilst it might be said in the 1970s and 80s the public were less atuned to the serious impact of sexual abuse on children, you would be acutely aware as a solicitor.”
Prosecutor Simon Wilshere told Southampton Crown Court, Hants, Pulsford had been a senior group leader with the Crusaders, where he met all his victims.
The court heard Pulsford forced his victims to kiss him and even showed one youngster a horror film so he was scared enough to join the solicitor in his bed at his home in Gastard, Wiltshire, where he then sexually assaulted him.
The court heard the attacks happened at Crusaders camps on the Isle of Wight, as well as some at his home in Gastard.
Reading a statement to the court, one male victim, now in his 50s, said: “I wonder if he was only in the Crusaders to gain potentially unlimited access to children.
“My childhood innocence was taken away by this evil individual. I was manipulated by an evil individual. Describing him as a person or even an animal would be a travesty.”
The court also heard from one of his female victims, who he ‘groomed’ over a number of years, starting by driving her to a layby in his car where they would chat and ending after they had sex when she turned 16.
However, when she came forward to report him in 2011 Pulsford denied it and continued his work as a solicitor, finally admitting to the offences last October.
As Judge Henry jailed Pulsford for eight and eight months, he told him he will be banned from working with children for the rest of his life.
Mitigating, Michael Phillips told the court Pulsford had ‘accepted the title of paedophile’ but had now changed his ways.
The senior investigating officer for Hampshire Police, Detective Inspector Toby Elcock, gave his reaction to the sentence.
He said: “Michael Pulsford was trusted as a youth group leader to protect the children in his charge, but instead abused this trust over and over again by indecently assaulting them.
“This was a complex investigation carried out by the Operation Marmion team, and we are pleased that the victims have now finally found justice having suffered the effects of this terrible abuse for decades.
“The bravery and courage they have shown during the course of this investigation is remarkable.
“I want to appeal to anyone who has been affected by this type of abuse to come forward and talk to us, and be reassured that you don’t have to suffer in silence.”
23rd November 2018
Swindon solicitor and youth group leader Mike Pulsford admits indecent assault charges
A SOLICITOR who has spent decades defending alleged criminals at Swindon Crown Court is facing the prospect of jail after admitting a string of historic sex offences.
Mike Pulsford, who is also a leader at a Christian youth group, had admitted molesting three boys and a girl in the 1970s and 80s.
As a result the 67-year-old, who has resigned from the solicitors’ firm where he was a director, must register as a sex offender.
Pulsford pleaded guilty to 12 counts of indecent assault when he appeared before magistrates in Hampshire last month.
The case was adjourned when it came before a judge at Southampton Crown Court this week.
It is believed there could be a need to be a trial of issue as there may be a dispute over the age of one of the victims.
Pulsford, who gave the court an address in West Norwood, London, has lived in Corsham for many years where he volunteers for Urban Saints, formerly known as Crusaders.
He has also regularly gone on extended volunteering trips to India, where he has helped in the building of schools.
The first offences took place between July 1973 and July 1975 on the Isle of Wight where he twice indecently touched a boy under the age of 16.
In the five years to the end of 1978, in Hampshire, he indecently assaulted another underage lad.
He abused a third boy in the village of Gastard, Wiltshire, between February 1978 and February 1980.
The remaining eight counts relate to the repeated abuse of a girl in Wiltshire between April 1980 and April 1985.
He has accepted he kissed the girl, who was under 16, as well as touching her inappropriately and also getting her to touch him.
Pulsford was working as a clerk to the justices when he was admitted as a Solicitor in 1980, becoming a Deputy Clerk to the North Wiltshire Magistrates a year later.
He went into private practice in 1985 and in 1994 was one of only 31 Solicitors nationwide to be granted Higher Rights of Audience, meaning he could appear in the crown court.
Since then he has been a regular fixture in both magistrates courts across the county as well as Swindon Crown Court.
In an online biography, now removed, he says he has been involved in several high profile cases.
He represented Lord Cardigan, who was cleared following a number of trials, five years ago.
The biography also says he has been a local youth club leader for the past 30 years and on the Regional Committee of the Urban Saints.
The organisation is a non-denominational group for young people aged 8-16 which meets on Sunday afternoons at Corsham Community Centre.
They also have a large manor house on the Isle of Wight which is used for holidays for members from all over the country
.
He has been released on bail to appear back before a judge in Southampton the week before Christmas.
Woman claims billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein sexually assaulted her when she was 26 and then molested her 15-year-old sister
- In a lawsuit Maria Farmer alleges that her sister, 15 at the time, was sexually abused by Epstein, along with his British socialite friend Ghislane Maxwell
- She then claims that she was also sexually abused by the pair in the summer of 1996, while working at one of the billionaire’s friend’s mansions in Ohio
- Farmer, an ex-art student, started working for Epstein in 1995 to help curate art for his Manhattan mansion as well as logging who entered and exited the home
- During her time in the position, she noticed numerous young girls in school outfits going upstairs for what she was allegedly told was ‘modeling auditions’
- Her allegations come in a suit filed by one of Epstein’s other victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, accusing his attorney of being complicit in the abuse
- Giuffre says Alan Dershowitz was aware of the abuse and even participated in sexual encounters with young girls at various properties of Epstein’s
- Dershowitz has refuted the claims for a number of years and called Giuffre a ‘fake Metoo victim’ in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com on Tuesday
Another alleged victim of Jeffrey Epstein has filed a lawsuit claiming that the billionaire pedophile sexually assaulted her and her 15-year-old sister back in 1996.
Filed in Manhattan Federal Court on Tuesday, Maria Farmer, a former art student, says Epstein hired her in 1995 to help curate pieces to furnish his Upper East Side New York apartment, as well as making a note of who entered and left the property.
During her time under his employment, Farmer – 26 at the time – says she witnessed a ‘number of school age-girls’ dressed in their uniforms arriving at the mansion and going upstairs. According to court documents, Farmer was told the girls were coming to the home to audition for ‘modelling’ work.
Now 49, Farmer then claims it was around the same time that Epstein and his friend, Ghislane Maxwell, a British socialite, took a particular interest in her 15-year-old sister.
She alleges that the pair flew the teenager with them to a ranch in New Mexico in 1996, where they forced her to strip naked on a massage table and then sexually molested her.
Just days before, Farmer says Epstein had taken both her and her unnamed sister to see a movie in New York where he allegedly started rubbing the minor between her legs.
Farmer also says that she herself abused by Epstein and Maxwell around the same time, while working at one of the financier’s associate’s mansion in Ohio during the summer.
She says the pair escorted her to a bedroom in the 30-room property where they both proceeded to sexual assault her.
Farmer said the fled to room and and attempted to call the local Sheriff’s office, but received no response. When she tried to leave the property, she says security staff at the estate refused to let her leave.
‘I was held against my will for 12 hours until I was ultimately allowed to leave with my father,’ she says in the affidavit.
Upon her release, she immediately reported both of the assaults to the New York Police Department, before reiterating the allegations to the FBI later that year.
‘To my knowledge, I was the first person to report Maxwell and Epstein to the FBI,’ Farmer writes in the affidavit. ‘It took a significant amount of bravery for me to make that call because I knew how incredibly powerful and influential both Epstein and Maxwell were, particularly in the art community.’
The 49-year-old says she has finally come forward in the hope of that Epstein and Maxwell will be punished for the acts of abuse.
‘I have struggled throughout my entire life as a direct result of Epstein and Maxwell’s actions against me and my hope is that they will be held accountable for their crimes,’ she said in the affidavit.
‘While I am still afraid, I am coming forward because I think it is so important to do so.’
Farmer’s allegations come as one of 15 exhibits attached to a defamation complaint filed by one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, against the billionaire’s attorney, Alan Dershowitz.
In her lawsuit, Giuffre claims that Dershowitz, 80, was aware of Epstein and Maxwell’s reported sex trafficking operation involving under-age girls, helped to orchestrate it, and was even complicit in participating in sordid sexual acts.
A teenage runaway, Giuffre was working at Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort in 2000 when she was recruited to be a ‘masseuse’ for Epstein in Palm Beach. It was from that point that she said she became embroiled in a life of sexual abuse and depravity.
Just 16 at the time, Giuffre says she was actually recruited to be a sex slave for Epstein for two-years, where she was ‘regularly abused’ by him and forced to engage in sexual acts with Dershowitz and other wealthy associates of Epstein.
Dershowitz has continuously refuted Giuffre’s account of his involvement, insisting he has never met the complainant and claims to have documents to prove that her allegations are false.
When his client was arrested for sex trafficking in 2006 on charges relating to Giuffre’s complaints, Dershowitz called her, and other children who Epstein was said to have abused, ‘liars and prostitutes’.
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com on Tuesday, Dershowitz branded Giuffre a ‘fake Metoo victim’ and insisted the lawsuit is the ‘opportunity I’ve been looking for’.
‘I now have subpoena power and the ability to prove that this woman has committed perjury and has made up the whole story about me.’
He went on to call the complainant an ‘inveterate liar’, with a ‘long, long history of lying’.
‘She has claimed to have sex with virtually everyone under the sun from the former majority leader of the United States Senate, to the former Prime Minister of Israel, to the former ambassador to the United Nations, to the inventor of artificial intelligence, to Leslie Wexner, the owner of Victoria’s Secret.
‘And she’s going to have to testify to that in court. And the end result is she going to go to perjury because I am asking the FBI to come to the trial and to listen to my testimony and to listen to hers.’
The affidavit attached to the lawsuit by Farmer is said to have been used to bolster Giuffre’s claims that Dershowitz has both maliciously and intentionally spread false information for Epstein, in order to deter her and other accusers from speaking out.
Despite his protests of innocence, Giuffre believe Dershowitz is ‘hiding behind a curtain of lies’.
‘No sensible person looks forward to litigation, and I know that standing up for myself and others will cause Mr. Dershowitz and Mr. Epstein to redouble their efforts to destroy me and my reputation,’ Giuffre said in a statement to the Miami Herald.
‘But I can no longer sit by and not respond. As my complaint shows, my abusers have sought to conceal their guilt behind a curtain of lies. My complaint calls for the accounting to which I, and their other victims, are entitled,’ she continued.
Dershowitz, however, is saying he is relishing the chance to prove Giuffre is lying. He has previously publicly declared a willingness to take her case to trial in order for settle the matter once and for all.
‘Virtually everything in the complaint is false, and I will be able to disprove all of this in a court of law. I have told the truth throughout and I’ll be able to prove it. … I never met her, I never heard of her,’ he told the outlet in response.
In an unspecified television interview, he is also said to have offered to waiver the statute of limitations so Giuffre could sue him for sex abuse, as detailed in the lawsuit.
However, once Giuffre’s legal team requested him to do so, Dershowitz is said to have refused – ‘and continues to refuse’ even now, the documents claim.
Epstein (pictured left with Donald Trump in 1997), a former Wall Street Financier, was convicted in 2008 of soliciting an underage girl for sex. He served 13-months in jail and was required to register as a sex offender. Virginia Giuffre had been working at Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort when she was recruited to be a ‘masseuse’ for Epstein
Dershowitz (pictured right with Epstein) has repeatedly said he never saw young girls in the homes of his client and didn’t engage in any sexual acts himself. However, eye witness testimony submitted in Tuesday’s affidavit claims otherwise
Giuffre’s lawsuit doesn’t offer any evidence that she ever had sex with Dershowitz or provide concrete dates on which the alleged abuse is said to have occurred.
However, the victim claims the acts took place in several locations on a number of occasions, including in Epstein’s East 71st Street home.
The affidavit also offers a number of examples of statements issued by Dershowitz protesting his innocence, which the plaintiff claims to have proof to discredit.
In one such statement, Dershowitz previously said he had never seen any underage girls in Epstein’s residence during any of his visits to his client’s homes in Palm Beach, New Mexico or New York.
However, Farmer’s excerpt alleges that she regularly saw young girls entering and leaving the home during her time under Epstein’s employment.
‘On a number of occasions I witnessed Dershowitz at the NY mansion going upstairs at the same time there were young girls under the age of 18 who were present upstairs in the house,’ Farmer asserts in the affidavit.
But the defendant says such a claim cannot be true because he says he didn’t meet Epstein until August 1996.
‘I was never upstairs in Jeffrey Epstein’s apartment, never ever,’ Dershowitz rebutted to the Miami Herald. ‘I would not have felt comfortable going upstairs because I didn’t know [Epstein] very well then.’
In her allegations, Farmer didn’t offer a timeline of dates for when she reportedly saw Dershowitz in the presence of young girls at the home.
But her claims are backed-up by the former house manager of Epstein’s Palm Beach residence, Alfredo Rodriguez, who also once told investigators that he observed Dershowitz in the company of young girls and other woman at the waterfront mansion.
Rodriguez later died in prison, having been prosecuted for the FBI for obstructing justice when he tried to sell Epstein’s ‘little black book’, detailing all associates of the billionaire, along with a long list of female masseuses.
In an additional affidavit submitted as part of the lawsuit, Sarah Ransome says she also had sex with Dershowitz, after being ‘lent out’ to him by Epstein.
She says she was 22 when she was first introduced to the billionaire, having sex with his attorney on a number of occasions, including a three-way encounter with Dershowitz and Nadia Marcinkova, another young adult working for Epstein, in New York.
‘I recall specific, key details of his person and the sex acts and can describe them in the event it becomes necessary to do so,’ Ransome claims in the affidavit.
Dershowitz has repeatedly denounced the claims of Giuffre and Ransome, and on March 2, 2019 declared: ‘I hereby accuse my false accusers of committing the felony of perjury and challenge them to sue me for defamation.’
Speaking to DailyMail.com, he said: ‘And I’m repeating the defamation right now. She claims I defamed her by calling her a perjurer, I am now telling you that I’m calling her a perjurer.
‘And the first thing I will say in court is that I am saying right here, right now, that she’s a perjurer.’
Dershowitz dismissed suggestions the suit had anything to do with the Me Too Movement because he insists he has never met Roberts.
‘In every other Me Too case the people knew each other, they had a relationship, they worked together,’ he added.
‘In this case I never met this woman. She made up the whole story from beginning to end.
‘She hurts the Me Too movement terribly because when it’s proved she lied for money the real victims will be people who have really been abused. She is a fake victim.’
Epstein, a former Wall Street Financier, was convicted in 2008 for soliciting two girls as young as 14 for underage sex. He served just 13-months in jail and was required to register as a sex offender as part of a non-prosecution deal struck with the state.
The now 66-year-old was accused of abusing more than 40 teenage girls as part of the lawsuit.
In February, a federal judge ruled that the sentence, secured in a plea deal, had been illegally brokered by former US Attorney Alexander Acosta and other prosecutors, in violation of the Crime Victims’ Rights Act.
The deal is now being reviewed by the Justice Department in addition to Acosta’s handling of the case.
‘Jeffrey Epstein is a child rapist and there’s not a single mom or dad in America who shouldn’t be horrified by the fact that he received a pathetically soft sentence,’ U.S. Senator Ben Sasse said after the investigation commenced.
‘The victims of Epstein’s child sex trafficking ring deserve this investigation – and so do the American people and members of law enforcement who work to put these kinds of monsters behind bars.’
Epstein was spotted for the first time in nearly three years in February, as he left his luxe Manhattan townhouse, shortly after the investigation was launched.
After several years of abuse, Giuffre eventually escaped Epstein’s grasp in September 2002, after she was allegedly sent by the billionaire to Thailand where she was instructed to being a ‘young girl’ back to the US for him, according to court documents.
Fearing for her life and unwilling to subject another girl to the abuse that she endured, Giuffre fled to from Thailand to Australia, where she now lives with her husband and two children.
We Found Billionaire Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s Secret Charity
Through a shadowy private foundation, convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein has continued to shell out cash to celebrities, elite universities—and an all-girls school.
4/16/2019
Billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein may have stopped trumpeting his million-dollar donations to charities in light of accusations he molested dozens of underage girls. But he continues to quietly distribute his wealth—including to the nonprofits of Deepak Chopra, Elton John and a doctor linked to President Trump—through a shadowy private foundation called “Gratitude America, Ltd.,” The Daily Beast has learned.
Gratitude America, Ltd. was launched in 2012 to back “organizations around the world that seek to celebrate the United States of America and the American Ideals,” the group stated in its application for tax-exempt status. Those ideals, the nonprofit added, include “liberty, equality, democracy, individualism, unity, and diversity.” At the time, Epstein was three years out of jail, but disturbing allegations from his alleged victims, including one who claimed Epstein kept her as a “sex slave” for his famous friends, continued to hound him.
Epstein apparently needed some favorable news to change the narrative and embarked on a public relations crusade that depicted him as a renowned “science philanthropist,” rather than a convicted sex offender.
Not to be confused with GratitudeAmerica, Inc., a Florida nonprofit for veterans, Epstein’s latest private foundation doesn’t appear to have a website or online presence. The only traces of the group lie in tax returns, a fundraising site for multiple sclerosis, and a book of abstracts from a 2017 academic conference in California.
In 2016 and 2017, Gratitude America Ltd. funded an all-girls school in Manhattan, a youth tennis program, cancer charities, Harvard’s famous theater troupe, posh New York arts societies at Lincoln Center and the Met, and a nonprofit linked to the wife of a former Harvard president who flew on Epstein’s private jet, dubbed the “Lolita Express” by the press.
Indeed, a review of tax returns reveals Epstein’s foundation donated at least $1.84 million to host of causes, including $15,000 to the Hewitt School, the elite private girls school on the Upper East Side; $30,000 to the O’Gorman Garden, a Harlem preschool; and $25,000 to the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland.
Gratitude America’s biggest donations included a $375,000 payout to the International Peace Institute Inc., a New York think tank staffed by former United Nations officials and run by Norwegian diplomat Terje Rød-Larsen, and $225,000 to the Melanoma Research Alliance—both of which Epstein boasted of supporting financially in years past.
As The Daily Beast previously reported, Epstein once cultivated a web presence that portrayed a multi-hyphenate superhero: an “armistice activist” with the peace institute; one of the largest funders of scientists around the world” who helped to curb ivory poaching; and an “education activist” who delivered the Virgin Islands its first Head Start program.
Yet the 66-year-old financier’s philanthropy has failed to repair his reputation.
In the early Aughts, Epstein was known to rub elbows with the likes of Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Woody Allen and Kevin Spacey. His enigmatic rise from Dalton physics teacher to “international moneyman of mystery” who palled around with Prince Andrew and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was chronicled by the tabloids and New York magazine and Vanity Fair, which in 2003 reported, “Epstein is known about town as a man who loves women—lots of them, mostly young.”
“He’s reckless, and he’s gotten more so,” one former business associate told Vanity Fair of Epstein, who owns mansions in Palm Beach, Florida and Manhattan’s Upper East Side, along with a ranch in New Mexico. “Money does that to you. He’s breaking the oath he made to himself—that he would never do anything that would expose him in the media.”
Trump, too, once alluded to Epstein’s penchant for younger women. “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy,” Trump told New York in 2002. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it—Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”
Four years later, Epstein was arrested after this “social life” became the subject of a 13-month investigation by Palm Beach detectives.
Gratitude America donated $375,000 to the International Peace Institute Inc., a New York think tank run by Norwegian diplomat Terje Rød-Larsen.
Police say Epstein was sexually abusing girls as young as 13, many of them from poor families and broken homes. And, according to lawsuits filed by victims, Epstein loaned them out to his famous friends. Epstein also allegedly paid girls to recruit other teen victims, telling one recruiter, “The younger, the better.” (The money manager denied trafficking girls to his friends, saying in one court filing that he and his pals were “the subject of the most outlandish and offensive attacks, allegations, and plain inventions.”)
Authorities had enough evidence to send Epstein to prison for life. But under a suspiciously sweet plea deal inked with former U.S. Attorney and current Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, Epstein served only 13 months of an 18-month sentence inside a private wing of the county stockade, mostly on “work release” for 16 hours a day, six days a week.
Epstein pleaded guilty to two state charges: solicitation of prostitution and procurement of minors for prostitution. Now the Department of Justice is investigating that secret plea agreement, which a federal judge ruled violated the law, and whether Acosta and other prosecutors “committed professional misconduct.”
In the #MeToo era, calls for justice for Epstein’s alleged victims are growing louder. The Miami Herald and Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who claims Epstein forced her to have sex with Prince Andrew and Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz (allegations all three men vehemently deny), are fighting to unseal court records in a defamation lawsuit Giuffre filed against Epstein’s friend, Ghislaine Maxwell. Lawyers for Epstein’s alleged victims say records will show Epstein and Maxwell trafficked girls for the benefit of their high-flying friends. Maxwell, who has denied Giuffre’s claims, settled the case on the eve of trial in 2017.
Last week, the New York Post revealed that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office had “graphic and detailed evidence” of Epstein’s assault of minor girls before it argued for leniency during a 2011 sex-offender registration hearing. At the time, a judge balked at the DA’s request to register Epstein as a “low risk” offender, saying, “I have to tell you, I’m a little overwhelmed because I have never seen the prosecutor’s office do anything like this.”
Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Institute of 1770, which includes the university’s historic theater troupe, noted Epstein among its top donors in 2018, under the category “The Guardians of the Sphinx.”
The constant trickle of bad press has resulted in some charities and political candidates keeping their distance from the perverted hedge-funder.
In 2006, former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said he’d distribute Epstein’s $50,000 campaign donation to charities throughout the state, while New York’s gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer and attorney general hopeful Mark Green returned donations of $50,000 and $10,000, respectively, from the billionaire.
In 2015, nonprofits including Florida’s Ballet Palm Beach told Reuters they’d no longer accept Epstein’s money following Giuffre’s headline-grabbing allegations. “The further I can keep myself from anything like that the better,” the ballet’s founder said.
When Epstein tried donating to House Democrats last October, they quickly returned a $10,000 offering from the political pariah. One spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee told The Daily Beast, “Without second thought, the DCCC immediately refunded this unsolicited donation.”
Still, others have quietly welcomed Epstein’s cash. His former charity, the C.O.U.Q. Foundation, donated $25,000 to Bill and Hillary Clinton’s charity, according to C.O.U.Q.’s 2006 tax return. The group is listed among past and present donors on the Clinton Foundation’s website.
Harvard also kept a $6.5-million check from Epstein to fund the university’s Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, the Harvard Crimson reported in 2006.
In March of this year, The Daily Beast revealed Epstein had funded the nonprofit of a Russian model who advocates for women entrepreneurs.
And Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Institute of 1770, which includes the university’s historic theater troupe, noted Epstein among its top donors in 2018, under the category “The Guardians of the Sphinx.”
Dirty Money
In the year leading up to Gratitude America’s creation, Epstein’s connections with his prominent friends were under scrutiny. One of his alleged victims, Virginia Roberts, came forward to the Daily Mail in February 2011, to say she was only 15 when Epstein recruited her “to be a prostitute for him and his friends,” including Prince Andrew.
The same month, Epstein downplayed his Florida conviction, telling the New York Post, “I’m not a sexual predator, I’m an ‘offender’. It’s the difference between a murderer and a person who steals a bagel.” These comments followed a New York judge’s ruling that Epstein must register as a Level 3 sex offender, which meant he’s at “high risk of repeat offense and a threat to public safety exists.”
The shocking allegations didn’t stop Epstein, however, from issuing a flurry of press releases heralding his support of the sciences. In January 2012, “The Jeffrey Epstein Foundation” announced its sponsorship of a conference organized by MIT’s Marvin Minsky, under the headline, “Top Scientists Meet to Discuss Greatest Threats to the Earth.”
In March 2012, another announcement declared, “Science Philanthropist, Jeffrey Epstein, Convenes a Conference of Nobel Laureates to Define Gravity.” It was followed days later with a different bulletin: “Jeffrey Epstein, Science Philanthropist, Organizes a Global Doomsday Conference.”
Epstein’s former charity, the C.O.U.Q. Foundation, donated $25,000 to Bill and Hillary Clinton’s charity, according to C.O.U.Q.’s 2006 tax return. The group is listed among past and present donors on the Clinton Foundation’s website.
One month later, Gratitude America Ltd. was formed in the Virgin Islands “to support the expression of gratitude for the ideals of America,” according to a tax-exempt application filed with the Internal Revenue Service. (Epstein has specified the Virgin Islands, where he owns a private isle, as his permanent address in annual sex-offender registrations.)
“Fundraising, if any, will take place via personal solicitation by the Members of the Board,” the group’s IRS application stated. “The initial contribution to the organization will be from the primary donor, Mr. Epstein.”
The group said it would “carry out its purpose through the direct funding of celebrations and other planned events, including symposiums, lectures, and galas, both within the United States and abroad planned by third parties and other non-profit organizations and governmental entities,” via “private donations from individuals.”
The disgraced financier’s group, however, didn’t list any revenues until 2015 or any contributions to charities until the 2016 and 2017 tax years.
Gratitude America Ltd. donated $150,000 each in 2017 to MIT and the Kuhn Foundation, run by writer Robert Lawrence Kuhn, who hosts a TV program called “Closer to Truth.” (One biography on the Chopra Foundation’s site says Kuhn is “an international corporate strategist, investment banker and expert on China” and has “a doctorate in brain research.”)
Rather than listing Gratitude America Ltd. as a donor in its own 990 tax form in 2017, Kuhn recorded a $150,000 donation from the “Jeffrey Epstein Foundation” in care of “Richard Kahn KBRK Associates 57,” which appears to be a misspelling of Kahn’s business, HBRK. Kahn, who served on Epstein’s previous nonprofit ventures, is the president of Gratitude America, according to tax returns. He runs a corporation called HBRK Associates, Inc., New York state corporation filings show.
Epstein also funded a nonprofit that produces a TV show hosted by the wife of Larry Summers, a Harvard economist and Treasury secretary under former President Clinton.
In 2016, Gratitude America Ltd. shelled out $110,000 to Verse Video Education. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based nonprofit produces the PBS show Poetry in America, whose creator and host is Harvard professor Elisa New. Verse’s 2016 tax return named New as the group’s president but doesn’t include specific donors for its $1.38 million in total contributions.
New is married to Summers, Harvard University’s former president, who hobnobbed with Epstein in elite international relations groups and, like Bill Clinton, flew on Epstein’s private jet. Vanity Fair’s 2003 feature mentions Epstein proudly displaying Summers’ letter of commitment to “the Epstein Program for Mathematical Biology and Evolutionary Dynamics” at Harvard. Epstein “says he was reluctant to have his name attached to the program, but Summers persuaded him,” the article said.
Summers came up again during an October 2015 deposition of Alan Dershowitz, who faced a now-settled defamation suit from two attorneys for Epstein’s victims. Dershowitz testified that Epstein’s former assistant, Sarah Kellen, worked “at the Harvard office” where Epstein held meetings with university brass including Summers.
Asked about the women in Epstein’s entourage, Dershowitz said they served coffee or took notes during academic meetings. “And these people were seen not only by me. They were seen by Larry Summers, they were seen by [genetics professor George] Church, they were seen by Marvin Minsky, they were seen by some of the most eminent academics and scholars in the world. There was no hint or suggestion of anything sexual or improper in the presence of these people.”
Epstein’s largesse has likewise extended to Harvard’s storied theater troupe. The Hasty Pudding Institute of 1770, one of Epstein’s past beneficiaries, received $50,000 from Gratitude America Ltd. in 2016. The Institute includes the Hasty Pudding Club, the country’s oldest social club, and Hasty Pudding Theatricals, the oldest theatrical organization in the U.S., and the Harvard Krokodiloes a capella group.
On The Hasty Pudding Institute’s website, Epstein’s name tops a roster of 2018 donors called “the Guardians of the Sphinx” for their donations of $50,000 or more, while Kahn’s business, HBRK Associates, is listed under a “sponsors” page for a $50,000-plus donation.
The Bruce and Marsha Moskowitz Foundation received $100,000 in 2016 and $50,000 in 2017 from Gratitude America Ltd. Bruce Moskowitz, a Palm Beach doctor, was revealed as one of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago cronies secretly influencing policies within the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Meanwhile, Gratitude America Ltd. has also supported one of President Trump’s allies for two straight years, a review of tax returns shows.
The Bruce and Marsha Moskowitz Foundation received $100,000 in 2016 and $50,000 in 2017, Gratitude America Ltd.’s filings state. Bruce Moskowitz, a Palm Beach doctor, was revealed by ProPublica as one of President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago cronies secretly influencing policies within the Department of Veterans Affairs.
But in its own 990 tax returns, Moskowitz’s nonprofit says it received money from Jeffrey Epstein, not Gratitude America.
Moskowitz—whose name was found in Epstein’s “little black book” alongside other doctors, under the category “medical”—listed two donations worth $50,000 in 2016 and 2017 from “Jeffrey Epstein/HBRK Assoc., Inc.”
It’s unclear why Gratitude America Ltd. registered a $100,000 donation in its tax filings for 2017, while Moskowitz recorded a donation for half that amount.
The Crohn’s Colitis Foundation of America, which Epstein has repeatedly funded since at least 2012, received a total of $20,000 in 2016 and 2017.
Epstein also donated $10,000 in 2016 to the Women Global Cancer Initiative Inc., a nonprofit run by Next modeling agency founder Faith Kates. And he gave $10,000 to the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai and $5,000 to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
In 2017, Epstein gave $75,000 to the Cancer Research Wellness Institute, a California nonprofit created by a grandson of alternative-cancer treatment doctor Max Gerson, and $25,000 to Nautilus Think, a New York nonprofit that publishes a science magazine. Epstein additionally contributed $50,000 to the University of Arizona Foundation, and the Tucson research university listed Gratitude America Ltd. as a sponsor of its 2017 Science of Consciousness conference inside a book of abstracts.
Epstein’s charity donated $15,000 in 2017 to “Friends of Elton John,” which appears to be the Elton John AIDS Foundation, a charity Epstein announced funding years before.
He donated more money in 2017, with $15,000 going to “Friends of Elton John,” which appears to be the the Elton John AIDS Foundation, a charity Epstein announced funding for years before.
Gratitude America listed a donation of $50,000 to the Chopra Foundation; $60,000 to a group labeled as “Association Mind Education” in Rome, Italy; and $50,000 to the United Jewish Appeal (UJA) Federation of New York.
Epstein appears to have provided all of the funding for the International Police & Fire Chaplains Association in 2017 with a $50,000 donation. The group, based in Taylor, Michigan, reported gross receipts of $50,000 or less in 2017, and for the last several years, IRS records show.
The billionaire has supported a slew of New York nonprofits dedicated to the arts, too.
He gave $25,000 to the Film Society of Lincoln Center and $50,000 to MET Orchestra Musicians in 2017. He also donated $10,000 to a Brooklyn-based group, the Independent Filmmaker Project (Gratitude America appears to have miscalled them “Independent Feature Project” in its tax return but used IFP’s same address).
Gratitude America said it donated $50,000 to the New York Concert Artists Association in 2016, but the Association denied receiving any funds from Epstein or his foundation.
This year, Gratitude America Ltd. apparently donated to prominent litigator Stephen Susman’s fundraising page for Bike MS, a cycling event that raises money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Epstein’s donation of $10,000 was the highest contribution on the website, next to another $10,000 from Susman’s wife, Ellen. (In 2017, Gratitude America noted a $5,000 donation to “Walk MS” in New Jersey that appears to be unrelated to Susman’s payout.)
Epstein and Susman were acquainted as early as 2010, when Epstein was on probation for his Florida sex crimes. Epstein traveled to New York several times to meet Susman, who, according to a letter in Epstein’s probation file, said their meetings were to discuss “potential claims against D.B. Zwirn,” a hedge fund that collapsed in 2008 and reportedly cost Epstein millions, according to the Palm Beach Post.
Epstein apparently donated $10,000 to prominent litigator Stephen Susman’s fundraising page for Bike MS. Epstein and Susman were acquainted as early as 2010, when Epstein was on probation for his Florida sex crimes.
The Daily Beast left messages for all the schools and charities that Epstein’s group listed as beneficiaries. Some representatives said they didn’t know who operated Gratitude America Ltd. Others said they never received any such donations.
In an email, Howard Straus, president of the Cancer Research Wellness Institute, said his group has “NEVER received a donation of that magnitude from ANYONE.”
“I would know,” Straus continued. “We are perennially short of funds, and would love to be the recipient of such largesse, but not from sexual predators.”
Jennifer Park of New York Concert Artists said her group never received a donation from Gratitude America. “I am sorry but you have completely wrong information,” she said in an email, adding that her nonprofit was perhaps confused with another group.
After reviewing Gratitude America’s tax return, Park again stated her group shouldn’t be listed among the foundation’s recipients. “This is false, and whoever put our organization name must be responsible for any consequences,” Park added. “We have never received any donation from what you describe.”
Lisa Thomas, director of publicity for the Film Society of Lincoln Center, said Gratitude America’s $25,000 donation “was an anonymous gift for our 44th Chaplin Award Gala,” which honored actor Robert De Niro in May 2017.
“Mr. Epstein did not attend the event and has not been a patron of ours before or since,” Thomas said in an email.
Epstein’s $50,000 donation to the University of Arizona’s Center for Consciousness Studies in 2017 “was a one-time anonymous gift,” said Chris Sigurdson, the university’s vice president for communications.
John Steele, the publisher of Nautilus Think, told The Daily Beast he met Epstein in 2017 but he couldn’t recall under what circumstances. Steele said Epstein, who’s supported many scientific causes, liked his magazine.
“He made a one-time donation and that was the extent of it,” Steele said.
The Same Players
Gratitude America, Ltd. is run by a trio of Epstein operatives who were also involved in his previous nonprofits. Indeed, they were the only officers of the following now-shuttered groups: the C.O.U.Q. Foundation; J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation; and Epstein Interests.
Darren K. Indyke—a longtime Epstein lawyer—is vice president of Gratitude America, per the 2017 tax return. In the years prior, he was treasurer.
Indyke was active in all three of Epstein’s former foundations, as a trustee of Epstein Interests and vice president of both the C.O.U.Q. Foundation (also known as the Florida Science Foundation) and J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation (which went by Enhanced Education).
It was Indyke whom New York authorities contacted in March 2015 for information on why one of Epstein’s charities, the Virgin Islands-based Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation, should be exempt from state law, Reuters reported. Months later, Indyke was present for the deposition of Dershowitz, and is currently representing Lana Pozhidaeva, the model whose nonprofit Epstein bankrolled in 2017, in a trademark application for her company.
Erika Kellerhals, a Virgin Islands tax attorney, is Gratitude America’s secretary and treasurer. She was also secretary, treasurer and trustee of the J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, according to a 2015 registration statement filed with the New York State Attorney General’s Charities Bureau.
Kellerhals declined to comment when reached by The Daily Beast. Indyke and Kahn, reached by phone before hanging up, did not return further messages.
Epstein was president of Gratitude America, Ltd. from 2012 until 2015, when one of his associates, Richard D. Kahn, assumed the role. That year, Gratitude America, Ltd. recorded revenues for the first time, with a single $10 million donation from a mysterious company called BV70 LLC, according to a review of tax returns.
Once a licensed CPA and former treasurer of the C.O.U.Q. Foundation, Kahn wasn’t mentioned as a Gratitude America officer until 2015. The 2015 registration statement for Gratitude America lists Richard Kahn as president and Jeffrey Epstein as director.
In the document, the group said it wouldn’t solicit donations in Florida, New York and the Virgin Islands as initially planned.
The C.O.U.Q Foundation filed tax returns in New York as early as 1999 and disbanded in 2012, according to records filed with the state Charities Bureau.
Epstein Interests was active from 1992 to 2012, tax returns reveal, while the J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation appears to have been largely inactive. The latter was incorporated in 2000, but The Daily Beast could only find a tax return for 2002, despite the group filing a registration statement in New York for 2015.
Some of Epstein’s groups appeared to shuffle money to each other. In 2008, Epstein Interests noted a $100,000 grant to the C.O.U.Q. Foundation. During the 2009 tax year, C.O.U.Q. listed Epstein’s charity, “Enhanced Education,” as a contributor of $200,000.
Aside from participating in Epstein’s charities, the trio of nonprofit operatives also made donations to political candidates backed by Epstein, according to a review of state and federal election records.
On July 23, 2018, Epstein, Indyke and Kahn each donated $2,700—the federal limit for individual donations—to the primary campaign of Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands. (Kellerhals and partners at her law firm have been frequent donors to Plaskett, records show.)
In an itemized receipt of one donation, Kahn listed his occupation as “attorney” and the name of his employer as “self.” But according to New York’s Office of Court Administration, the 46-year-old Kahn was never registered as a lawyer in the state.
The trio of Epstein, Indyke and Kahn also donated to Plaskett on Aug. 4, 2016, each for a total of $5,400 toward her general and primary campaigns. On July 25, 2016, Kellerhals sent Plaskett $2,200 for the primaries and $1,350 for the general election.
On July 3, 2014, both Kahn and Indyke donated $2,600 to Plaskett’s primary campaign, while Kellerhals donated a total of $1,000 in July 2013 and January 2014.
Meanwhile, Indyke, listing his occupation as “attorney,” donated $5,200 to New Mexico gubernatorial candidate Gary King’s campaign on June 17, 2014. Six days later, Kahn’s business, HBRK Associates Inc., gave King $5,200.
In the weeks that followed, businesses connected to Epstein’s St. Thomas, Virgin Islands address donated more than $35,000 to King’s campaign.
JEGE, LLC, which appears to own Epstein’s private jet, donated $5,200 in September 2014, while “JEGE, Inc” donated $5,000 in July 2014. Companies called “FT RealEstate,” “Laurel, Inc.,” and “Nautilus, Inc.” each contributed $5,000, and “Maple, Inc.” and “Neptune LLC” gave $5,200 apiece.
King told the Santa Fe New Mexican he would return the money, saying, “My campaign has had an ongoing rule that I would not accept any contributions directly from Mr. Epstein and upon further review, we have learned that he has an interest in the companies in question.”
Epstein had also donated to King’s 2006 run for attorney general. At the time, King said he would return a $15,000 donation from Epstein “to avoid any appearance of impropriety,” the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
“I don’t think I’ve ever met him personally. He knows other members of my family better,” said King, whose father, former Gov. Bruce King, sold Epstein his 10,000-acre Zorro Ranch in Stanley, New Mexico.
Bruce King and former Gov. Bill Richardson were listed side by side in Epstein’s little black book, which was snatched by Epstein’s former house manager, Alfredo Rodriguez, who worked for the financier in 2004 and 2005.
The address book, obtained by Gawker in 2015, contained the names of suspected Epstein victims, as well as boldfaced names including Courtney Love, David Blaine, Alec Baldwin and Donald, Ivana and Ivanka Trump.
Records show that in 2007, a year after Richardson returned Epstein’s money for his gubernatorial run, Kahn and his wife each donated $2,300 to Richardson’s presidential campaign. Indyke and his wife each donated $2,300 days later.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeffrey-epstein-has-a-secret-charity-heres-who-it-gave-money-to
Daniel Janner with father Lord Greville Janner
Lord Janner inquiry: Senior police ‘influenced decisions’
Apr 16 2019
Senior police officers may have influenced decisions about inquiries going ahead into child abuse allegations against a politician, a watchdog has said.
Leicestershire Police inquiries into Lord Janner are being reviewed by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
The IOPC also said documents may have been “inappropriately modified” and allegations not even recorded.
The late Lord Janner and his family have always maintained his innocence.
Leicestershire Police said it could not comment at this time.
The IOPC is examining inquiries from 1991, 2001 and 2006 and said it was considering the conduct and actions of 13 individuals, though none are serving officers.
It has sent an update to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
IICSA has received complaints from more than 30 people alleging the former Labour MP abused victims between the 1950s and 1980s.
While emphasising its investigation was ongoing, the IOPC outlined “matters of concern” including:
- In the early 1990s, before a formal investigation into Lord Janner commenced, police records indicate “a number of references to a relationship, including a sexual relationship, between Lord Janner and a child”, but there is no evidence the claims were looked into
- Once an investigation did begin, lines of inquiry “appear from the evidence not to have been carried out” and “there is an indication that senior officers may have influenced decisions regarding the inquiries being carried out”
- In 2001-2002 “allegations made by former children’s home residents appear from the evidence available not to have been investigated or recorded” and “documented results of investigative actions regarding Lord Janner appear to contain information that could be interpreted as misleading and/or inaccurate”
The update said a new referral was made to the IOPC in February, which “based on the evidence reviewed” indicated “police documents may have been inappropriately modified”.
The IOPC said all those under investigation had been issued with notices regarding potential criminal offences and potential gross misconduct.
It said hoped to produce a final report by the end of June.
IICSA said it had paused its work regarding Lord Janner to avoid any duplication.
Lord Janner, who was born in Cardiff, was an MP in Leicester for nearly 30 years.
He died shortly after a judge had ruled he was not fit to stand trial for alleged child sex offences.
His son Daniel Janner QC said: “This private document should never have been published.
“It is yet another astonishing example of this discredited inquiry’s mishandling of information.”
He described the IICSA inquiry into his father as a “macabre proxy prosecution of a dead innocent man who cannot answer back from the grave”.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-47948890
@MySweetLandlord
If Daniel Janner wants to talk about “sly or underhand” behaviour perhaps he would like to dwell on this for a moment.
Paedophile boss of Cardiff children’s home abused boy then threatened to ‘make him disappear’
Patrick Grant was investigated but cleared over abuse allegations in the 1970s and continued to run children’s homes
12 APR 2019
Paedophile care home boss Patrick Grant has been jailed for eight years
A paedophile who ran a Cardiff children’s home repeatedly crept into a teenage boy’s bedroom and abused him before threatening to “make him disappear”.
Patrick Grant’s terrified victim often fled the Walker House Children’s Home in Llanishen in the late 1980s, a court heard, and told police who found him that he was being molested – but they “did nothing”.
Grant was accused of child abuse in the late 1970s but after being cleared of the charges he faces was allowed to return to the profession – enabling him to abuse three more youngsters.
He has now been convicted, along with his special constable accomplice, of abusing young boys.
Grant, 69, of Partridge Road, Roath, was the superintendent at Walker House Children’s Home and would sneak into a young boy’s room at night and molest him under the bedclothes, Inner London Crown Court heard.
His victim, who was in the home having been abandoned by his mother, went on to abuse glue and petrol before turning to cannabis and heroin.
The man, now in his 40s, spent more than two decades homeless on the streets and once made an attempt on his own life, the court heard.
In a victim impact statement he said he often fled from the Cardiff home. “Each time I ran away from the home I was picked up by the police and told them what was happening but they did nothing,” he said.
“Patrick Grant always said to me he would make me disappear – words that have always haunted me.”
Grant was jailed for eight years.
Grant’s co-defendant Bernard Philip Collins, 73, of Worcester Road, Sutton, a former special constable, was convicted of similar offences and will be sentenced on April 23.
Bernard Philip Collins, 73, pictured outside court
Grant and Collins were exposed by an investigation into Lambeth social services employees in the 1970s.
“Each of these three victims have been severely traumatised by what happened to them,” added the judge.
“This was undoubtedly a gross abuse of trust and use of threats – telling a child you would make them disappear and that nobody would believe them.
“Each suffered severe psychological harm that they will carry for the rest of their lives.”
Regarding his acquittal in the 1970s the judge told Grant: “It could be said there was a shot passed across your bows but you continued to offend.”
The court heard the 11-year-old victim at the Shirley Oaks home in South Norwood was often subjected to bare-bottomed corporal punishment beatings carried out by Collins, who also molested him in his own living quarters.
“Once you slapped him in the face and pushed his head under the water. You told [him] no-one would believe him and there was no one for him to complain to.”
These people were all jailed last month:
The boy at Fircroft Children’s Home in Surbiton, also 11, was similarly abused at bath-time by Grant, who told them he would have to inspect they had properly washed between their legs.
The duo’s stint at South Vale ended after six months when they were arrested in July 1978, with Collins going on the run until 1980 when he was convicted of abuse.
Patricia Strobino, from the CPS, said: “This has been a long and difficult trial for all those involved – particularly the victims who had been accused of making the abuse up all this time. They showed immense resolve and courage by coming to court to give evidence and standing up to their abusers.
“These crimes have had a long-term negative impact on the lives of the victims. They were let down by those in authority and by those they should have been able to trust. I hope this outcome offers a degree of closure, enabling them each to begin the process of rebuilding their lives.
“Grant and Collins committed the ultimate abuse of position. They were supposed to provide care for some of the most vulnerable children, including those with special needs and others who had no family support. Instead of keeping them safe in these children’s homes, Grant and Collins together, and individually, systematically targeted and groomed children causing them significant harm.
“This case is a culmination of years of intensive police and prosecution work and I am pleased that justice has finally been served for the victims.”
Manhattan prosecutor ‘IGNORED graphic, verified evidence of Jeffrey Epstein’s pedophile activity’ when arguing for leniency during the billionaire’s 2011 sex offender registry hearing
- An appellate brief from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office has revealed details about Jeffery Epstein’s 2011 sex offender in hearing
- It claims that then-Deputy Chief of Sex Crimes Jennifer Gaffney, was given a state assessment which deemed him to be highly dangerous
- The assessment indicated that Epstein should be labeled as level three offender, the most restrictive category meant for the most dangerous individuals
- Gaffney argued for him to be classified as level one offender, the least restrictive
- Epstein ultimately received a level three designation after Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Ruth Pickholz deviated from Gaffney’s recommendation
- At least 40 women have alleged that they were abused by Epstein, who is friends with President Trump and has donated millions to the Clintons
Apr 12 2019
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office was allegedly aware of graphic and detailed evidence against Florida financier and accused pedophile Jeffrey Epstein when a prosecutor argued for leniency during his 2011 sex offender registry hearing.
A newly-unsealed brief obtained by The New York Post on Thursday revealed that prior to that hearing, then-deputy chief of Sex Crimes, Jennifer Gaffney, was provided with a confidential state assessment which deemed Epstein to be highly dangerous and likely to continue preying on young girls.
Even though the assessment indicated that Epstein should be labeled as a level three offender, the most restrictive category meant for the most dangerous individuals, Gaffney argued for him to be classified as a level one offender, the least restrictive.
The DA’s office reportedly admitted as much eight months after the hearing in its own appellate brief, which The Post sued to unseal.
A newly-unsealed brief obtained by The New York Post on Thursday revealed that prior to that hearing, then-deputy chief of Sex Crimes, Jennifer Gaffney (above), was provided with a confidential state assessment which deemed Epstein to be highly dangerous and likely to continue preying on young girls. She went against the state’s recommendations and argued that Epstein should be considered a level one offender, the least restrictive categorization, instead of level three, the most restrictive
The assessment was made by the New York state Board of Examiners of Sex Offenders, which evaluated the corroborated accounts from dozens of young girls between 14 and 17 years old who’d engaged in sexual contact with Epstein at his Palm Beach compound between 2005 and 2006.
Authorities say the victims were recruited and paid up to $1,000 to give the billionaire erotic massages that included sexual contact, intercourse and rape.
Epstein ended up pleading guilty to abusing just one of the girls in Palm Beach, and was required to register as a sex offender in New York because he has a home in Manhattan.
The brief obtained by The Post alleges that New York prosecutors knew that Epstein had a score of 130 on his risk assessment, which is ‘solidly above the 110 qualifying number for level three’.
Epstein ultimately received a level three designation after Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Ruth Pickholz deviated from Gaffney’s recommendation.
‘Our prosecutor made a mistake,’ Danny Frost, spokesman for Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr, told The Post in December after it was revealed that Epstein had reached a non-prosecution deal in 2008 with then-Miami US Attorney Alexander Acosta’s office to secretly end a federal sex abuse investigation involving at least 40 teenage girls that could have landed him behind bars for life.
Questions about Epstein’s deal started to surface after a series of lawsuits were filed by two of his alleged victims.
The women, identified as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, claim in court papers that they were unaware of the secret deal being made between the defense team and prosecutors back in 2007 that guaranteed federal charges would not be brought against Epstein, 63, which could have resulted in a lengthy prison sentence for the millionaire.
They filed their lawsuit a few months after Epstein received his lenient sentence in 2008, with their lawyers saying the US Attorney’s Office violated the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act by not speaking with Epstein’s victims about the details of his plea agreement.
The two victims who filed the suit were 13 and 14 at the time of the abuse.
This filing contained more than 140 exhibits including emails between Epstein’s defense team, the US Attorney’s office and former State Attorney Barry Krischer, which lawyers believe clearly show that victims were being left in the dark.
Bradley Edwards and Paul Cassell, who filed on behalf of the women, previously stated that they hoped US District Judge Kenneth Marra would not force the case to go to trial but rather given what they believe is overwhelming evidence rule in the favor of the two victims.
‘There is good reason to believe that if the prosecutors had exposed their dealings to scrutiny by Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 2 and other victims, they would not have reached such a sweetheart plea deal,’ the motion reads.
‘Despite the fact that this case has been in litigation for more than seven years, spanning several hundred pleadings, the government does not write even a single sentence explaining why it entered into an NPA (non-prosecution agreement) with a sex offender who had committed hundreds of federal sex offenses against young girls.’
The motion also says that the deal Epstein received is ‘one of the most extraordinarily lenient plea arrangements in American history’.
Epstein settled both of these suits back in December before the victims would be able to testify in court.
Police in Palm Beach turned over the information they had gathered on Epstein’s victims to federal authorities in November 2006 after investigating the case for roughly a year following an initial call in March 2005 from a woman who claimed her daughter, 14, had been paid $300 to give Epstein a massage in just her underwear.
Local authorities also filed a probable cause affidavit in May 2006 saying they believed there was enough evidence to charge Epstein with four counts of unlawful sex with minors and one count of molestation.
In the end, these charges were taken to a grand jury despite the recommendation of police, who came back with just one charge against Epstein – felony solicitation of prostitution.
On June 30, 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to a single state charge of soliciting an underage girl for prostitution, and ultimately served just 13 months of his 18-month sentence.
That time was served not in a prison, but rather the Palm Beach Stockade, which is a local detention center.
Epstein was also allowed to leave six days a week to go work out of his West Palm Beach office during his time behind bars.
After his release he did have to register as a sex offender.
DA knew Jeffrey Epstein was a dangerous pedophile when arguing for leniency
April 11, 2019
The Manhattan DA’s office had graphic and detailed evidence of pedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein’s depravity when a prosecutor inexplicably argued for leniency during his 2011 sex offender registry hearing, The Post has learned.
In advance of the hearing, then-deputy chief of Sex Crimes, Jennifer Gaffney, had been given a confidential state assessment that deemed Epstein to be highly dangerous and likely to keep preying on young girls, the DA’s office admitted in its own appellate brief eight months after the hearing.
The brief has been sealed since 2011, but The Post obtained it Thursday after suing to get it unsealed.
It describes a state assessment’s findings that Epstein should be monitored in New York as a level three offender — reserved for the most dangerous.
In making its assessment, the NY state Board of Examiners of Sex Offenders evaluated the sworn, corroborated accounts of numerous young girls who had been lured into Epstein’s Palm Beach, Fla., compound in 2005 and 2006.
Girls aged 14 to 17 years old were recruited and paid $200 to $1,000 to give Epstein erotic massages that included sexual contact, intercourse and rape, Palm Beach cops found.
Epstein pleaded guilty in Palm Beach to abusing just one of these young victims, and was required to register as a sex offender in New York since he had an Upper East Side home.
Manhattan prosecutors were aware the state board had assigned Epstein a risk assessment of 130, a number that is “solidly above the 110 qualifying number for level three,” with “absolutely no basis for downward departure,” the brief notes.
Nevertheless, Gaffney argued that he should be labeled a level one offender, the least restrictive, which would keep him off the online database.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Ruth Pickholz sided with the board and against Gaffney in designating Epstein a level three offender. Epstein appealed, and the DA’s change-of-heart brief agreeing that Epstein deserved the highest level of monitoring was filed in opposition to that appeal.
The appellate division ultimately upheld that Epstein be monitored as a level three offender, and he remains on the registry.
“Our prosecutor made a mistake,” Danny Frost, spokesman for DA Cyrus Vance Jr., told The Post in December, when news broke that Epstein’s sweetheart Palm Beach deal had buried evidence he had allegedly abused some 80 girls and young women.
Reached late Thursday, Frost declined to say who above Gaffney might have approved her decision to go easy on Epstein. Vance’s office has insisted that he was unaware of the sex-offender registry hearing at the time.
Gaffney could not immediately be reached for comment.
@ciabaudo
Once again, what @InquiryCSA did NOT publish is more telling than what it DID publish in its recent ‘stealth dump’, particularly with respect to the Melanie Klein and Green Lanes childrens’ homes ….
They failed namely to disclose the copy of the diary kept at the time of abuse by a girl who was placed at the homes. The diary that Operation Winterkey’s detectives copied. The one that featured at Lewisham police station during their interviews around the matter.
So what’s in the diary? Everything from names, party venues in London and Sussex, who they had sex with and what type of sex they were forced to have. Did Winterkeys give that evidence to @InquiryCSA? If not, why not? And if they did pass it onto IICSA, why has Jay not put it up?
IICSA: WITNESS STATEMENT – WESTMINSTER STRAND: OHY005577 (Part one)
INDEPENDENT INQUIRY INTO CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE
WITNESS STATEMENT
WESTMINSTER STRAND
OHY005577
On the final day of the three weeks of hearings of the Westminster strand of the inquiry, a number of documents were quietly uploaded to the iiCSA site. No mention had been made about them previously, and no announcement was made about their inclusion.
Interestingly, they were far more revealing that then documents that had been referred to in hearings and raised questions as to who and why at iiCSA had decided not to openly discuss the contents during the public hearings.
A number of these documents were very revealing and I have decided to transcribe as many as I can in case it helps people’s research.
(The following is part one of two statements made by GB.)
WITNESS STATEMENT
CJ Act 1967, s.9; MC Act 1980, ss.5A(3)(a) and 5B; Criminal Procedure Rules 2005, Rule 27.1
Statement of: GB
This statement (consisting of 3 pages each signed by me) is true to the best of my knowledge and belief and I make it knowing that, if it is tendered in evidence, I shall be liable to prosecution if I have wilfully stated anything in it which I know to be false, or I do not believe to be true.
Signed: GB Date: 20/12/2016
My name is GB and I live at an address known to police. On Tuesday 5th July 2016 and Tuesday 20th December 2016 DC DRUMMOND and TDC HAYES attended my home address to speak to me in relation to allegations surrounding Green Lane Children’s Home and Melanie Klein House both of which were children’s homes on Greenwich Borough which I have no recollection of having dealing with those children’s homes whilst working in the CID at Eltham between DPA 1985 and DPA 1988. DC DRUMMOND explained that she was from Professional Standards Department within Operation Winterkey which is the investigation into allegations of historic child abuse involving institutions and prominent people. I have been asked whether I am hapy to have the meeting recorded which I am happy to agree to.
My employment history whilst in the Metropolitan Police is as follows: I joined in 1978 and was based at Chelsea where I spent four years. I then transferred to Kensington on the Crime Squad and then moved back to Chelsea on the Burglary Squad until 1984. From 1982 I was based at Brixton Main CID office until 1985 and then in 1985 until 1988 I was based at Eltham CID. From 1988 I transferred to Rotherhithe CID office until 1991 and then in 1991 I went to 3 Area HQ where I was Child Protection Unit at Shooters Hill. I did five years at CPT and in 1996 I moved to the Paedophile Unit based at NSY where I stayed until 1999 and from May 1999 I was specially employed within the Integrity Testing Unit until DPA 2000.
As I have already mentioned I was part of the CID department at Eltham in 1988 and part of my general duties would have been to deal with any prisoners who would have been booked in at Greenwich police station. As a DC I would have been allocated major crimes such as burglaries, assaults, robbery. From memory, the CID team I worked with in 1988 would have been DC John WOOD, DC Bobby THATCHER who is now deceased, DC Tim MYNALL, DC Colin DELL, DS Alistair MACKENZIE and DI Graham whose surname I cannot remember. The CID office was very small and I remember that Eltham Division had about 20 uniformed officers who worked on the ground floor. I do not remember any squads using Eltham Police Station as a base for larger investigations at that time, as it would have been too small to accomodate any outside squads. They would generally have used either Orpington or Bexley Heath as they had more space. The second and third floors were the command for 4 Area HQ.
I have no recollection of having any dealings with Green Lane Childrens Home or Melanie Klein House when I was part of CID at Eltham in 1988. I remember that any allegations which were made involving Social Services and children being abused would be dealt with directly by a DI and it would not be allocated to a DC to investigation nor would we have been expected to assist with Child Protection investigations on our own. I do remember an occasion in around 1988 where by a Councillor by the name of Chris FAY made a complaint. I seem to remember that he lived on the DPA in DPA. If I recall rightly he was involved as a Senior Social Worker and complained about police arresting Social Workers during the investigation of Kimberly Carlile. This investigation was about the murder of a child in care but she was not a resident of either Green Lane Childrens Home or Melanie Klein House. Apart from this occasion that is the only Child Protection investigation I recall being involved with at Eltham. One of the Social Workers I arrested in connection with the Kimberley Carlile murder was related to Chris FAY in some way and I remember that they lived on the same estate. I cannot remember the name of this social worker.
I have been shown a copy of a letter exhibited as CF/104. From my observations of this letter I can see, what I believe to be, a number of discrepencies within the text. I notice that the crest logo at the top is too far over to the right and would normally have been more centred. The phone number for Eltham Police Station is written as ’01-835 8380/8289′ however in 1988 I believe that the phone number would have been changed to 0208. I think the phone number for the CID office at Eltham was something such as 02088536014 and each CID office in each police station the last four digits always denoted the CID office. The last four digits of the phone number would have always been the same. Each station would have had their own prefix.
Within the text of the letter it states ‘The officer appointed to investigate this matter is DC GB”. I was the only DC GB based at Eltham Police station in April 1988 although I do know that there was another officer with the surname GB who was a dog handler at that time. If the letter had related to an investigation involving child abuse at GLCH or MKH I would not have been allocated the investigation as it would have been dealt directly by a DI in accordance with General Orders. I remember that any major crime would not have been reported by the station officer as they would have called for a CID officer to speak to the person at the station face to face at the time of reporting or attend an address or venue to speak to them. I can see that the crime reference number is shown as DPA. The ‘C’ represents a major crime such as robbery, serious assaults and other major crime but I do know that the crime reference number would have been shown as DPA during that time. RD would represent Eltham police station and DPA would represent the year of the crime report. The bottom paragraph of the letter offers Victim Support Scheme however I am sure that there was no Victim Support Scheme in place in 1988 and I find it strange that this letter would mention it. If a victim or witness was attending court they would have had a Case Officer to support them at court. The signature at the bottom of the letter shows that it was signed by ‘PC746R Crime Desk Officer‘ however in 1988 we did not have a crime desk so I find it strange that it mentions Crime Desk Officer. In my opinion, and from my memory, I believe that this letter is a fake. I am sure in 1988 letters were not sent out to people reporting crimes and I am sure that we, as Detectives, had to type and send our own letters out. In my opinion I believe that the letter I have been shown has been generated from a computer but in 1988 we did not have computers and letters were types on typewriters.
I have been asked if I know the name Chris FAY. I seem to remember the name possibly involved in child abuse but not from the time I was a DC in Eltham but from when I was working in the Child Protection Unit in 1995. I seem to remember his name being mentioned during Social Services Case conferences although I do not remember having any dealings with Chris FAY personally. He may have been a Social Worker but I cannot remember. I seem to remember him being arrested for something to do with child abuse. I think this was sometime during my role on the Child Protection Team sometime between 1991 and 1996. I remember Chris FAY‘s name came up during the time I was engaged in Operation Hatton which was around the Paedophile Information Exchange. I think Mr Fay was connected by his telephone number which came up during intelligence gathered around persons connected to PIE.
Generally any investigations involving child protection matters were normally dealt with by the DI and we may have helped out with enquiries.
I have been asked by DC DRUMMOND whether I ever remember working with DI/DCI Richard THOMPSON. I do not remember ever working with DI/DCI Richard THOMPSON whilst I worked on CID at Eltham Police station in 1988. I do remember that there was a DCI Richard THOMPSON based at Greenwich but I never really had any interaction with him. I think DCI THOMPSON may have been the person who made the decision to arrest the social workers.
IICSA: WITNESS STATEMENT: WESTMINSTER STRAND: OP WINTER KEY/OP MILESHOGUE/OP HATTON
INDEPENDENT INQUIRY INTO CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE
WITNESS STATEMENT
WESTMINSTER STRAND
OPERATION WINTER KEY / OPERATION MILESHOGUE / OPERATION HATTON
OHY0055776
On the final day of the three weeks of hearings of the Westminster strand of the inquiry, a number of documents were quietly uploaded to the iiCSA site. No mention had been made about them previously, and no announcement was made about their inclusion. It was independent journalist Mark Watts who alerted people to the fact these documents had appeared. Interestingly, they were far more revealing than documents that had been referred to in hearings and raised questions as to who and why at iiCSA had decided not to openly discuss the contents during the public hearings.
A number of these documents were very revealing and I have decided to transcribe as many as I can in case it helps people’s research.
(The following is part two of two statements made by GB. You can find part one here.) Interestingly it refers to the Paedophile Information Exchange being infiltrated by an undercover police officer in 1997, and so PIE was still very much active at that time.
The contents of this statement will be referred to in a future blog post concerning a matter I have coincidentally been working on for some time. Please note: TRIGGER WARNING – some of the contents of this statement are very candid and some may find it upsetting.
METROPOLITAN POLICE
OPERATION WINTER KEY
DPA – GB
- Time/date/location – 20/12/2016 – this is a follow up interview from 05/07/2016
- Persons Present – DC DRUMMOND/TDC HAYES
- Explanation of OPERATION WINTER KEY – Investigation of non-recent allegations of child abuse involving prominent persons. Roles of Professional Standards and IPCC. Request for statement to be taken from yourself. IICSA Enquiry.
- Reason for record the interview is that you had a central position in the enquiry. The SIO, DETECTIVE INSPECTOR DAN SETTER, has deemed that by recording the information discussed today it will ensure that an accurate account is referred to in making your statement.
- Reason for taking the statement is record any information that you may have of knowledge you have of an investigation surrounding GREEN LANE CHILDREN’S HOME and MELANIE KLEIN HOUSE CHILDREN’S HOME in Greenwich.
- An allegation was made in 1988 by an ex councillor, of children from the homes taken to parties where prominent people was present and that no meaningful police investigation was conducted on this allegation.
- We are obtaining a statement from you today in order to assist the investigation with any information that you may have. This is in agreement with the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
- DPA
- Email from DI SETTER (15/12/2016) in which he explains that he has spoken to GB and reassured him that he does not breach the Official Secrets Act 1989 by speaking to us. As he is no longer a Crown Servant, he qualifies as ‘any other person’. We are Crown Servants, so he is specifically protected. Section 7(3) states:
7(3) For the purposes of this Act a disclosure made by any other person is made with lawful authority if, and only if, it is made –
(a) to a Crown servant for the purposes of his functions as such; or
(b) in accordance with an official authorisation.
- DPA
- Explain what Op Mileshogue was? What year did it start? Clarify whether it started at Eltham CPT then moved to Paedophile Unit? When did he start there? How many people worked on Mileshogue? Where based? Who was the SIO for Mileshogue?
OP MILESHOGUE (MH)
- A – (00:00:00) MH was shown as an intelligence gathering operation originally it revolved around a guy called [NAME REDACTED] I can’t recall his surname but that should be in the MH files. He had been a rent boy himself, living in Greenwich at that time. He had a series of young boys. One was WM-A118 another was WM-A119 and another 5 or 6. Those boys I interviewed on tape several times. They claimed another had been abused by other people, were taken to parties and things by [NAME REDACTED] himself, he was like a modern day Fagan. He also had them doing robberies and burglaries but he was also an informant for the police, inform on them and then turn up as their appropriate adult. These were kids all from local Children’s Home. He would befriend them and take them out. There were several named people involved, one was a former Head Teacher who lived in Surrey they were taken to, to abuse. He ran gay/child photography, he was a photographer and Head Teacher. He had been mentioned in Johnny Go Home films years ago and exposed by a newspaper. He was involved in that, he was a named suspect. Several other people were involved. One, a guy who lived in Orpington with another fella. During the investigation we found out he worked for the government in some role. What we do know is he was at a conference for arms sales. We followed him around.
- Q – He was living with someone who was involved in the Government. Do you know anymore?
- A – No, he was something to do with Government arms sales. Can’t remember his name or partner’s name. The pair of them were named people by the children as abusers. The problem was, the kids would never say anything about their own abuse, only ever talk about others abuse. There was never any direct evidence.
- Q – You said the children came from a children’s home, which one?
- A – Green Lanes, it was called Green Lanes and it was in different locations. It was called Green Lanes Children Home. One was in Deptford.
- Q – In Deptford?
- A – Yeah Deptford way – can’t remember where.
- Q – Were you based in Rotherhithe?
- A – Rotherhithe is something different. Same children involved in another thing from Rotherhithe involving an MP. Same Children’s Home. These children – WM-A118 and WM-A119 – never spoke about this man, it was the other kids from within their group. They lived in Southwark and frequented his surgery.
- Q – Whose surgery?
- A – Forgotten his name. He was the DPA
- Q – Is it to do with the recording found in the safe?
- A – Yes.
- Q – Was it WM-F7?
- A – Yes WM-F7
- Q – When did MH start?
- A – I was a CPT in Shooters Hill and took it with me to the Paedophile Unit, so about 1996, to work on. (09:14) Going back to [NAME REDACTED] he would take kids round to various addresses. There was a core group of about 5 people’s homes – 5 suspects that were named. There were others, the boys were taken to what they call the Dolphin Place – we thought that was Dolphin Square. They used to talk about a ‘big dolphin’ there. Also that they were taken out on a boat, a little gin palace. They were abused there. They knew of a network of other children who were abused. We were told that one of [NAME REDACTED] boys had been beaten up in Trafalgar Square – had serious brain injuries. From what the boys say, this lad was going to inform police, tell them everything. [NAME REDACTED] got hold of him, beat him up. He was left brain dead.
- Q – We did cover this last time. How many people were on MH?
- A – Just one – me. It was difficult to get help, get anything started and in the end Surrey took over the one aspect which related to the guy who was a former Head Master. They put him under surveillance. They did come into London to have a look at other people’s habits, but it was really just me.
- Q – Where were you based?
- A – At NSY. There was a guy who used to help me with interviews, we used to help each other. His name was Andy Murray, DC, Professor. He had a degree in Child Protection.
- Q – Who was your SIO for MH period?
- A – Me.
- Q – Who was your line manager?
- A – DI Bob McCloughlin. He would sign the paperwork. Everything had to be perfect, you would submit it and the bosses would change it so by the time it went through it was totally different. It had to be signed by the DI.
- Q – There should be a GR file for MH?
- A – Yes, around that time we were just going computerised for crimint, it was just within SO1 and covered the Flying Squad and things like that, things at the yard. I got help from the intelligence analysis, they didn’t have much to do as the thing was just starting up. They put all of MH on crimint, it was the first thing to go on so it was recorded on crimint. They did a lot of work on telephone communication.
- Q – Was WM-F172 involved in MH?
- A – No it was totally separate. It was from when I was at Rotherhithe.
- Q – Can you remember the names of the analysts?
- A – Jo. No memory of the other one – both female civilian staff. Their names will be in the file for loading it on. (Can’t work out word sounds like Basket) was the first job that went on the system.
- Q – So MH was 1996? (15:02)
- A – Yes it went to Surrey, they got what I could never get – they got telephone intercept for the main suspects. The core group of 5 would talk to each other virtually every other day. We put the intercept on and from that day for the two months they were on, I think, the guy that lived with the man who worked for the Government in Orpington never phoned anyone during that whole period. He didn’t receive phone calls from anyone during that period, all of a sudden he didn’t exist.
- Q – This was MH?
- A – Yeah. It went over to Surrey.
- Q – What Surrey Operation name did it have?
- A – Don’t know it went on Holmes.
- Q – Surrey Holmes?
- A – Yes.
- Q – Did it go in its entirety of MH to Surrey, or just parts?
- A – Just dealt with the one person on their ground, a person of interest to them. For years there had been lots of rumours.
- Q – The name of the person?
- A – Can’t remember. He was Surrey person of interest. Surrey took that part of the MH investigation.
- Q – MH how many suspects?
- A – Can’t remember. They will be on the docket.
- Q – MH – You took that from CPT into Paedophile Unit. There were a couple of boys WM-A118 and WM-A119 and possibly 5 or 6 other boys giving you information?
- A – 5 suspects, there were other boys on the periphery that I couldn’t get to talk to. They were in the wind – one minute here, one gone. There were a few other names, but I never got to talk to the other kids.
- Q – Green Lanes was a collection of Children’s Homes?
- A – Yes.
- Q – Located in different areas?
- A – Yes, the main dealings were with Deptford, the main children. It was called Deptford but was Greenwich, on Greenwich’s ground but that part was called Deptford, down near the Cutty Sark. Those boys were out of the Children’s Home, in care.
- Q – One boy was going to the police?
- A – Yes.
- Q – Name suspects?
- A – Yes.
- Q – The name of that boy?
- A – No, but its in the MH file.
- Q – Before he could give any information he was attacked in Trafalgar Square (20:29) and left brain damaged and all in MH file?
- A – Yes.
- Q – What info was he going to give?
- A – Around people [NAME REDACTED] was taking them to see. More Dolphin Square, it was to do with Dolphin Square.
- Q – Any other details of the boy?
- A – No.
- Q – Where was he living at the time?
- A – I went t see him in a secure [unit] in North London somewhere. His name is definitely in the file and Intel file.
- Q – Any other information or information in the file?
- A – He was a young DPA lad at the time, about 14. He started young. He was about 10 when he started to be abused. He had moments of clarity talking about being abused, talked about [NAME REDACTED] taking him places, talked about a dolphin, the dolphin place and going on a boat. I never got the whole conversation. I interviewed him and took a day to get to know him so he would speak to me. Then a couple of days trying to interview him. I tried it on tape but he was not having that. If he saw cameras he would freak.
- Q – In front of Social Workers as appropriate adults?
- A – Yes.
- Q – Who was the social worker?
- A – Don’t know but it was in the secure unit. He had difficulties. One minute you were talking to him, the next he was masturbating in the corner. It was totally sexualised behaviour. He would try and rape other boys in the secure unit.
- Q – This is the same boy who was brain damaged?
- A – Yes. I only ever saw him in the secure unit. I didn’t speak to him before he was attacked. He was in the secure unit for his mental health after being beaten up. WM-A118 and WM-A119 told me about their friend who was going to tell and this was what happened to him and this why WM-118 and WM-119 were afraid to talk about anything to do with the guy who was running it. (24:20)
- Q – Did the boy (in secure unit) give you any other information?
- A – Nothing that would give me anything to go on or for any prosecution, purely intel, where he had been, some new names and some already mentioned by WM-A118 and WM-A119. He was part of that group and from the Children’s Home.
- Q – What nationality?
- A – WM-A119 was DPA, WM-A118 I can’t remember but he was an DPA lad. These kids were refugees, kids from the Children’s Home.
- Q – WM-A119 and WM-A118 gave you info about Dolphin Square?
- A – Yes.
- Q – What did they say?
- A – There was someone in the Navy that they had met there. Supposed to be a politician involved that they had met, but no name. Things were told by [NAME REDACTED]. Half the time they when they were taken to these places they were drunk out of their brains. They would top them up with more alcohol and they would be abused. (27:20) There was no one specific person from the meetings or on the boat they named. They said a politician, someone in the Navy.
- Q – Any politicians names given?
- A – No, no names of prominent people. Any prominent people I would have remembered, noted it. There were nicknames and bits and pieces. It will all be in the intelligence files. I meticulously recorded everything. The interviews with the boys were videoed so it will all be there.
- Q – How did you identify the venue as Dolphin Square?
- A – Didn’t particularly, they said there were dolphins and it was near Westminster Bridge. They used to call it ‘the place with dolphins.’
- Q – Ever take them for a drive round to identify the place?
- A – No, they mentioned dolphins and Westminster Bridge. I went to see a guy (can’t recall name, he uses four different names), he was running the boys. He had been a rent boy and got the lads to work for him. He also mentioned Dolphin Square – he had been there as a child himself, been abused. He had worked on a programme with Channel 4 to expose people. I saw him in prison. [NAME REDACTED] the Fagan type.
- Q – The two boys WM-A118 and WM-A119 mentioned dolphins?
- A – Not specifically Dolphin Square, just dolphins. Dolphins on a building.
- Q – They described it to you?
- A – Made the jump from dolphins to Dolphin Square. There was a person in the office called GRAHAM PASSINGHAM (now deceased) in the Paedophile Unit. He always chased anything to do with politicians, Houses of Parliament, any other problems. He would never tell you what he knew. If he heard something, he would say ‘I know something about that but I can’t tell you.’ He was the longest serving person on the West End. He came from the dirty book squad. He spoke to TOM WATSON MP a lot, I think they were friends. He was a DC in name. He worked on Child Porn as there was no Paedophile Unit. He had his own files locked away in a bottom drawer, he was into everything. He spoke to the guy they based a lot of allegations on. The job the Met has just done that turned to poo said he was abused, lived in West London. The credible evidence bit. GRAHAM interviewed him years ago. He would talk about it but Graham was one of those who would not share things with you. He left the Paedophile Unit and went to work for a security services as a vetting agent. Died about ten years ago. (33:40) Graham would say there was a mass conspiracy of child abuse. Often if you delved into some of it, if you did get anything out of him, it was crap. There was no substance to it. He was just a vacuum of tiny bits of information – he would suck it up and write it down in his little books. He was convinced there was this enormous conspiracy in Parliament and Government.
- Q – Who else in the office knew about Dolphin Square?
- A – Everyone I suppose. We had briefings. Every now and again we get an operation. It was there that GP would tell me that he had interviewed before and there was a load of prominent people living in Dolphin Square that was all part of his enquiry. When I mentioned that the boys mentioned dolphins, it moved onto Dolphin Square.
- Q – Who was in the office?
- A – Same people who had been there for 15/20 years – the core group of them. Transferred over from the dirty book squad.
- Q – Names?
- A – No (thinks about it) BRIAN FRANCE####. I took over HATTON from him when he retired from the Paedophile Unit on top of (Not sure of name of Op). It was an office of about 10. ANDY RYDON after me, ANDY MURRAY – we were the late additions. We had dealings with child abuse, they had dealt with Child Pornography. I went there to get the Met to have a response to child abuse. (Discussion on lack of ability of Met to deal with child abuse). They idn’t want to know about a mass operation with loads of kids to interview. They didn’t know how to deal with it.
- Q – Did you put requests in for more resources help to assist you? Who did you send that to?
- A – Yes to Commander C1.
- Q – It went to Comdr. C1?
- A – Yes.
- Q – It was bounced back as in refused?
- A – Yes, we thought a good hit on these people would have been telephone intercepts because we could see they were talking to each other every two or three days. I put in a request for the intercepts and it goes on a first come, first served basis, no priorities. We weren’t regarded as a priority so that’s why I went to Surrey and Surrey decided it was a priority.
- Q – Going back to WM-119 and WM-118 they’ve given you a description of a building with dolphins?
- A – Yes.
- Q – But they didn’t mention Dolphin Square?
- A – No it was [NAME REDACTED] the word (can’t understand word) he named DOLPHIN SQUARE.
- Q – There was no drive around to identify the building?
- A – No.
- Q – And these were videoed interviews?
- A – Yes.
- Q – There should be a record of them somewhere?
- A – Yes.
- Q – You mentioned when you interviewed them they would only give information about other boys and not themselves, evidentially they were useless?
- A – Yes, I couldn’t take it further. It was just intelligence. I hoped at some stage to find the other boys.
- Q – Did they name other names of boys as well?
- A – Yes, it would be in the docket.
- Q – From the home?
- A – From the home again trying to get hold of them they were in the wind if they thought a policeman was looking for them they were gone.
- Q – What age range were they for WM-A119 what age was he?
- A – I think they started around, WM-A118 I think was about 8, with him aged 8 through to about 14. He was just 13 or 14 when I was interviewing him.
- Q – You knew him when he was about 8?
- A – No, the abuse started when he was about 8. When I was interviewing him he was about 13 or 14.
- Q – And this is WM-A118 and WM-119 they were explaining to you about being taken to a building with dolphins?
- A – Yes
- Q – Gin palace?
- A – Yes.
- Q – A boat was mentioned as well?
- A – The boat is a Gin Palace.
- Q – What did they say I have not heard that before?
- A – Gin Palace is a boat, certain type of boat. They described it. They used to go off shore. People they met on the boat, it was basically an orgy on the boat. The boat would sail outside of British territorial waters because there were people on there that wouldn’t do it in the UK/didn’t want to be seen in the UK, so the boat used to round and float off and they used to go on the boat.
- Q – Did they ever disclose where it was moored?
- A – No too young, no concept of distance or time.
- Q – Who was taking them there?
- A – [NAME REDACTED] or any of the 5 main core people. [NAME REDACTED] would take them to them and they would take them on, the kids would stop with him for the weekend and do whatever he told them. That person would take them somewhere else and swapsies of boys when they got there. Basically the way the paedophiles were working meet up, meet up in a hotel in a room or something like that, each would bring their own boy, swap boys and be there for the weekend or the night. (44:51)
- Q – Were the boys ever medically examined?
- A – Yes.
- Q – By a police medical examiner?
- A – Yes.
- Q – Was it ever proved?
- A – Yes, according to them they never have been. WM-A118 Dr described him as having the bottom of a 60/16 (can’t make out if 60 or 16) gay man who has been at it for most of his life, at the point where he was going to have to use a tampon just to keep his bum closed.
- Q – Gin Palace, a boat?
- A – Yes.
- Q – Name of boat or expression used?
- A – Expression used by them. They called it a Gin Palace, a floating Gin Palace the boat. They would say to the boys “we are going on the Gin Palace.” We searched names in case it was called the Gin Palace, anything like that, went through insurance records trying to find a boat with that name/description, but the Marine people never identified a boat in particular. There was someone – came from GP – who used Dolphin Square, had a boat which could be described as a Gin Palace but I never got the name or anything like that.
- Q – Were they ever driven round to see if they could locate it?
- A – They had no concept of anything like that. When they went out to Surrey, they would say they were in the car for four or five hours but it was only an hour from where they lived. No concept. North London to them was up North – too young, no concept of time or distance.
- Q – [NAME REDACTED] where did he live?
- A – Deptford part of Greenwich. Had a girlfriend there. Two of them used to house the kids. If any of the kids were ever arrested, him or his girlfriend would turn up as appropriate adults.
- Q – WM-A119 and WM-A118 were from a Children’s Home. The other boys abused, were they from Children’s Home?
- A – Yes, or local lads.
- Q – Back then, how did they manage to leave the Children’s Home for the weekend?
- A – Just a bunk – no one chased them. Kids were wandering around London, used to run away from home. People would meet them at the station, take them off, just used to find somewhere.
- Q – Were they reported missing?
- A – None of the supervision we have now. If a kid goes missing they inform the local police. Didn’t happen then.
- Q – CH wouldn’t inform the police?
- A – No, they wouldn’t tell anyone. If they were missing for a certain amount of time – 2 weeks or something like that – they might let the missing person unit at the Yard know (49:01) or Charity for Missing Persons. The interaction with Police was virtually nothing. I was trying to get a link with Missing Person, Children’s Charity put together, there was nothing.
- Q – Does that apply to the appropriate adult, as to why this [NAME REDACTED] was the appropriate adult, not someone from the Home?
- A – Yes, the kids would say I’m living at the CH. They were arrested a lot, they were the scourge of Greenwich. Like 120 burglaries the pair got off with, that [NAME REDACTED] had sent them to do. He then informed on them, had them arrested and acted as appropriate adult. Talk them into TICs, they would talk about the other burglaries they had done. [NAME REDACTED] would tell them they would get a better deal that way, so the kids would spill their guts. They were both up on about 120 burglaries going to court. The burglaries, the guy sending them there is the police informant so it ended up going before a judge and the whole lot was quashed. WM-A118 and WM-A119 were terrors – scourge of that area. Robbing, stealing everything – whatever they were told. About 20 boys were involved in ripping Greenwich apart.
- Q – All the boys?
- A – Yes.
- Q – A male lived at Greenwhich down the road from the police station, who was it?
- A – (Pause)
- Q – Wasn’t [NAME REDACTED] was it?
- A – No, [NAME REDACTED] lived close to Greenwich within a mile of the nick (discussion on location of Police Station). The boys were committing burglaries in Deptford as well. (Short discussion on the police areas and police stations). All these kids were run by him and he was the police informant. Ridiculous.
- Q – How long were you dealing with MH?
- A – 3 years, all the time, not a 100%. It sat in the background. If I got some time, I dealt with it. We were dealing with the Scout Association and 5 other enquiries, which took up our time. I went back to it when I could. Surrey had it about the same time, and they were still working on it when I left the Paedophile Unit.
- Q – So from you dealing with it, Surrey became involved?
- A – Yes – one aspect, one person.
- Q – Shall I deal with that as a separate entity? What was the state of play when you left?
- A – The state of play, basically the poo hit the fan. (54:16) Surrey were investigating this one person, it was the Crime Squad that did it. The DI was running it but can’t remember his name. The Squad that were doing the surveillance and observations, one of their members was getting married, so for that weekend they were not going to work on it. It was only because I was passing by that I changed the tape. The guy in Surrey’s house was on a permanent video feed from a house in a back garden opposite. I was passing by going to relatives nearby and went in and changed the tape. So the tape went from Friday to Saturday (24 hour tape), so I changed it on Saturday or Sunday – could have been Sunday – anyway, I changed the tape and the guy from Orpington and his partner turned up at the house with a boy aged about 9 or 10 and went into the house. The kid was in there for about half an hour or so and came out. There was no one doing a live active surveillance that weekend so all of a sudden you have this child going into the house brought from the other end of our ground. That was it, they decided all the 5 core suspects would have their houses raided on the same morning, look for stuff and low and behold there wasn’t much there. The guy in Surrey, there was stuff there that I knew was there anyway as he had taken pictures of kids, they were in lots of gay magazines because he was working for them. He used to have false passport details, fake names to say he had seen them, they were over age. I knew who these kids were, I could prove their ages so they charged him and dealt with him on that aspect of those pictures.
- Q – Whilst you were on MH, Surrey became involved with one aspect, on suspect? They deal with that suspect under a different Operation name?
- A – Yes.
- Q – The Operation name you can’t remember?
- A – No, it was a Holmes based Operation.
- Q – It’s not a pattern?
- A – No.
- Q – The name of the suspect?
- A – Can’t remember.
- Q – What year did Surrey do this?
- A – 1998/99 (check dates) believe it went over Christmas.
- Q – 88/89?
- A – Yes, end of 88 into 89 when poo hit the fan when the kid went in and they did the raids. I left shortly after that.
- Q – They had taken one suspect and are dealing on a separate Operation where the suspect was based (58:30). What area?
- A – Woking.
- Q – Name of suspect?
- A – No.
- Q – Remember anything else about that person?
- A – He was the guy who had been mentioned in the Johnny Go Home series, fomer Head Teacher of a school. He was a bit vilified in the press but I don’t think he actually had a conviction.
- Q – Teacher?
- A – Yes.
- Q – When was he in the press?
- A – 1970, Johnny Go Home was a TV series about kids coming down from up north, being met at the station by men who would say they would look after them, get them, they were abused, rent boy scene in the ’70s.
- Q – Surrey – how did they follow up their investigation?
- A – They charged him with possessing photographs, taking photographs. I could not identify the child who was brought to the house. I could never work out how he turns up at their home with the kid during the period. We are listening to his phone and he never talks to any of the others, but on the day it just so happens no one is looking at him or anything like that, he just happens to choose that day to turn up with a child. It just doesn’t ring right. What are the chances of that?
- Q – What kind of resources were they using, Surrey?
- A – A full Surveillance Team.
- Q – Surrey’s resources?
- A – Yes.
- Q – Not the Mets?
- A – No, Surrey’s Crime Squad and Surveillance Team fully on it. The Assistant Commissioner of Surrey, ADRIAN LEPPARD, went on to be Commissioner of the City of London, he authorised everything. He was appalled the Met were not doing anything re: MH. He didn’t have the resources to go into the Met. We would occasionally stray over to see and identify the others to see what they were up to.
- Q – Can you name the Surrey Officers?
- A – JOHN BETSON ran the Surrey Crime Squad. He was the DS in charge of the Surrey Crimes Squad.
- COMFORT BREAK (13:20-13:25)
- A – Surrey pushed the boat out, microphone in the house in the living area. It didn’t pick up anything when the child went there, anything that happened didn’t happen in that room.
- Q – (Discussion on how he felt not having any resources.)
- A – Nobody in charge of child abuse. I wanted to use Social Workers and arranged for NSPCC to work with us and to cover until the social workers could step in. At a conference this was discussed and the ACPO lead said no, it would be too expensive. This was on radio. He said there was only a few cases.
- Q – Did you put suggestions forward to Senior Officers?
- A – Yes, lots (01:05:54). Discussion about training for interviewing and reporting system involving social workers and request to use London wide. Refused by Assistant Commissioner as Met going to crimint so don’t use that system. Could not get anyone interested. It went up on a docket through 4 Area DCI, but they didn’t want to know.
- Q – What happened with MH?
- A – We did the raids after the kid was seen going into the house. They raided all the houses. I think one house, one of the suspects had child pornography the rest of them had nothing. The guy in Surrey was charged because we could prove some of the stuff he had although he claimed they were adults through passports etc, we could prove they were only 13 or 14. These pictures and some of the pictures he used are still out there now in gay magazines. You buy a magazine called Smooth, smooth boys – people would often say its because they are shaved – it’s not, they are kids. These magazines are still sold with pictures of kids in, they are still there. The Met’s attitude was we can’t go removing them because we will be seen to be demonising the homosexual community. We can’t do it so it was a case of, yeah, we know the magazines are there, they have photos of kids in them but people might think they are shaved so we are not going round to try and remove them, we are not going to put anything out to other police stations. You could go round most gay guys’ houses and found this picture in there, you could have arrested them for child pornography quite legitimately because it was a legitimate magazine. This guy was photographing them and putting them in there. Their answer was this is too much just to let it go. MH was about homosexual stuff they were petrified of it. If you had a little girl you could prove it was a little girl, they would do something about it. Frightened to death of being see as homophobic. If they had put it out there most decent people would have gotten rid of it.
- Q – How was MH closed? What state was it in when you left?
- A – I was told they were going to carry on as they had been raided, that was it. I think they used me leaving to shut down HATTON. They had wanted to shut HATTON down for a long time. No one was running it. Just before I joined the Paedophile Unit every 2 weeks they would have a meeting with the likes of REBEKAH BROOKS like that. On the back of my chair was the name ‘REBEKAH‘ in Tippex, where she used to sit and hold court. Lots of press came in there. They were so frustrated they could not get anywhere so they shared the stuff what was going on to the press instead of them actually dealing with it.
- Q – They were having meetings with journalists?
- A – Yes.
- Q – Senior officers?
- A – Yes, and the team. They used to come in every couple of weeks, they would bring a bottle in and sit there. It was only because at the time I got there the Yard went dry – they got rid of the tank downstairs, turned it into a gym. Before that, the journalists were in there on a regular basis.
- Q – They would share information?
- A – They did a lot of good work but it’s not the way it should have been dealt with. There was information shared, there was stuff we would get back, but the Paedophile Unit, it leaked like a sieve. There was one time – I won’t name names – (There was then a discussion about he and his colleagues finding out about who was leaking information to the press using three nicknames and mention of an enquiry concerning the DPA.) (01:14:52)
- Q – This [NAME REDACTED] where you said he sold a story to Channel 4?
- A – He apparently went to Channel 4 and sold them a story, and they spent 6 weeks undercover filming and following him around. It was to do with named people. They withdrew the plug and I went to see Channel 4, found the producer, who told me about being involved in it. It was just like they were petrified that I turned up, I thought I was going there to chat to a producer to tell me what he knew about [NAME REDACTED].
- Q – No senior officers with you?
- A – No, I asked them to come with me, but it was a case of ‘no you won’t need us’.
- Q – They indicated footage had been destroyed?
- A – Yes, they wouldn’t give me any information on suspects, or anything like that. (01:16:10)
- Q – Do you know what it was about?
- A – Supposedly about [NAME REDACTED] was taking them to an identified (or unidentified) people that were abusing WM-A118 and WM-A119.
- Q – This is MH, under MH?
- A – Yes.
- Q – Remember any of the names of the people at the meeting?
- A – No, but there would be a list on the docket. I listed everyone who was there.
- Q – There was no senior officers, it was yourself and people you describe as lawyers.
- A – Yes, we went round the room and it’s as if everyone had their own lawyer. The Director was there, the Senior Manager of Channel 4 was there – he had a lawyer. The camera team was there – they had a lawyer. I said: “Can you tell me what you did?” They said they made a programme but destroyed all the films. Can’t comment, no comment.
- Q – Was it a pre-arranged meeting?
- A – Yes, it took me ages to get the meeting as I kept ringing them up saying I really wanted to come and talk to them about this.
- Q – This [NAME REDACTED] had indicated to you while you had a prison visit with him that he had been helping out Channel 4?
- A – Yes.
- Q – And he had given information to them?
- A – Yes.
- Q – What senior Officers did you ask to go with you?
- A – If you go to see the press (can’t hear answer but something like authority or report), you had to get authority from no lesser rank that DCI. It would have been in the MH docket that I asked to go and then asked for authority. No one came with me.
- Q – Did you ask Bob McCloughlin?
- A – Yes, Bob was the DI.
- Q – Do you remember who your DCI was?
- A – JIM REYNOLDS.
- Q – So nothing came out of the meeting?
- A – No. Confirmed they had a programme, they know [NAME REDACTED], they filmed over a period of 8 weeks, that the footage had been destroyed, they didn’t say why it had been destroyed.
- Q – What year?
- A – It was around when I started there, it would be in the docket – around 97, 97 or 98.
- Q – I want to move onto WM-F172 was that an operational name?
- A – No that was LINDA HOLDEN and myself picked that up from looking into corruption and fraud. A load of houses basically had been bought by criminals, C11 criminals, they were the top criminals in the country – the ARRIFS, people like that. They bought Docklands property. They put locals up, gave them money. It was a way of laundering money. WM-F172 ran these places for them. You would have a high court judge in his beautiful house and next door he would have about 30 refugees, they were just piling people into them.
- Q – At what point have you been investigating WM-F172? Where were you at that time?
- A – I was at Rotherhithe.
- Q – What year?
- A – 1990 – I was on CID.
- Q – Was it your investigation?
- A – No, it was LINDA HOLDEN’S. We got together on this.
- Q – Where did WM-F172 live?
- A – She lived in a flat in DPA – a big six-bedroomed house.
- Q – How did this come to light – there was some kind of corruption or fraud?
- A – I can’t remember exactly how it came about. We ended up looking at her as the prime suspect. I came at it from the fraud aspect. There were many people living in this house. Linda came at it from another way. Discussion on how he found out the villains turned up on the day, threw people out of the queue, put their own in to get the properties and how WM-F172 was linked to the properties.
- Q – There was a search of her business property?
- A – She ran a cafe in DPA. It was a meeting place for villains.
- Q – What was the name of the cafe?
- A – I think the DPA.
- Q – Done a search of her business premises, cafe?
- A – Her office was upstairs where she ran the stuff for the housing. We came across a safe that she wasn’t going to open and didn’t have the key. We were going to call a locksmith when she opened it, and we found the tape recording. We thought it might be more evidence of what we were looking for. We got back and listened to the tape WM-F7. WM-F7 has a distinctive voice. Realised it was his voice on it and he was engaged in having sex with someone – another male. We knew he had an association with WM-F172, as there had been bits in the press attending functions with her on his arm.
- Q – Describe the voice you believed was WM-F7.
- A – I don’t know how to describe his voice – it’s distinctive and it was him, as far as I was concerned it was him.
- Q – Had you seen him on TV?
- A – Yes, he was the local MP for DPA. I had seen him a few time around, I had spoken to him a few times, on TV he is regularly on. He has a twang to his voice. If you heard it you would know it was him.
- Q – What did you hear on the recording?
- A – It was obvious he was having sex with someone basically. Grunts, groans, his voice, encouragement and bits and pieces, and it went on for a while.
- Q – Did you hear what the other person was saying – what the voice sounded like?
- A – I can’t really recall. It sounded a youngish male basically, or you could gather from it.
- Q – How young are we talking?
- A – Impossible to say. (01:29:03)
- Q – Young male, as in teenager or above, or are we talking child?
- A – It was a teenager, child that sort of age. It was a young person. He was in his 40s. This was a significantly younger probably child or young adult, grunts and groans and talking during sex. It wasn’t exactly a conversation. It sounded like they didn’t know that they were being recorded.
- Q – What was the record done on – what type?
- A – Can’t remember if it was an ordinary cassette or micro cassette. I think it was just an ordinary cassette.
- Q – It was just audio.
- A – Just audio.
- Q – Anything written on the cassette, you can remember?
- A – I can’t remember.
- Q – From that recording, this teenager or child – can you remember what they were saying?
- A – No.
- Q – What made you believe it was a young person or child?
- A – The voice was higher – just the whole tenure of it being encouraged to participate as though he was talking to someone young. Couldn’t say if it was a child – could have been a young person. It was definitely someone on the younger side.
- Q – Were there sounds of distress?
- A – No, it was consensual. Our main concern was that he was often protecting her when people were complaining to him about WM-F172. People had gone to his surgery to complain that the villains had got there, but he said no I’m sure not. He was on her arm at places, and it wasn’t until about 10 years later that he came out being gay. Before that the people of DPA would not have voted for him.
- Q – Listened to the recording – was Linda there as well?
- A – Yes. I think the DI as well. We were going to keep it quiet. We couldn’t say if it was a child, was an MP being blackmailed, was he being blackmailed by WM-F172 therefore by most of the villains in South East London?
- Q – When you say you were going to keep it quiet, was there a conversation around that?
- A – Yeah, the DI was going to take it to SB, I think. We didn’t want to make it worse. It needed appropriate people to deal with it. We couldn’t deal with it as the local CID. It was going to be taken up elsewhere as far as we were aware.
- Q – Who was the DI at the time?
- A – MICKY SUETT
- Q – There was a conversation about this going to SB as the local CID couldn’t deal with it?
- A – Yes, the three of us didn’t say anything to anyone else. Then the tape went missing.
- Q – How long after it was booked in did you go back to find it?
- A – It wasn’t me who went to find it, it was Linda, and it wasn’t there. We weren’t sure who had taken it – had SB come along and taken it? It was not booked out, it wasn’t where is should be.
- Q – Was this fed back to the DI?
- A – Yes.
- Q – Do you know what happened from there?
- A – I think he may have done a copy so I don’t think he was that worried. We all talked about doing a copy each and keeping hold of it. If you left it in your drawer though and someone picked it up, it wouldn’t be a secret anymore. (01:36:32)
- Q – Did you know that for certain or was it just a comment saying he would make a copy?
- A – I just felt confident he had made a copy. We talked about making copies ourselves.
- Q – Did you make a copy?
- A – Don’t recall making a copy, no. Abut this time I ended up at the Bailey for about two weeks. I wasn’t much in the office.
- Q – Who would have had access to the property office?
- A – It would have gone to the property store at SOUTHWARK once it had left us because she was a prisoner, it would have been booked in at Southwark.
- Q – It was moved from Rotherhithe?
- A – Yeah, after the arrest was made she went to Southwark as there was no facilities at Rotherhithe. We would have taken the stuff back to the office in Rotherhithe to listen to and book it in and leave it in the property store.
- Q – Would there have been signing out and signing in?
- A – Yeah.
- Q – Was it a 105 the…
- A – Yeah.
- Q – So the book 105 would be signed out and signed in?
- A – Yeah.
- Q – So there was an audit trail?
- A – Yeah, some of the paperwork was kept in the office so we could go through it as you would forget the names. The tape wasn’t something we were going to do anything with so it went back.
- Q – At the time you found this tape, was it a case of you all being worried that an MP was being blackmailed by WM-F172 and other villains, or did you look at it as a child abuse aspect?
- A – Couldn’t say for a 100% that it was a child, it was just things that came later, children in, children I was investigate later from the Children’s Home spending the night at his constituency surgery, seen coming out in the morning.
- Q – So it was later on in your career when you discover all that and that’s when you thought?
- A – Yeah, it was later on. Just as I left Rotherhithe to go to CPT, I remember having a conversation with the CH SUPT there, ALAN EVERSHED. I don’t know how we got on the subject, but it was about WM-F7. He may have been briefed by MICK SUETT about children coming out of his constituency surgery in the early hours of the morning.
- Q – That information was fed to you so you didn’t witness it yourself?
- A – I did later. There were children there that were related to [NAME REDACTED] that group of kids were the ones coming out of his constituency surgery. Those kids like WM-A118 and WM-A119 never said anything about WM-F7. ALAN EVERSHED telling me about the kids coming out of the surgery and we were doing some observations around there about a child we knew who was a prolific burglar we caught him coming out of his constituency surgery.
- Q – What time in the morning are we talking about – half six?
- Q – What was his surgery?
- A – Like a shot front, just like a shop. Kids had been staying there. The one kid I saw, can’t remember his name, was from Rotherhithe. Same sort of thing he was into burglaries, stealing. He was about 15 or 16 and had stopped all of a sudden. He was coming out of there one morning. I don’t think we were doing a surveillance, just driving past. It was towards the end, when I was leaving there. EVERSHED said he had received information that kids were spending the night at the surgery.
- Q – Was it a set up like an office, this surgery? What was it like?
- A – It was like a shop front/come office. The kid came out of it. We might have been doing something on the WM-F172 job in the area.
- Q – Were these children’s home kids?
- A – Yeah, I think he was a children’s home kid.
- Q – Do you know which one?
- A – I can’t remember. It was only later that the links going through the children’s home when I got into it with the CPT. Moves on to the bit when I got upset. The reason I was upset was because I was very close to Linda and I told her about the meeting. I never actually told her they had photographs, she went off alarming when I said [IRRELEVANT]. She went off on one and I never spoke to her from that day to this.
- Q – What happened again at your meeting?
- A – I was meeting a friend of mine in a pub on the way home from Rotherhithe. I got to the pub and outside was what was obviously a police car. I thought it was my mate taking the piss. Got inside and there was someone there who introduced himself as a Supt from the Regional Crime Squad. I thought he might be with my mate, but he wasn’t. We started chatting. He starting blowing smoke up my bum about things I had done, knew a lot about me. He said we should stop the investigation into WM-F172 for everyone’s interests.
- Q – Do you know who he was?
- A – No, I took the car reg at the time and ran it through. Not locally but someone up north, but never identified. Can’t even remember his name, I had it all written down. I didn’t know who he was but he was purporting to be from the job. That’s how he knew I was going to be in the pub because I had phoned my mate once from Rotherhithe and once from Southwark confirming the meeting, so unless it was someone in those offices listening to me, no one else would have known I was going there. He was waiting for me, so we had this conversation. It was a case of me saying, no I don’t think we will stop the investigation. Making life difficult if LINDA [IRRELEVANT] making life difficult for me. That was it, and off he trotted.
- Q – This was Linda’s investigation around WM-F172?
- A – Yes, I meet with Linda the next day and told her what happened. She went off on one and I never actually got to tell her they claimed they [IRRELEVANT].
- Q – Of what?
- A – [IRRELEVANT] We never spoke from that day to this. Shortly after I went to the Paedophile Unit, not the CPT.
- Q – After you told her about that meeting she never spoke to you?
- A – Yeah.
- Q – This male introduced himself as a Supt RCS? (Regional Crime Squad)
- A – Yes, claimed to be from the South East Regional, which made sense with the job car outside that he got into when he left.
- Q – What did he look like?
- A – About 5’10”, slim face, small moustache, quite skinny.
- Q – Was he on his own?
- A – Strangely, when he got into the car, someone else got into the car I hadn’t seen before. The two of them got into the car to leave. I was looking outside the window.
- Q – Was that another male?
- A – Yeah.
- Q – Was he driving this other person who spoke to you in the pub?
- A – No.
- Q – Did he say why he wanted this stopped?
- A – No. There’s two theories. One is about WM-F7 or about WM-F172. I think she may have been an informant. Certainly my life turned to shit afterwards.
- Q – After that meeting?
- A – Yeah.
- Q – Was that investigation still going on, was Linda still dealing?
- A – Yeah, we got to the stage I think we were charging her that week or the following week. This was days before she was charged. Things were said at the trial that came second hand to me. The CPS put a bar on me from attending court.
- Q – Why was that?
- A – Because I was under investigation. Strangely, someone had made a complaint against me. I had received the 163A which meant that the complaint was over. The complaint started again, I was reinvestigated for it. It was to do with the (Fur trader, not clear). I went on a central discipline board.
- Q – So the CPS barred you from attending the WM-F172 trial?
- A – I was barred from attending court in general, all things, I was not allowed to give evidence in any trial (discussion about CPS action for police officer under investigation and giving evidence). I was on gardening leave, although I was acting DI in the office as he was off sick and I was the only one who had passed the exam.
- Q – With regard to WM-F172, when she was arrested was she brought in at that point when you did the search?
- A – Yeah. Searched her home address when she was arrested at her home and her business premises later in the day, I think. Took ages to search her home, took her back to the nick and then took her to her business premises. All the villains from South East London were banging on her door and standing around for the rest of the day.
- Q – Was she ever asked about that recording?
- A – I don’t think we ever did. We were going to pass it over, leave it like we had never seen it or listened to it, we just dropped the subject, left it. I don’t know if it is to do with WM-F7 or general (can’t make out 01:54:27).
- Q – What happened with WM-F172 trial?
- A – I didn’t go but I heard from someone else that she was found guilty on some counts and someone went in to see the judge. That’s what I heard, but of course I wasn’t there.
- Q – Did you ever mention to anyone else, senior officers, about this person threatening you in in the pub to drop the investigation?
- A – No.
- Q – Why?
- A – I didn’t trust anyone, wasn’t going to do it. I wasn’t going to stop, not in my nature.
- Q – Anymore you can tell us abut the WM-F7 WM-F172 element?
- A – No, I can’t be sure but it was always in the back of my mind these were the same group of kids, but ther. But never did any of the lads I dealt with ever mention him, it’s just the tape recording suspect, whether it was a child or not being know and talked about regularly about the kids coming out of his address. He could have been a nice man putting them for the night, nothing a 100%.
- Q – OP HATTON (01:58:26) Can you give me a brief overview?
- A – OP HATTON evolved from the Met’s monitoring of the Paedophile Information Exchange where I got involved. BRIAN FRANC#### was running Operation Hatton. He had a card index system, he tried to get it put on Holmes but got a knock back. It was an old card system, cross referenced a lot of it historic, way back. The main players in it, we got to dealing with it. One guy lived in DPA and they used to meet every 4 weeks, the PIE at his house on a Sunday afternoon. Before my time they managed to get an undercover officer into those meetings but they actually thought he was a member of the security services, they allowed him in and weren’t bothered who he was. They would discuss things like how they were trying to change people’s perceptions They would meet with the likes of [NAME REDACTED] and people like that to see how they’d run campaign to, for their side of it to get homosexuality normalised, they were trying to mirror that to do the same in bringing down the age of consent. I remember one particular a teacher, female, aged about 30 was done for having sex with a 14-year old boy in her school. They were trying to bring that to the forefront of the press trying to make it sound ridiculous. They would send people to talke to the Paedophile Unit at the Yard pretending they had information so that they would get to know us. Basically they were trying to see if they could discredit any of us, the police through the press. The one guy who lived in the house in DPA we kept getting this funny phone number appear, when we were doing the cross checking number. He was actually a computer scientist, he was directing a satellite from home, he was said to run the dark web for paedophiles.
- Q – OP HATTON was Paedophile Information Exhange and you picked up that operation when you were on the paedophile unit?
- A – Yeah.
- Q – When?
- A – When BRIAN retired, I picked up all of it, late ’97. What I would do, any phone calls that came in, again that was put on the crimint system, the new stuff was put on. I tried to get the old stuff put on but it didn’t meet the criteria for going on crimint for the A1, A, because it wasn’t done like that. Just the current but a lot of that we couldn’t put on because it was coming from the undercover.
- Q – Would there be a file on HATTON?
- A – Yes.
- Q – So there would be a GR docket?
- A – Yeah.
- Q – Under the name of HATTON?
- A – OP HATTON, yeah. What we were trying to do was get this persons password so we could get onto the dark web (discussuion about how they tried to get the password by using fixed keyboard).
- Q – You were running Hatton as well as MH at the same time on your own?
- A – Yeah.
- Q – Did you ever ask for any assistance?
- A – (Discussion about workload). The rest of the guys were all busy with the child pornography.
- Q – What was the aim of OP HATTON?
- A – It was an intelligence operation to monitor the activities of PIE and moved on to try and get access to the dark web, where they were all communicating. (Discussion about intel that would be fed through to senior officers, eg: PIE trying to get undercover to go abroad, Asia, and drive a boat and arrange for children to be brought in. 02:07:33)
- Q – Asking for resources?
- A – To follow it through but it wasn’t getting done basically.
- Q – Did you document that, put a report through?
- A – It would go round as a report on HATTON but you weren’t allowed to write in the margins where you say there is a new document. It would go round with a 728 on it, asking for something. If they didn’t like it, it would come back with the 728 ripped in half and a note saying, no, it wouldn’t be added to the docket.
- Q – Did you put a report up asking for resources?
- A – Yes, there were plenty of times. One there was nobody to do it, you couldn’t get anything, you couldn’t get a sausage.
- Q – Who was your line manager at the time? Did you specifically put any report thrugh for assistance for HATTON for resources?
- A – Only time I looked for recourses on HATTON I know from talking to BRIAN FRANCE#### he was pulling his hair our, it was making him ill, he was putting stuff in and asking for resources. They were freely chatting with the undercover about what they were doing. He got really deep in amongst them. As far as the job was concerned, just leave it and concentrate on trying to get into the dark web. (Discussion on dealing with Military as he was liaison trying to get access to dark web).
- Q – OP HATTON information on PIE and you picked it up while working on MH. Did your request anything from your senior officers to assist in your investigations?
- A – I put in a request, previous time before I arrived undercover being asked to drive a boat to Phillipines get children on the boat. It happened again whilst I was running it – they made the same request. We put in a docket to allow the undercover to follow it through – it was a straight ‘no’.
- Q – Why do you think that was?
- A – Money, time, resources. I don’t know what else SO1 was dealing with at the time.
- Q – Was the undercover from your unit?
- A – No. There were onlyt wo undercovers at that time rated for dealing with paedophile jobs. One was in our office [NAME REDACTED] and the other I can’t remember his name, his number DPA. There would be weekends when he went in and there was just him and me. I’d brief him before he went in and debrief him afterwards. I’d be in the house opposite. Because it was overtime, I wasn’t allowed to do it on overtime, I would have to swap my days to do it on a Sunday if I wanted to cover it. They put the meetings on Sunday afternoon because they said no police officer is going to be there. There would just be the two of us.
- Q – Do you think there were missed opportunities by not having the resources to cover it?
- A – Yeah. Plenty of opportunities that could have come out, more could have been made, different people would turn up at different meetings. Half the time we didn’t identify the half of them. I was concerned with the undercovers, I could go chasing people up the road (discussion about safety isues or lack of them fo the UC). The resources, time, money, effort just wasn’t there.
- Q – Was the Paedophile Unit well established by the time you got there?
- A – Yes, but as I said to yu before, it was called the Paedophile Unit but it was the guys from the Dirty Book Squad. They had all been trained to interview children in the early days but not on had interviewed a child. There was so much work coming through, NCIS was giving us work from the Canadians the computer network thing*, people paying for viewing child pornography by credit card and a list came to us. 10,000 names for people in the UK and all of these needed to be turned over. (*I think this is referring to OP ORE)
- Q – What training was given to yu or people on the Paedophile Unit?
- A – None. I bourhg tht etraining there with me. I moaned to the DI that the guys there had no idea how to work with the social services. (Discussion abut lack of skills to deal with child abuse allegation).
- Q – How mahy people on the Paedophile Unit whilst you were working on HATTON?
- A – DCI, DI, I think 3 DSs, 12?
- Q – Can you name them?
- A – No, and 12 DCs.
- Q – Can you remember any names?
- A – BRIAN FRANCE####, DAVE RYDEN (DC), BRIAN was an old school DS from the CID, my line manager. DI was BOB MCCLOUGHLIN, DCI was JIM REYNOLDS, GRAHAM PASSINGHAM (DC) I have mentioned.
- Q – There would be what you describe as a large file on HATTON?
- A – Yeah it was about 6 inches thick.
- Q – That was based on inteilligence gathering?
- A – No, the intelligence gathering was in the cars and the system, the docket was for getting the operation set up in the first place, the original parts of the PIE, the obviously marked secret because of the UC work and the putting in the bug for for the computer stuff, it was all in there and just bounced backwards and forwards. (Discussion on how bad this was. 02:20:11)
- Q – Recap on HATTON. It was you took it on whilst working on MH on Paedophile Unit took with you from CPT late 1997, BRIAN FRANCEWARE ran it originally, it evolved from the Met’s monitoring of PIE, on the cards system?
- A – Separate from the office system, the office had it’s own card system, HATTON had it’s own card system, BRIAN wanted it done that way because he originally wanted it on Holmes but because the card system in the office covered everything from the ’60s. It wasn’t a proper collation system as such. When we went onto crimint they decided they were not going to backdate or go through the old files, nothing was transferred onto crimint. It sat there as a stand alone system and we were told to move onto crimint nothing would be backdated. I think HATTON was updated but only new information. If there was anything of any prominence, was often never marked, it was consult and often you just asked GRAHAM PASSINGHAM. The keeper of secrets.
- Q – You put in a 728 asking for resources to assist with Hatton and you weren’t given any further resources to assist you with undercover operations with HATTON. You think there missed opportunities because of that?
- A – Yeah.
- Q – No training was given, you brought in some training yourself?
- A – Yeah.
- Q – DCI JIM REYONLDS, DI BOB MCCLOUGHLIN, DS BRIAN FRANCE####, ANDY RYDON and GRAHAM PASSINGHAM were some of the officers you worked with?
- A – It wasn’t the case that the guys there didn’t care, they wanted to do stuff but they just couldn’t get the oomph from above to deal with it. When I tried to get MH off the ground, it took a year for the docket to be accepted. I wrote the report and it was about a year later. It bounced back and forward. It took nearly a year for authority just to go and interview. It was so slow.
- Q – Finish off now. Time is now 14:50. (2:24:42)
Ex-Medomsley Detention prison officers jailed after physically abusing boys
More than 1,500 men claimed they had been subjected to abusive treatment while housed at Medomsley Detention Centre in the 1970s and 1980s
4 APR 2019
hree prison officers who subjected vulnerable teenagers to daily abuse at a detention centre in 1970s and 1980s have been jailed after a judge said their behaviour breached the public’s trust.
Durham Police carried out a huge investigation involving 1,800 witnesses into what happened at Medomsley Detention Centre near Consett, from its opening in the 1960s to its closure in 1988.
A total of 1,676 men came forward to claim they had been subjected to abusive treatment while housed at the centre, which was renowned for applying the “short, sharp shock” form of justice.
A team of 70 detectives launched Operation Seabrook in August 2013, and 32 former warders were interviewed, with seven facing court in a series of three trials at Teesside Crown Court, the last of which ended last month.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ex-medomsley-detention-prison-officers-14235997
In March 1985, the Home Secretary Leon Brittan visited Medomsley and praised the positive impact the new regime was having.
https://www.jordanssolicitors.co.uk/2014/04/the-history-of-abuse-at-medomsley-detention-centre/
IICSA chose not to cover abuse at Medomsley
@newsincardiff
Was there a Monday Club meeting at Elm Guest House in 1981?
https://www.iicsa.org.uk/key-documents/9706/view/OHY006904.pdf…
@ciabaudo
This raises a few questions: What was the ultra-right wing of the Tory party doing meeting at a London child brothel? And who is fibbing: Proctor who said he never went to EGH? Or Ashley Bramall friend Tremlett who took him there? And how did Tremlett’s name get on the list?
George Tremlett provided officers with a witness statement…he recalled taking Harvey Proctor there for a ‘Monday Club’ meeting in 1981.
@ciabaudo
Ashley Bramall was on the GLC at the same time as EGH patron George Tremlett and Brook-Partridge. Tremlett worked for the People and wrote for numerous music magazines, incl. NME.
CROYDON FEATURES HIGHLY COS SIDNEY COOKE CONTACTS THERE
@craftymuvva
Yes, HP was questioned about him and a “car journey”
And back to Tremlett… here he is meeting the Archbishop of Canterbury in his role with the National Association of Voluntary Hostels...
David Hubert Boothby Chesshyre
Honours system under scrutiny after sex abuser kept title for years
Hubert Chesshyre was recognised for services to the Queen after holding multiple senior positions in the royal household.
Hubert Chesshyre, a lay clerk of Southwark Cathedral from 1971 until 2003,[46] was also a member of the British Royal Household. Chesshyre was responsible for the granting of arms both to the cathedral itself[47] and to the Bishops suffragan of Kingston, of Woolwich, and of Croydon.[48]
King’s School, Canterbury, Cambridge and Oxford, taught French in England and English in France, wine merchant, in the early 60s, as a member of the Honorable Artillery fired the salute at Sir Winston Churchill’s funeral in 1965
Chesshyre is mentioned in the diaries of James Lees-Milne, who described him as ‘handsome though over fifty, and charming to talk to’.[83]
Lees-Milne was friends with many of the prominent British intellectual and social figures of his day, including Nancy Mitford, Harold Nicolson, about whom he wrote a two-volume biography, Deborah Mitford
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, which Chesshyre co-authored with Peter Begent and Lisa Jefferson, enjoyed the distinction of a foreword by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (p. 2) and of being ‘Dedicated with permission to|Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Elizabeth II|Thirtieth Sovereign of the Order‘ (p. 4)
Chesshyre was a choral clerk of Trinity College, Cambridge during his time as an undergraduate at the college.[17] From 1979 until 1993 Chesshyre was a member of The Bach Choir, of which he is now an Associate Member.[90] Chesshyre now sings for the London Docklands Singers, which he joined in 2002. He has been, since 1980, a member of the Madrigal Society, the oldest musical society in Europe (see Madrigal). He became a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Musicians in 1994 and a Liveryman of the Company in 1995.[19]
https://companycheck.co.uk/director/902778231/MR-DAVID-HUBERT-BOOTHBY-CHESSHYRE/companies
| Occupation | Officer of Arms |
|---|---|
| Years active | 1970–2010 |
| Employer | Queen Elizabeth II |
| Organization | College of Arms |
Chesshyre – Green Staff Officer at the investiture of Prince Charles
In 1998 the Cambridge University Heraldic and Genealogical Society appointed Chesshyre to deliver its annual Mountbatten Memorial Lecture[110] (Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma was President of the Cambridge University Society of Genealogists and Patron of CUHAGS
David Hubert Boothby Chesshyre
Honours system under scrutiny after sex abuser kept title for years
Hubert Chesshyre, who had many senior roles in the royal household, abused a teenage chorister in the 1990s.
30 Mar 2019
Lawyers have called for an overhaul of the honours forfeiture system after it emerged that a sex abuser retained an honour bestowed for services to the Queen some three years after a court recognised him as a paedophile.
The system is too slow to acknowledge an offender’s offences, say lawyers specialising in abuse claims, and, in the case of those who have died, cannot strip them of their honours, leaving victims feeling that they have been cheated of justice.
Hubert Chesshyre, 78, an expert on heraldry and genealogy, held a number of senior positions within the royal household, rising to become secretary of the most noble order of the garter, the highest order in British chivalry. Among the many honours bestowed upon him over more than 40 years were the Queen’s Silver and Golden Jubilee Medals, and the commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) – the latter for distinguished personal service to the monarch. A fellow or member of several illustrious organisations and charities, he was a heraldic consultant to the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, Lord Sugar and Sir Terry Pratchett.
But it recently emerged during the Independent Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) that in 2015 Chesshyre was found to have sexually abused a teenage chorister during the 1990s, a fact that has remained buried from public record. This is because Chesshyre’s case did not result in a criminal conviction. Rather, the inquiry heard “he was found to have committed the acts in question” in a trial of the facts.
These are held when the accused is deemed unfit to plead. The court recognised that Chesshyre had suffered a stroke. It was also said that he had dementia. As a result, despite being found to have committed the abuse, he was given an absolute discharge.
The fact that Chesshyre’s name was misspelled throughout the trial, despite repeated police efforts to have it corrected, has made it difficult to identify him in legal databases.
His victim told the Observer that he believed there may have been others. “I know of other boys from the choir where their parents became concerned and stopped Mr Chesshyre from having anything more to do with them.”
Chesshyre’s case is similar to that of Lord Janner, who was also accused of sexual abuse. Suffering from dementia, Janner was due to undergo a similar trial of the facts but this was dropped after his death in 2015.
In October 2015, Chesshyre’s victim wrote to Sir Alan Reid, secretary of the Royal Victorian Order, calling for forfeiture of Chesshyre’s honour. Reid replied that this would be wrong because Chesshyre had been given an absolute discharge, and no conviction registered. Reid’s position was mirrored by that of several organisations. The Heraldry Society said that it had no plans to remove his fellowship, in an email seen by the Observer.
In another email to the victim, the Society of Antiquaries of London said it would not put the question of his removal to the fellows of the society. The Bach Choir said it was “not incumbent” on it to take any further action as Chesshyre, an associate member, had no involvement with it any more. The Corporation of London emailed the victim to tell him it did not have the power to remove Chesshyre’s status as a Freeman of the City of London. The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies continues to list Hubert Chesshyre CVO as a vice-president.
It was only after the victim contacted his MP, who took it up with the prime minister, that the honour was eventually forefeited. But the victim only learned of this action in October 2018, five months after it happened and three years after Chesshyre’s trial. He was dismayed to learn via a Cabinet Office email that the forefeiture would not be published in the London Gazette, a standard procedure.
The case has led to calls for the honours forfeiture system to be reformed, an issue recently discussed at the IICSA. “A significant overhaul is necessary to ensure that any person who has been found to have committed acts of abuse on children has any and all honorific titles automatically removed, whether or not they are still alive,” said Andrew Lord, abuse solicitor at the law firm Leigh Day. “Survivors of abuse deserve to be safe in the knowledge that when crimes committed against them are proven, any benefits or prestige conveyed to the holder of an honorary title are swiftly removed in a clear and transparent process.”
As of Saturday night, Chesshyre’s Wikipedia page made no mention of his trial. When approached by the Observer, the various societies of which he is a member confirmed that they would not be dissociating themselves from him. The victim said: “As far as most people are concerned, he’s still Hubert Chesshyre CVO.”
He maintains a close relationship with The King’s School. In 2010 he helped design a tie for the school’s Legacy Club, a club for Old King’s Scholars
Partial list of clients for whom Chesshyre acted as ‘agent’ at the College of Arms.
The Rt Hon John Bercow, MP, Speaker of the House of Commons
The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Lord Chartres,
Sir John Hurt, CBE, actor (Chesshyre’s contemporary at St Michael’s Preparatory School, Otford and friend)[14]
Order of the Garter ceremony
Education and early career
Chesshyre was educated at The King‘s School, Canterbury (The Grange 1954–59),[7] and Trinity College, Cambridge (BA French and German and MA). After graduating from Cambridge Chesshyre spent about four years working as a schoolmaster and vintner, including working for Moët et Chandon and John Harvey & Sons. He went to study at Christ Church, Oxford (1966/7) and was awarded a Diploma in Education (1967).[8] Chesshyre also spent some time in Nîmes in 1967, where he met a M. Chassin du Guerny.[9]
http://enacademic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/2052850
Former Ampleforth College monk charged with 23 historic child sex offences
North Yorkshire Police have charged a former monk from Ampleforth with 23 non-recent child sex offences. Peter Turner, 79, from Redcar, who was previously known as Father Gregory Carroll, is due to appear at Scarborough Magistrates’ Court on April 8, 2019.
26 March 2019
MI6 officer found with child abuse images had charges dropped
26 Mar 2019
An MI6 officer was discovered to have child sexual abuse images on his work computer but the charges against him were eventually dropped, the intelligence service has told an inquiry.
The illegal material was found in 2006 and the official was dismissed, the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA) heard on Tuesday. The case was referred to the police who investigated. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) brought charges but it never came to trial.
Evidence about the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), or MI6 as it is more commonly known, was given by an anonymous officer who testified at the inquiry via video link. Before 2015, he confirmed, the service had no specific policies relating to preventing or reporting suspected child abuse.
The officer, who is responsible for overseeing MI6’s compliance with the law, told the inquiry that pornographic material involving children was found by SIS staff in 2006. “When this material was discovered, it was [examined] and we conducted an internal investigation to find out which employee had been responsible,” he told the inquiry.
The images were passed to the police and an MI6 officer was identified. “The individual was then dismissed and he [faced] two charges of possessing indecent images of children on his workplace computer,” the officer told the inquiry. “Ultimately the prosecutor decided not to offer evidence against the defendant following an abuse of process application.”
The SIS subsequently wrote to the CPS to express its “disappointment” that the prosecution had been abandoned.
The inquiry was also told about an incident when a “contact” was found to have a cache of child sexual abuse images on his computer. In 2009, the man admitted to downloading them. The SIS passed the material to the police’s child exploitation and online protection command (CEOP) but detectives decided there was insufficient evidence to take action.
The anonymous officer also said a search through SIS files on behalf of the inquiry unearthed a note attached to an obituary of the former intelligence officer and diplomat Sir Peter Hayman, who died in 1992. Hayman was subsequently exposed as a member of the Paedophile Information Exchange organisation.
The inquiry heard the note, written by an MI6 officer, read: “An unpleasant and pompous man who used to like playing Father Christmas in Ottawa [where Hayman was high commissioner in 1974] so that he could dandle children on his knee.”
The MI6 officer said the service had found no evidence in its files of the existence of any “paedophile ring” or any suggestion that the government had attempted to conceal information about the existence of such a group.
Earlier this month, an MI5 lawyer gave evidence in a similar manner to the inquiry, revealing that the service told the cabinet secretary in the 1980s about rumours of a minister’s “penchant for small boys” but did not pass this on to police or launch an investigation into the claims.
@inquirycsa
Conservative activist Mary Whitehouse said in 1976: “The support given by this organisation (Albany Trust) to paedophile groups means we are all subsidising and supporting indirectly a cause that seeks to normalose sexual activity between adult males and little girls.”
Jeremy Clarke tells the #westminsterhearing the Albany Trust tried to bring the Paedophile Information Exchange and Paedophile Action for Liberation into a professional network.
@craftymuvva
In short, PIE and PAL generated clientele for AT.
@inquirycsa
https://www.iicsa.org.uk/key-documents/9706/view/OHY006904.pdf …
Commander Trestrail had been frequenting the guest house. Mr Osbourne said that their objctive had been to seize the guest book, and effectively protect Trestrail from potential negative media attention. There were two boys acting in a sexually precocious manner who had been wearing nappies and a man wearing an executuiner’s mask.
Albany Trust trustee, Jeremy Clarke tells the #westmisnterhearing that the period of active involvement between the Albany Trust and the Paedophile Information Exchange was from late 1975 – early 1977.
Keith Hose, chair of PIE held a meeting with the Albany Trust to discuss supportive groups for “paedophiliacs” in January 1976. This meeting was arranged followed a conference on sexual minorities.
File on Peter Hayman
Police file on Peter Hayman to DPP: “The sheer filth spread far and wide by him… its content with regard to the sexual and physical abuse of children” made him “one of the worst offenders” for sending such material through the post…
PIE signed its cheques with its full name, according to the Observer on September 4, 1983, so the Midland cannot claim innocence. They knew very well who they were dealing with. PIE spokesman, Steven Adrian said: ‘They have had our account log enough to know what we are about.’
Jimmy Savile helped the Midland Bank to fix it for twelve of our best known charities with the launch of its care card. ..including NSPCC, Save the Children, and The Spastics Society
The GuardianLondon, Greater London, England
…the bribe money … Denby pocketed while doing business with Iranians during corrupt Thatcher years.
That ca. £130k bribe went namely first to Midland Bank and then on to a numbered account at the Pays Bas in Geneva.
From there, monies were transferred to the account of a company called Euro Shipping Ltd. Denby also had access to these funds.
Halcoussis!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Z-G-HALCOUSSIS-CO-LTD/105534846148661
@ciabaudo
The Midland Bank also owned Thomas Cook, a company Jimmy Savile was also very closely associated with. Indeed, he was a paid consultant. But Savile wasn’t the only entity connected to Thomas Cook:
https://twitter.com/ciabaudo/status/1058401534952771585?s=19… https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/it-was-a-relief-when-i-got-the-knighthood-because-it-got-me-off-the-hook-an-exclusive-interview-with-9571057.html…
The Wanless investigation discovered a gap of 3 years between 1977 and 1980 in HO grants to WRVS, the precise period in which Tim Hulbert maintains grants were being paid to WRVS (PIE). So who was at the helm of WRVS and the Midland bank at the time?
Well, Baroness Pike was heading the WRVS, the harmless sounding Women’s Royal Voluntary Service. She joined in 1974 and stayed until she left to head the BBC in 1981.
When forced by public opinion to close their account, PIE had been a Midland bank customer for 8 years.
@ciabaudo
The Midland Bank also owned Thomas Cook, a company Jimmy Savile was also very closely associated with. Indeed, he was a paid consultant. But Savile wasn’t the only entity connected to Thomas Cook:
https://twitter.com/ciabaudo/status/1058401534952771585?s=19… https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/it-was-a-relief-when-i-got-the-knighthood-because-it-got-me-off-the-hook-an-exclusive-interview-with-9571057.html…
Well, Baroness Pike was heading the WRVS, the harmless sounding Women’s Royal Voluntary Service. She joined in 1974 and stayed until she left to head the BBC in 1981.
Chairman 1975-80 Sir William Armstrong – Ted Heath’s most senior mandarin
Revealed: The day Britain’s top civil servant rolled naked on the floor ranting about the end of the world
New job: Sir William Armstrong after he joined the Midland Bank in 1975
Britain’s top civil servant ‘cracked up’ and lay naked on a floor at 10 Downing Street talking incoherently in the final days of Ted Heath’s Conservative Government.
Later, the top mandarin became a life peer as Baron Armstrong of Sanderstead and was chairman of the Midland Bank from 1975 until 1980, when he died.
Downing Street papers released three years ago revealed that Armstrong knew a secret that could have toppled Harold Wilson in 1970.
So:
Heath, attended PIE meetings.
His mandarin Armstrong was CEO of Midland Bank 75-80.
PIE banked with Midland for 8 years (75-83).
Charles Napier was PIE treasurer.
Armstrong was PPS to RA Butler.
RAB’s daughter Lil was Albany trustee and son Adam was Thatcher PPS.
…………….
Angus Ogilvy and Jimmy Savile link to Harold Haywood
In 1975, Sir Harold Haywood became chairman of Albany Trust; soon after he met with four or five PIE members at the MIND Sexual Minorities workshop. Having stated that there was a moral imperative for the Trust to assist pedophiles, he enlisted the aid of Trust director Anthony Grey; he became secretary for Albany Trust in 1962 and director from 1971-77.
Antony Grey:
One of the Booklet’s stated aims was to argue for the positive social benefits paedophiles brought to society:
“In the belief that knowledge dispels prejudice, this booklet sets out to answer the commonest questions and suppositions about paedophilia, and to argue that those involved represent no special threat to society, but on the contrary are often a force for social good.”
In December 1976 accusations of supporting or funding paedophiles either directly or indirectly were denied by the Albany Trust in a recorded letter by Haywood to Whitehouse
In 1973, Haywood was given an OBE for “services to youth,” and in 1974, NAYC organized with Albany Trust to set up a two-day training conference on youth sexuality for people who train youth workers. Haywood’s involvement with NAYC is listed as having ended in 1974, but even after his departure,
“[Jimmy] Savile stopping by was still a frequent occurrence and he maintained close links with both NAYC and PHAB [Physically Handicapped and Able Bodied] beyond Haywood’s tenure. During 1974 and 1975 Savile was holding annual fundraising events ‘Tea-rific’ for NAYC and while writing his autobiography (published in 1974) referred to himself as Vice-President to Angus Ogilvy’s President. In 1974 Savile had also become Honorary President of PHAB when it became an independent charity [Savile did charity runs for them]. During Haywood’s time in 1970 PHAB had launched a TV fundraising appeal with Cliff Richard fronting the advert. Cliff along with Savile, Rolf Harris and Ed ‘Stewpot’ Stewart were to become four major entertainers appearing publicly for PHAB fundraising.”[ref]
Princess Alexandra – Patron of Duncroft
Keith Hose – Albany Trust and PIE
He said he was with Princess Alexandra, a patron of the school
Made claims during police interview, the transcription of which was edited
Rab Butler’s son Adam was PPS to Thatcher
Thatcher, whom he first served as PPS in opposition (1975-79) immediately after her election as Tory leader, rated him more highly as a team player, promoting him to the privy council in 1984 and rewarding him with a knighthood in 1986.
Margaret Thatcher made him minister of state for industry under Sir Keith Joseph, switching him to Northern Ireland in 1981
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/jan/14/conservatives.uk
Sir Adam was appointed to the Whips’ office as one of Mrs Thatcher’s two parliamentary private secretaries after she won the leadership election in 1975.
http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/news/local-news/sir-adam-butler-leaves-4m-3956967
Justin Welby’s family connections with the English establishment – His mother, Jane Portal, a former secretary to Winston Churchill who became Baroness Williams of Elvel, links the future archbishop to
Rab Butler (PIE Paedophile Information Exchange linked)
Jane Portal, Justin Welby’s mother, was the deputy Prime Minister Rab Butler’s favourite niece.
PIE signed its cheques with its full name, according to the Observer on September 4, 1983, so the Midland cannot claim innocence. They knew very well who they were dealing with. PIE spokesman, Steven Adrian said: ‘They have had our account log enough to know what we are about.’
Another Midland Bank director while PIE held accounts there was Angus Ogilvy, Savile’s close friend and charity colleague, who resigned in 1976. Ogilvy was part of the Prince’s Trust and, like Jimbo, was very close to Prince Charles.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1479803/Sir-Angus-Ogilvy.html …
Angus Ogilvy and Jimmy Savile link to Harold Haywood
In 1975, Sir Harold Haywood became chairman of Albany Trust; soon after he met with four or five PIE members at the MIND Sexual Minorities workshop. Having stated that there was a moral imperative for the Trust to assist pedophiles, he enlisted the aid of Trust director Anthony Grey; he became secretary for Albany Trust in 1962 and director from 1971-77.
Antony Grey:
One of the Booklet’s stated aims was to argue for the positive social benefits paedophiles brought to society:
“In the belief that knowledge dispels prejudice, this booklet sets out to answer the commonest questions and suppositions about paedophilia, and to argue that those involved represent no special threat to society, but on the contrary are often a force for social good.”
In December 1976 accusations of supporting or funding paedophiles either directly or indirectly were denied by the Albany Trust in a recorded letter by Haywood to Whitehouse
In 1973, Haywood was given an OBE for “services to youth,” and in 1974, NAYC organized with Albany Trust to set up a two-day training conference on youth sexuality for people who train youth workers. Haywood’s involvement with NAYC is listed as having ended in 1974, but even after his departure,
“[Jimmy] Savile stopping by was still a frequent occurrence and he maintained close links with both NAYC and PHAB [Physically Handicapped and Able Bodied] beyond Haywood’s tenure. During 1974 and 1975 Savile was holding annual fundraising events ‘Tea-rific’ for NAYC and while writing his autobiography (published in 1974) referred to himself as Vice-President to Angus Ogilvy’s President. In 1974 Savile had also become Honorary President of PHAB when it became an independent charity [Savile did charity runs for them]. During Haywood’s time in 1970 PHAB had launched a TV fundraising appeal with Cliff Richard fronting the advert. Cliff along with Savile, Rolf Harris and Ed ‘Stewpot’ Stewart were to become four major entertainers appearing publicly for PHAB fundraising.”[ref]
Yet another chairman (1991-94) was Sir Peter Ingram Walters, also with Lloyds and Blue Circle. It is worth remembering that Hewson cousin Jonathan Denby was tailing a Mr. Whitworth on the night of his crime. Denby and Whitworth had previously done a huge deal with Blue Circle.
Home Office ‘secretly channelled £30,000 to a group campaigning to legalise paedophilia in the late 1970s’, former civil servant tells Westminster child abuse inquiry
- Tim Hulbert worked for the Voluntary Services Unit (VSU) during the 1970s
- He said £30,000 had been secretly channelled in grant money to campaigners
- Money was sent to the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE), he said
- The group campaigned for the age of consent to be lowered to four
The Home Office secretly channelled £30,000 in grant money to a controversial organisation campaigning to legalise paedophilia in the late 1970s, a former civil servant has claimed.
Tim Hulbert, who worked for the Voluntary Services Unit (VSU) during the 1970s and 1980s, told the Westminster strand of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse that he had seen the payment recorded on a spreadsheet.
He said the payment to the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) had been marked on official documents as a grant made to the Women’s Royal Voluntary Services (WRVS).
Mr Hulbert said he had been made aware of the grant via a senior colleague called Alan Davies who was new to the VSU – the body responsible for deciding which UK voluntary organisations should receive government funding.
He said in a statement: ‘[Alan Davies] and I got on well and used to talk informally about things we were working on.
‘I believe, though I cannot be sure, that it was during one of these informal chats over coffee that I discovered the unit was funding PIE – about which I knew little except that it was an organisation campaigning for the lowering of the age of consent to four.’
The statement added that he was aware that PIE also had a magazine called Magpie, and that he had seen a copy of the magazine in the VSU’s London offices.
He said the payment to PIE had been listed in the ‘grant renewals’ section of the spreadsheet and marked ‘WRVS (P.I.E)’.
‘This seems improbable but if the intention was to conceal the grant, then to use a cover organisation like WRVS whose grant was one of the largest might have been an option.’
Mr Hubert was approached by police about his claims after he contacted the BBC following the 2013 screening of the film ‘Secret Life of a Paedophile’ about social worker Peter Righton – one of the founding members of PIE.
Earlier on Monday, the inquiry heard evidence from civil servant Mike Box who had assisted a 2014 review of allegations historic child sexual abuse within Westminster.
He said that no trace of any payment to PIE had been found in government documents from the era, and that the review had been unable to track down Alan Davies.
A contemporary of Mr Hulbert at the VSU also had no recollection of grant payments made to PIE, Mr Box said.
The Westminster strand of the far-reaching inquiry into historical sexual abuse in British institutions is scheduled to last three weeks and is due to conclude on March 29.
In 2016, a man alleged that Cliff Richard abused him in 1982 and blamed the attack for turning him into a sexual predator. He also alleged abuse by others including Leon Brittan, and handed cops a Midland Bank cheque book with a list of his abusers. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1296089/serial-rapist-is-one-of-the-men-who-claims-to-have-been-abused-by-sir-cliff-richard/ …
And then there was Stephan Kock, a spook, arms dealer and head of hit squad Group 13, who boasted of his close ties with Thatcher. In June 1984, Kock was taken on by the Midland Bank as a part-time Consultant/Advisor to the Bank’s Defence Equipment Finance Department (DEFD).
New report reveals ‘horrifying scale’ of child sex abuse, naming nearly 400 accused Catholic clergy in Illinois
20 Mar 2019
“We have chosen to reveal this information because the Catholic bishops and the religious orders, who are in charge and have this information and hold it secret, have chosen to conceal it,” said attorney Jeff Anderson.
Redaction – Hayman a 1981 note from Sir Robert Armstrong to Margaret Thatcher.
‘This file had an annotation made on it by an SIS officer which read “An unpleasant and pompous man, used to like playing Father Christmas in Ottowa so that he would dandle children on his knee.”
Paedophile, PIE member, Sir Peter Hayman was trustee of The International Students Trust along with Henniker-Major (who harboured PIE member Peter Righton) , Lord Denning, Earl Grosvenor and Sir Adrian Cadbury
Another trustee
The Lord Adeane
Michael Edward Adeane, Baron Adeane, GCB, GCVO, PC (30 September 1910 – 30 April 1984) was Private Secretary to Elizabeth II between 1953 and 1972, for 19 years.
Their son Edward Adeane, a barrister, was Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales from 1979–1985.
‘INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS TRUST Founded in 1962 by the Duke of Grafton, D.J. Grennan, H.A. Shaw, obe, A.D.C. Peterson, obe, G.F. Lewis, E.J.B. Nelson, H.D.H. Wills, Mary Trevelyan, cbe, and M.J. Gilliat, Kcvo, mbe, to acquire, construct and maintain premises in London with a view to assisting students (including postgraduate students and persons engaged in research) to obtain and benefit from education or to pursue research at the University of London and other institutions of further education, by affording them hostel accommodation and facilities for rest, recreation, study, lectures and meetings. Activities: Operates nationally and internationally in the fields of edu- cation, and social welfare and studies through self-conducted programmes, conferences and courses. Finance: Net assets £1,408,867 (April 1973); annual revenue £310,535, expenditure £337,006 (Sept. 1972). Trustees: The Lord Adeane, gcb, gcvo, pc; Sir Robert Birley, kcmg; D.h Bosanquet; Sir Adrian Cadbury; Viscount Cranborne; the Rt. Hon. Lord Denning, PC; Lady Garner; Lt.-Col. Sir Martin Gilliat, KCVO, mbe; the Duke of Grafton; Earl Grosvenor; J.D. Hambro; Sir Peter Hayman, KCMG, c\'0. mbe; the Hon. Sir John Henniker-Major, kcmg, cvo. mc; S.G. Holliman, MC, N.K. Kinkead-Weekes; Sir Douglas Logan, dphil, ma, bcl; Sir Roy Marshall, cbe, ma, PHD, lld; Philip Mason, obe; Maj.-Gen. Sir John Nelson, KCVO, CB. Dso, obe, mc; Leo Seymour; John R. Slater; A.D. Tennant; Mary Trevelyim, cbe; A.F. Tuke; Major E.J.A. Vaughan; H.D.H. Wills, CBE; the Hon. V.P.H. Wills; Mrs. F.M.G. Willson. Officers: Dir. H.A. Shaw, obe; Warden J.C.M. Paton. Address: 229 Great Portland Street, London WIN 5HD. https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.147421/2015.147421.The-International-Foundation-Directory_djvu.txt in1972 David Steel at the International Students House
John Palmer had friends in high places…here’s one of Palmer’s close friends – Lord Denning
In the UPW‘s anti-apartheid boycott of postal services to and from South Africa, The Freedom Association sought an injunction to prevent the boycott. Denning granted a temporary injunction, and years later wrote of “bad workers” (who joined the boycott) and “good workers” (who worked normally).
In 1980, during an appeal by the Birmingham Six (who were later acquitted), Denning judged that the men should be stopped from challenging legal decisions. He listed several reasons for not allowing their appeal:
https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1975/aug/05/picketing-amendment
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/local-news/20000-gathered-see-lord-wed-2903093
Wheelyboat directors
Leonora Anson, Countess of Lichfield,
born as Leonora Mary Grosvenor, a daughter of the 5th Duke of Westminster
The Handicapped Anglers Trust / The Wheelyboat Trust is stocked with royal family relatives and associates
Sir Charles Morrison (brother of paedophile Peter Morrison MP) was also a director and has a boat named after him.
Lincoln Seligman (pictured) has defended his late godfather and called for an end to the ‘vindictive’ investigation
Lincoln Seligman’s wife
Patricia Seligman has a degree in History of Art from London University. As a freelance editor she worked on a number of magazines, including The World of Interiors. She is married to the artist Lincoln Seligman.
MRS PATRICIA VICTORIA SELIGMAN
Director at Wheelyboat – charity for disabled
https://companycheck.co.uk/company/01872144/THE-WHEELYBOAT-TRUST/companies-house-data
1981, March 18th – Peter Hayman recently resigns from post as a governor of International Students House, an organization for overseas students, and as director of a company named Delta Overseas, after the previous week’s trial involving Tom O Carroll mentioning an unamed ex diplomat (Hayman) being investigated for sending pornographic material in the mail.
Hayman and Henniker-Major’s connections to Save the Children:
Hayman and wife Rosemary nee Blomefield Hayman
Sir Peter Hayman’s connections to Save the Children and the International Students House were forged through his wife (not mother) Rosemary Blomefield. (Cousin of PIE member Charles Napier)
Sir John Henniker-Major’s wife Lady Henniker-Major was also ‘very active in the overseas relief and fundraising work of the Save the Children Fund and its Danish sister organisation Red Barnet.” Lord Gore-Booth (of Malty, West Ridings of York), a noted British diplomat and Chairman of The Save the Children Fund 1970 – 1976 wrote Lady Henniker-Major’s obituary.
Simon Doggart / Caldicott School/ Winchester College / John Smyth
Simon Doggart
Alleged victim Andy Moorse told the BBC that barrister John Smyth QC convinced Simon Doggart to join in committing the sadomasochistic abuse at Winchester College in Hampshire during the mid-1970s.
He alleged that the boys would “bleed everywhere” from the attacks.
Mr Doggart, who has been the headteacher of Caldicott preparatory school in Buckinghamshire for the last two decades
Simon Doggart’s father, Hubert Doggart
Hubert Doggart pursued the issue: Chichester’s Dean & Chapter failed to use the word “alleged” when making pronouncements on Bishop Bell’s guilt. Could we not insist on their retracting from this stance?
Peter H replied the word “alleged” was used in the Diocesan statement of October 26 2015.
Mr Doggart doggardly pressed on : Could we not isolate our Dean and Chapter from the Diocese?
Martin Carson was dismissed for sexual abuse of a pupil in 1972, and went on to teach at the Harrodian School. He was subsequently prosecuted and found guilty of indecent assault and possessing indecent images of children in 2003.[4]link
Simon Doggart’s great-uncle: James Hamilton Doggart – member of the establishment and secret society – The Apostles – members included Soviet spies Anthony Blunt and Guy Burgess
https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=James%20Hamilton%20Doggart
More claims emerge of alleged abuse at Christian camp
It has been claimed a man at the heart of a child abuse scandal in the Church of England recruited one of his victims to help him carry out beatings.
FA ‘covered up sex abuse of boys by coaches’
An alleged victim’s father claims football’s governing body has suppressed evidence of a paedophile ring
March 24 2019,
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/fa-covered-up-sex-abuse-of-boys-by-coaches-v82m6vh87
@anthonydaly01
I will take to my grave, the memory of what Peter Hayman and three other men did to an eight year boy in 1975.
DPP Sir Thomas Hetherington decided in 1978 against prosecuting paedophile “Sir” Peter Hayman, top diplomat and MI6 officer, for obscenity charge after solicitor David Napley said that his client “may commit suicide” if case continue
Paedophile Sir Peter Hayman and wife Rosemary Eardley Blomefield (cousin of convicted establishment paedophile Charles Napier – half brother of John Whittingdale MP)
Detective who sent file on Peter Hayman in 1978 to DPP, Bryan Collins, says that he has “no knowledge of Peter Hayman having suicidal tendencies,” despite ex-prosecutor’s claim. “But I would describe him as a worried man.”
“It seems no harm has been done to anyone.” Staggering comment in DPP’s file on 1978 case of senior diplomat and spy “Sir” Peter Hayman. Jeremy Naunton, formerly of DPP office: note “is at risk of being read out of context.”
IICSA transcript:
Jeremy Naunton, the lawyer in the DPP’s office who wrote the advice note in effect recommending that Hayman should not be prosecuted…
@ciabaudo
Small world, innit? Jeremy Naunton was prosecutor in Harvey Proctor case.
@ciabaudo
£35 commission each time a rent boy was supplied to Harvey Proctor in the early 80s. Let’s say 3 a week over 3 years so 35x3x3x52. That’s £16,380 and doesn’t even include payment for the rent boys! How on earth could Harvey Proctor retain Sir David Napley?
@craftymuvva
The same way he funded his shop and his St Vermin’s performance maybe?
Thatcher stopped Peter Hayman being named as paedophile-link civil servant
The file, compiled between October 1980 and March 1981, is made up of memos and background notes put together for Thatcher, then prime minister, and is littered with her handwritten notes, underlinings and crossings out.
The existence of the file was revealed by Sky News last month. On Friday the Cabinet Office announced it had reviewed the decision to keep the file secret beyond the standard 30-year deadline and was releasing it to the National Archives in Kew. A preview of the file was issued to the media.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/feb/02/thatcher-peter-hayman-named-paedophile-archives
Peter Hayman, Morris and Wardell
Prosecutors behind Jeffrey Epstein plea deal selected a 16-year-old victim over dozens of younger girls so that the accused child rapist would not have to register as a sex offender in 31 of 50 states
- Jeffrey Epstein entered a guilty plea to soliciting prostitution from a teenager who was 16, which is the age of consent in 31 states
- As a result, Epstein did not have to register as a sex offender in New Mexico, where he owns a ranch, and is a low-level offender in the US Virgin Islands
- This was discovered by The Washington Post after it pressed the court, with many believing the 14-year-old who reported Epstein was the victim in the deal
- Just last month, a judge ruled prosecutors violated the rights of Epstein’s alleged victims when they neglected to tell them no federal charges would be pursued
- Forty women had alleged that they were abused by millionaire money manager
- Epstein, who is friends with President Trump and has donated millions to the Clintons, served 13 months at a low-security facility on work release
- He was prosecuted by Alex Acosta, who is currently the Secretary of Labor and had been mentioned a possible pick to replace Jeff Sessions as Attorney General
20 Mar 2019
The plea deal that Jeffrey Epstein agreed to back in 2008 saved the accused child rapist from having to register as a sex offender in 31 of 50 states.
The Washington Post reports that the victim who Epstein admitted to soliciting for prostitution was not the 14-year-old girl who first reported the millionaire money manager, but rather another girl, 16, whose age was left blank on court documents.
That victim’s age means that Epstein did not have to register as a sex offender in states like New Mexico, where he owns a 7,600-acre property called Zorro Ranch, and allows him to be classified as a low risk offender in the US Virgin Islands, which is currently his primary residence.
This revelation comes one month after a federal judge ruled that then-U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta violated the rights of Epstein’s alleged victims when they neglected to notify them that they were no longer pursuing federal charges.
That was another part of the deal, which in addition to allowing Epstein to have work release and live in a low-security facility also agreed to drop a federal probe into the millionaire moneyman.
Now Acosta – who is currently the Secretary of Labor and had been mentioned as a possible candidate for attorney general – and others are again coming under fire for allegedly catering to the man who donated millions to the Clintons and hosted President Trump at his Manhattan townhouse while keeping his victims in the dark.
‘They were cutting a plea deal. It wasn’t a prosecution,’ said attorney Spencer Kuvin, who represented the 14-year-old girl who alerted police.
‘They had a grab bag of 40 girls to choose from.’
He then revealed that he and his client be
lieved they had been the victim referenced in the plea deal.
‘It’s unbelievably upsetting,’ said Kuvin.
‘The rug has been swiped out from under the one girl who was brave enough to come forward and break this thing.’
Mystery parties seek secrecy in Jeffrey Epstein-related suit
The two said they could face embarrassment if the court makes public records from the suit, which accused a longtime Epstein friend of engaging in sex trafficking.
20 Mar 2019
Two mystery litigants citing privacy concerns are making a last-ditch bid to keep secret some details in a lawsuit stemming from wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein’s history of paying underage girls for sex.
Just prior to a court-imposed deadline Tuesday, two anonymous individuals surfaced to object to the unsealing of a key lower-court ruling in the case, as well as various submissions by the parties.
Both people filed their complaints in the New York-based 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, which is overseeing the case. The two people said they could face unwarranted speculation and embarrassment if the court makes public records from the suit, in which Virginia Giuffre, an alleged Epstein victim, accused longtime Epstein friend Ghislaine Maxwell of engaging in sex trafficking by facilitating his sexual encounters with teenage girls. Maxwell has denied the charges.
“Wholesale unsealing of the Summary Judgment Materials will almost certainly disclose unadjudicated allegations against third persons — allegations that may be the product of false statements or, perhaps, simply mistake, confusion, or failing memories of events alleged to have occurred over a decade and half ago,” former federal prosecutor Nick Lewin wrote in an amicus brief filed Tuesday.
Lewin’s brief doesn’t provide any details about his client — identified in the brief by the pseudonym “John Doe” — beyond saying he “potentially” is mentioned in the underlying court filings and opinion. Lewin, who’s based in Manhattan, declined to comment.
“If the identities of non-parties are not adequately protected, the release of the Summary Judgment Materials in this case would likely cause severe and irreparable harm to a wide variety of non-parties, including those implicated in the conduct and those potentially victimized by it,” the brief says.
The other anonymous brief came from Washington-based attorney Kerrie Campbell, who handles gender equality cases and is affiliated with the Time’s Up movement to combat sexual harassment. Campbell requested that the brief submitted on behalf of a “J. Doe” be put under seal, but said in legal papers that the client is “objecting to public disclosure of specific content pertaining to Doe to protect compelling personal privacy interests.”
Campbell did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Giuffre and Maxwell settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed sum in 2017 after U.S. District Court Judge Robert Sweet turned down Maxwell’s bid to head off a trial. In the lead-up to that ruling, Sweet accepted almost all filings in the case under seal, without specific orders justifying the secrecy.
Three different parties asked Sweet to unseal records in the case: Harvard law professor and former Epstein lawyer Alan Dershowitz — a prominent Trump defender — filmmaker and far-right social media personality Mike Cernovich and the Miami Herald.
Dershowitz said he wanted several records released to disprove and discredit allegations two women have made that they had sex with Dershowitz at Epstein’s direction. Dershowitz has categorically denied the allegations.
Cernovich said the far-ranging secrecy in the case undermined efforts to expose sexual trafficking by American elites.
The Miami Herald sought to open all records in the suit as part of a series on Epstein it was preparing and ultimately published last year.
Sweet turned down all the requests, prompting an appeals to the 2nd Circuit. A three-judge panel there heard arguments on the issue earlier this month and indicated last week that it plans to soon release Sweet’s opinion and related filings. The judges asked any parties in the appeals with specific objections to notify the court by Tuesday.
Maxwell indicated in papers filed by her lawyers Tuesday that she continues to oppose any unsealing. Her attorneys said that if the appeals court believes some unsealing is required, the matter should be returned to Sweet for action, since he is most familiar with the case.
Giuffre is supporting immediate unsealing of some materials in the case and a broader unsealing of all records, but said in a filing Tuesday that some personal information should be held back like names of minors, social security numbers, dates of birth and phone numbers.
“The truth is that Ms. Maxwell and Mr. Epstein sexually trafficked [Giuffre] to their well-connected friends, both in this country and elsewhere,” Giuffre attorneys Paul Cassell and Sigrid McCawley wrote. Unfortunately, critical documents and transcripts proving the truth of Ms. Giuffre’s allegations remain sealed in the vault of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. It is time for the truth to come out.”
Last month, a federal judge in Florida ruled that federal prosecutors broke the law a decade ago by failing to consult with and misleading victims of Epstein before making a deal that waived any federal charges in exchange for him pleading guilty to two state felony prostitution charges. He ultimately served 13 months of a 19-month sentence, much of it working from his office during the day.
The ruling has been a major headache for Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, who was U.S. Attorney in Miami at the time and approved the plea deal. A Justice Department ethics watchdog has launched an investigation into the episode. Acosta has denied any wrongdoing and has said the deal was a reasonable move by his office in light of the available evidence and other considerations.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/20/jeffrey-epstein-related-lawsuit-1229908
Crewe claim they did not arrange for boys to stay with Barry Bennell
19 Mar 2019
• Crewe bring in lawyers used by Catholic church in abuse case
• Club say victims’ long silence means case should be thrown out
Peer tells child abuse inquiry she ‘must have’ passed on rumours about Chester Tory MP Peter Morrison
18 Mar 2019
A FORMER MI5 chief has said it was “shocking” that rumours in the 1980s about a Tory MP’s alleged “penchant for small boys” were not passed on to police.
Baroness Manningham-Buller told the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) it was not her decision at the time as to whether that should happen.
She said she “must have” passed information on rumours about the late Chester MP Sir Peter Morrison but could not remember specifically having done so.
Baroness Manningham-Buller admitted it was “ironic” MI5’s inquiries into the then-deputy chairman of the Conservative Party appeared to come to an abrupt end within weeks of her writing one of two memos stating she had been told by Sir Peter the rumours were untrue and then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was supporting him.
The life peer, who at the time of the probe in 1986 worked for MI5’s secretariat, said she had trusted those in positions of greater authority to deal with any investigation into the rumours.
She told the inquiry, sitting in London: “I reported what I heard, it was all hearsay, it was all second hand and I trusted those above me to deal with it appropriately.”
Baroness Manningham-Buller said although she had no “independent recollection” of specific rumours she had heard and passed on, it was likely she was the MI5 staff member referred to in a January 1986 letter mentioning that a friend had said Sir Peter had been caught soliciting in a public lavatory and had been lucky not to be charged.
She said: “I think I must have been”, adding: “I would have regarded it as my duty to do so.”
The inquiry heard she wrote two internal security service memos, one dated November 11, stating Sir Peter “vehemently denied” there was any truth in a story that he had an “interest in small boys” and one on November 13, which said he was hoping the press would publish a story so he could “sue and nail the lies”.
A letter later that month from then-MI5 director-general Antony Duff to then-Cabinet Secretary Sir Robert Armstrong subsequently suggested there was “little point in carrying this (investigation) further”.
Lead counsel to the inquiry Brian Altman QC asked Baroness Manningham-Buller whether she agreed the investigation appeared to have ended “ironically because of the information that you had passed to your supervisors”.
She replied: “It is ironic”.
The inquiry heard on Monday from an anonymous MI5 witness who said it was a matter of “deep regret” none of the allegations had been passed to police.
Baroness Manningham-Buller, who was appointed director-general of MI5 in 2002 and served for five years, said it was “shocking” a reference to Sir Peter having a “penchant for small boys” was not highlighted.
She said: “If the – as one wished had been the case – reference to children was given prominence, it would’ve been to pass it to the police and make sure that they had that information. That should’ve been what had happened.”
She added: “That wasn’t my decision”.
Baroness Manningham-Buller said while she had been friends with Sir Peter for much of the 1980s, the friendship was “withering” by the end of the decade for a number of reasons including that she suspected he had been giving people the impression she was his girlfriend, “which was inaccurate”.
The inquiry continues.
France demands Vatican lift envoy’s immunity over abuse
16 March 2019
https://www.thelocal.fr/20190316/france-demands-vatican-lift-envoys-immunity-over-abuse-probe
@Smartcairns11
‘The UN wrongly accorded to the Catholic Church a portentous status that is denied to all other religions and NGO’s.
The Holy See has used its statehood to operate a secret legal system that shields paedophile priests from criminal trial around the world.’
@calamiTcat76
Sir David Steel is just surrounded by paedo eh?!
Sir Clement Freud was visitor to Aikwood Tower.. Whoodathunkit?!
@ciabaudo
Dear David Steel, could you please explain how you can bring a man into disrepute who corresponded clandestinely with like-minded men about their joint interest in the extreme sexual torture and murder of children?
Lib Dems SUSPEND peer David Steel over child sex scandal after he admitted knowing about the crimes of paedophile MP Cyril Smith
- The former Liberal leader said that sexual predator Cyril Smith confessed to him
- Lord Steel didn’t report the allegations and took no action after the confession
- He said he would act in the same way again despite the fact Smith went on to abuse other victims
14 Mar 2019
In astonishing evidence to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), Lord Steel said he would act in the same way again, even though Smith went on to abuse other victims. The 80-year-old peer’s remarks triggered a furious backlash and demands for the Lib Dems to suspend him.
The party announced yesterday it had launched a probe into Lord Steel over his comments, and deputy leader Jo Swinson tweeted: ‘Clearly this is incredibly serious and he should be suspended while this takes place.’
Last night the Scottish Liberal Democrats said: ‘Following the evidence concerning Cyril Smith given by Lord Steel to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse on 13th March 2019, the office bearers of the Scottish Liberal Democrats have met and agreed that an investigation is needed.
‘The party membership of Lord Steel has been suspended pending the outcome of that investigation. That work will now commence.
‘It is important that everyone in the party, and in wider society, understands the importance of vigilance and safeguarding to protect people from abuse, and that everyone has confidence in the seriousness with which we take it.
While he was Liberal leader, Lord Steel confronted Smith in 1979 after a Private Eye article revealed the MP’s abuse of children at a care home, the inquiry heard on Wednesday. The article accused 29-stone Smith, then the MP for Rochdale, of abusing teenage boys at the town’s Cambridge House Hostel, of which he was a trustee.
Lord Smith also told the inquiry that he did not raise the allegations to the honours scrutiny committee when he successfully nominated Smith for a knighthood in 1988.
Lawyers representing Smith’s victims questioned whether the peer’s actions paved the way for more abuse. They also expressed disbelief that the paedophile MP was allowed to escape justice.
Lord Steel’s remarks are all the more extraordinary after he last year appeared to dismiss revelations about Smith’s abuse as ‘scurrilous hearsay and tittle-tattle’. He told the inquiry he had ‘grave doubts’ about details of the paedophile MP’s activities published in a book by former Labour MP Simon Danczuk that was serialised in the Mail.
In April 2014, Lord Steel refused to answer questions about his failure to act on the allegations against Smith when the Mail tracked him down to the Azores, where he was enjoying a stop on a luxury cruise.
Richard Scorer, a lawyer representing seven of Smith’s victims in the inquiry, condemned Lord Steel’s ‘appalling dereliction of duty’.
‘The admission that Cyril Smith confessed to him in 1979 that he had abused boys – but that he took no action against Smith despite this – will cause victims great anger,’ he said. ‘We know that Cyril Smith used his power and status to abuse boys at Knowl View in the 1980s, so action by Steel in 1979 could have protected some of Smith’s later victims.’
@ciabaudo
Don’t forget: David Steel nominated not just ONE but TWO paedophiles for an honour – Cyril Smith AND Clement Freud. Who put Steel’s name forward?
https://twitter.com/ciabaudo/status/1004574951800700928
https://twitter.com/ciabaudo/status/1004574951800700928
Honours unit in Cabinet Office received anonymous letter about Jimmy Savile in 1998, after he had been knighted, to claim that investigative reporters were aware of “his homosexual rendezvous with rent boys” and that he had a “paedophiliac nature
He produces a transparent plastic folder. “Read it all,” he urges. “Go on. Have a little dwell on that. That folder encapsulates it all.”
The folder encloses the letter from the Prime Minister offering him a knighthood, the envelope it came in, some bumf about keeping it secret till the proper date and then – proudest of all – telegrams from Charles and Diana, from Prince Philip, a handwritten letter from Angus Ogilvy and a very sweet homemade card with a stuck-on snapshot of Princess Bea, from the Duchess of York.
Many businesses and organisations use him as a conduit to the Royal Family; he can pick up the telephone to most of them and has long worked with Prince Charles (“the most caring fellow I’ve ever met – oh, unbelievable”) on the problems of the disabled.
He is an habitué of Highgrove and Buckingham Palace, of No 10 and Chequers, where he often spends Christmas or New Year – though he carefully points out that he has been friendly with all the past four Prime Ministers because Stoke Mandeville is Chequers’ local hospital.
Honours Committee received anonymous allegations of child sexual abuse against Jimmy Savile in 1998 but did not pass them on to police, inquiry hears
- Lord Armstrong cited interviews with Savile where he boasted about sex
- He also highlighted that Savile’s ‘sexual promiscuity’ was a problem
- Senior civil servant Helen MacNamara gave evidence at the hearing today
- She said that such a letter would now immediately be passed to the police
- The inquiry saw letters between the then head of the Honours Committee and Margaret Thatcher’s secretary
The Honours Committee received anonymous allegations of child sex abuse against Jimmy Savile in 1998 but failed to pass them on to the police, an inquiry has heard.
The Westminster strand of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse heard that civil servants had been wary of Savile’s activities as far back as 1984.
The inquiry saw letters between then-head of the Honours Committee and Margaret Thatcher’s secretary resisting calls for Savile to be knighted despite pressure from the prime minister.
A senior civil servant giving evidence said that today such a letter would have been passed straight to the police.
Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (left) had first attempted to knight Jimmy Savile (right) in 1987 (pictured above Mrs Thatcher presented Savile with a cheque)
A news clipping (pictured above) which shows the reservations from Robert Armstrong in 1983
This comes as ex-liberal leader Lord Steel admitted yesterday that he had known that Cyril Smith had abused children, but that it had never occurred to him to hold an inquiry into the MP.
During today’s inquiry Lord Robert Armstrong cited interviews with Savile published in the Sun the previous year where he boasted about having people beaten up, sleeping with hundreds of girls and giving recommendations to a suicidal man on how to take his own life.
Lord Armstrong said: ‘My committee did not feel that sufficient time has elapsed since Mr Savile’s unfortunate revelations in the popular press in April of this year.
‘He is much in the public eye and it is unlikely that the lurid details of his story will have been forgotten. I fear it would be best if Mr Savile were to wait a little longer.
Lord Armstrong then went on to refuse to include him in the birthday honours list, saying: ‘The lapse of time has served only to strengthen the doubts felt about a knighthood for Mr Savile.
‘Those of whom I have consulted now consider that a knighthood for Mr Savile would give rise to enough unfavourable comment to risk bringing the honours system into disrepute’
In response to Mrs Thatcher’s attempts to have Savile knighted in 1987, Lord Armstrong again highlighted the interviews in the Sun, adding that in the light of the Aids crisis, his ‘sexual promiscuity’ was a problem.
In 1998, the Honours Committee received an anonymous letter referring to ‘reports of a paedophilia nature’ could emerge about Savile and allegations about his involvement with rent boys.
It said: ‘While within limits and bounds homosexuality can be rationalized in a modern society, we must not lose sight that paedophilia goes beyond any boundaries which right-minded people of whatever political persuasions find abhorrent.’
Giving evidence, senior civil servant Helen MacNamara – who currently heads the Honours and Appointments Secretariat – said that such a letter would now immediately be passed to the police.
She highlighted that as Savile had been knighted in 1991, the letter would have prompted further inquiries about whether the case should be brought before the forfeiture committee.
Ms MacNamara said she did not know how the letter was dealt with at the time or if any concerns were raised with the authorities.
The inquiry previously saw documents between senior civil servants relating to MP Cyril Smith, who was investigated for child abuse, and former high commissioner to Canada Peter Hayman who was suspected of being involved in the Paedophile Information Exchange.
They recommended that the men be ‘given the benefit of the doubt’ or be ‘spoken to’ warning them about their future conduct.
As a result, Smith was knighted while Hayman was not stripped of his honour.
When asked if criticism of the honours system for protecting itself rather than considering victims was fair, Ms Macnamara replied: ‘That’s absolutely a fair criticism.’
She said that in the wake of various scandals a much more thorough process had been established before individuals are considered for honours, including background checks.
Ms MacNamara added that the Honours Committee was much more likely to err on the side of caution when making nominations.
She said the forfeiture committee now met more regularly to consider those who should be stripped of their honours.
‘It is important these cases are considered properly, not least because of the impact on the people,’ she said.
She added that at the moment, there are no plans to strip people of their awards posthumously, saying: ‘Honours are a living award. You are a member of the honour while you are alive, and once you are dead the honour dies with you.’
But Ms MacNamara said that depending on the recommendations of the inquiry, this could change in future.
The Westminster strand of the far-reaching inquiry is expected to last three weeks and is due to conclude on March 22.
Lib Dems open disciplinary probe into Lord Steel after Cyril Smith testimony
Operation Pallial – Former North Wales children’s home boss jailed for nine years for sexually abusing young boys
13 Mar 2109
The former Deputy Superintendent of a children’s home in North Wales has been jailed for nine years after being found guilty of sexually abusing young boys in the 1970s.
Huw Meurig Jones, aged 69, from Old Colwyn, was convicted of ten offences, including buggery, indecent assault and gross indecency, following a National Crime Agency investigation.
The offences took place between 1975 and 1978, when Jones was the Deputy Superintendent at Little Acton Assessment Centre, Wrexham, and when he was a social worker in the Colwyn Bay area.
The victims, two males aged between 13 and 15 at the time of the offences, were preyed upon by Jones at the Assessment Centre and also at his home address.
Jones was convicted and sentenced yesterday, Tuesday 12 March following a four-day trial at Mold Crown Court.
Andy Sandham, Deputy Senior Investigating Officer from the NCA, said:
“Jones should have been responsible for taking care of young children. Instead he abused his position and caused lasting damage to these vulnerable boys.
“I would like to commend the bravery of the victims while giving evidence in court and during the years they have waited for justice. We will continue our work to bring justice to those who were wronged at such a young age all those years ago.”
Operation Pallial, the independent NCA investigation into allegations of past abuse in the care system in North Wales, began in November 2012 at the request of Mark Polin, who was the Chief Constable of North Wales Police.
Huw Jones is the 12th person to be convicted under Operation Pallial.
There are three further trials under operation Pallial scheduled to begin this year and in early 2020.
In the six years the operation has been running, 375 people have made contact with the NCA team.
Investigations into the evidence provided by 257 of them have concluded and details provided by 43 complainants are either with the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration of charges, or are part of active investigations.
In 73 instances, the complainant has either been unable, or has declined, to pursue their allegation.
The offences reported occurred between 1953 and 1995, with victims ranging from six to 19 years old at the time.
The investigation has identified 146 suspected offenders, the majority in respect of sexual offending against boys. Of these suspects, 23 have been arrested to date, 42 have been interviewed under caution following voluntary attendance, and 43 suspects are believed to have died.
So far, 21 suspects have been charged, of which matters have concluded against 19.
Longest serving Church of England bishop faces calls to resign after court hears he knew about paedophile priest
His brother-in-law, Kenneth Stevenson, was also a bishop.[12]is facing calls to resign
3 March 2019
The longest-serving bishop in the Church of England is facing calls to resign after it emerged he knew about a paedophile priest in his diocese and did nothing.
The Bishop of Chester, Rt Rev Peter Forster, found out Rev Gordon Dickenson had become embroiled in a child abuse scandal decades earlier when the retired vicar wrote a letter about the affair in 2009.
Dickenson was convicted earlier this month of eight counts of sexual assault after pleading guilty to abusing a boy during the 1970s inside a church hall and even his vicarage.
But ten years ago, Dickenson had written to the Diocese of Chester which was conducting a review of past abuse cases admitting he been accused of the abuse during the 1970s and had promised the then Bishop of Chester he would “never do it again”.
Despite this admission, Bishop Forster failed to pass on the letter to the police or order an internal church inquiry.
Instead, Dickenson was given permission to continue acting as a retired priest for another five years, which allowed him to continue holding services in churches with the diocese’s blessing.
Andrew Graystone, a leading advocate for survivors of clerical abuse and a personal friend of Bishop Forster, has now demanded the bishop stand down.
In a letter to the bishop, he wrote: “It seems clear that Dickenson’s confession of guilt to the Diocese has been either wilfully or neglectfully ignored for at least ten years during which you have been bishop.
“I call upon you to resign with immediate effect.”
Chester Crown Court had earlier heard how Dickenson’s crimes had left his victim filled with shame and ultimately drove him into alcoholism. His ordeal only came to light when police stumbled across the case in 2017 while investigating a previous Bishop of Chester, Victor Whitsey, who had also been accused of abuse.
In a statement, the Diocese of Chester said it would conduct a review into its handling of the case and offered an “unreserved apology to the survivor”.
“Information brought to light to the Diocese in 2009, if acted upon then, may have led to the police bringing a prosecution against Gordon Dickenson much sooner. The Diocese apologises for not acting on this information in 2009.”
Bishop Forster said: “I welcome the opportunity to contribute to a review into the handling of the case by the Diocese in 2009, and will do so to the appropriate authority in due course
In 2003, Forster raised controversy when he was investigated by the police for an alleged “hate speech” after suggesting that homosexual people should seek psychiatric treatment.[7] However, no charges were made, and the police were satisfied that no offence had been committed.[8]
In 2012, amid controversy over the amount of expenses claimed by bishops for attending the House of Lords, it was revealed that Forster had claimed more than any other bishop in 2010/11. He had claimed £34,909 and had attended on 97 days.[11]
His brother-in-law, Kenneth Stevenson, was also a bishop.[12]
MI5 files reveal Thatcher supported key ally over child sex abuse claims
March 12, 2019
MI5 files have revealed for the first time what many suspected. Margaret Thatcher was aware of alleged sexual offences by her Private Parliamentary Secretary Sir Peter Morrison yet chose to defend him.
Testimony as well as documents MI5 have handed to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) suggest a rallying behind the Conservative minister despite concerns laid out about Morrison’s “interest in small boys”.
Peter Morrison, Tory MP for Chester was a junior minister, then Conservative party deputy chairman before becoming Private Parliamentary Secretary to Margaret Thatcher in 1990.
He was one of Thatcher’s most faithful allies, persuading her to stand for the party leadership in 1975. Morrison was knighted in 1991 and died in 1995.
The IICSA is probing how the Conservative Party and secret services dealt with allegations of child sex abuse made against Sir Peter Morrison. He was never charged with the allegations levelled against him.
The MI5 files suggest then PM Thatcher knew of the allegations against him.
In a memo from 1986, revealed to the inquiry yesterday, Eliza The memo also mentions his conversation with another member of Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet, Sir Norman Tebbit – a conversation Tebbit referred to shockingly on the BBC’s Marr show years later. When asked if there was a “big political cover up” at the time, the former Chairman of the Conservative Party replied: “you didn’t talk about those things.”
Lord Tebbit has been asked by the inquiry what he knew about Sir Peter Morrison, after reports emerged that an investigating police officer visited Norman Tebbit to warn him about allegations involving boys.
Lord Tebbit’s statement to the investigations said that he thought the police officer was referring to boys of “Sixth Form age.”
A statement read out by Lord Tebbit said that he was aware of “several decades of allegations of Westminster child abuse and cover ups.”
Last week we also reported how the inquiry heard an extract from former Tory MP Edwina Currie’s diary for July 24 1990 (published in 2002).
Junior Health Minister Currie wrote in her diary about Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet reshuffle:
“One appointment in the recent reshuffle has attracted a lot of gossip and could be very dangerous: Peter Morrison has become the PM’s PPS. Now he’s what they call ‘a noted pederast’, with a liking for young boys; he admitted as much to Norman Tebbit when he became deputy chairman of the party, but added, ‘However, I’m very discreet’ – and he must be! She either knows and is taking a chance, or doesn’t; either way it is a really dumb move. Teresa Gorman told me this evening (in a taxi coming back from a drinks party at the BBC) that she inherited Morrison’s (woman) agent, who claimed to have been offered money to keep quiet about his activities. It scares me, as all the press know, and as we get closer to the election someone is going to make trouble, very close to her indeed.”
Asked to explain the entry by the inquiry, Currie said she was worried about the reputational damage consorting with underage boys by her Parliamentary Private Secretary would cause to Thatcher.
She added that she could not explain whether and how Morrison was protected from prosecution, and that it would have been wrong.
Manningham-Buller, who later became director general of MI5, wrote that she met Morrison and regarding the allegations against him, she reported that “the prime minister was aware of it and was supporting Peter.”
The police never questioned Morrison about the allegations against him.
But neither did the Conservative Party.
Former MI5 chief Baroness Manningham-Buller wrote in another memo that Morrison was suspected by the press of being a “prominent Tory [who] was under investigation by the police because of his interest in small boys”.
Sir Antony Duff, who headed MI5 in 1986 passed this information on to Lord Armstrong – then Sir Robert Armstrong, Margaret Thatcher’s Cabinet Secretary.
The inquiry heard how Sir Antony Duff advised that the risk of political embarrassment was greater than the security risk to the country, and so no action was taken.
-Despite the potential of risk to any children
In 1987, MI5 advised Morrison to “be on his guard . . . against behaviour which, however innocent, could be misrepresented” and he was warned that “as a public figure he needed to choose his friends with care”.
Lord Armstrong was called to answer questions at today’s IICSA hearing. He told the inquiry that Margaret Thatcher did not think it necessary to have her key ally quizzed over the serious claims against him.
He said if Peter Morrison had been a government minister in a “sensitive” department such as defence or the foreign office, it would have been a “serious matter to think about”.
But the protection of the children concerned clearly were not a factor in the government’s decision.
Inquiry counsel Brian Altman QC asked Lord Armstrong: “to the suggestion that this was all just a cover-up of Peter Morrison, and his activities by the political establishment in particular, what would you say?”
Lord Armstrong replied: “I was certainly not aware of any cover-up, and Peter Morrison had emphatically denied the truth of any of this stuff, and had said that he would sue if any publication was made.”
“But that was to accept Peter Morrison’s word, and take it on trust, wasn’t it?” asked Brian Altman.
Lord Armstrong replied: “That appears to be what the Conservative party did.”
“If looking at matters another way Lord Armstrong,” continued the Inquiry counsel, “the allegations were true, not merely that he had a penchant for small boys, but that he was putting into practice his sexual preferences, there were children who were at risk. Do you agree?”
“If that were so it would be true,” replied the Tory peer.
@Richard_Scorer
Extraordinary evidence at #IICSA today – Lord Steel admits that Cyril Smith confessed to him in 1979 that abuse allegations against him were true – but Steel still did nothing about it, & made no effort to investigate whether Smith posed any continuing risk to children.
@REBELTROOP
Means that Lord Steel was quite happy rewarding a sexual predator with high honours- the knighthood. It’s reprehensible.
The document the Cabinet Office tried to hide showing David Steel put Cyril Smith forward for knighthood
Previously:
Lord Steel: I was ‘perfectly happy’ to recommend Cyril Smith for a knighthood
Lord Steel, former Liberal President, says he did not have ‘slightest inkling’ Cyril Smith abused boys while he was an MP and defends knighthood recommendation
29 Apr 2014
@ciabaudo
Fancy a hair-do? Why not try Stephen August, barber to David Steel, Michael Heseltine and Julian Fellowes. But who is Stephen August? Well, he’s the long-time lover of the convicted paedophile Colin Peters.
Boris Johnson’s father, Stanley Johnson, in- between good friends Norman Lamont and Leon Brittan
Boris Johnson says spending on child sex abuse investigation ‘spaffed up a wall’
The Tory MP described historic child sexual abuse offences as “mullarkey”
Boris Johnson has said police spending on child sexual abuse investigations was “spaffed up a wall”.
Labour demanded an apology, saying his remarks were an “insult to every survivor of child sex abuse.
The former Foreign Secretary said the money spent investigating historic cases of child abuse would be better spent elsewhere.
His comments came just hours after Cardinal George Pell was jailed for six years in Australia for abusing two 13-year-old choir boys in the 1990s.
Johnson told LBC: “Keeping numbers high on the streets is certainly important. But it depends where you spend the money and where you deploy the officers.
“And one comment I would make is I think an awful lot of money and an awful lot of police time now goes into these historic offences and all this mullarkey.
“You know, £60 million I saw was being spaffed up a wall on some investigation into historic child abuse.”
Previously:
Tom Watson must apologise for an ‘absolutely hysterical’ campaign against Leon Brittan, says Boris Johnson
The London mayor accused Labour’s deputy leader of making sex abuse allegations against the former Home Secretary “without a shred of evidence”
14 Oct 2015
Child abuse inquiry asks if former Tory Chester MP Sir Peter Morrison was protected by the elite
There are claims of an establishment cover-up surrounding late MP’s sexual conduct with young males
12 Mar 2019
An investigation into child sexual abuse has been examining whether there was an establishment cover-up surrounding the sexual conduct of former Conservative Chester MP Sir Peter Morrison.
Rumours have persisted for years about the late MP’s ‘penchant for small boys’.
Morrison, who was Tory MP for Chester from 1974 to 1992, was alleged to have received a police caution in relation to a sexual assault on a 15-year-old boy at Crewe Railway Station in the 1980s.
An Old Etonian and barrister by background, he was prime minister Margaret Thatcher ’s trusted parliamentary private secretary and deputy chairman of the Conservative Party.
The Westminster strand of the wide-ranging Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) heard suggestions he may have been protected as his activities had come to the attention of police, MI5, the press and both Tory and Labour politicians.
There was a claim the prime minister’s office intervened to prevent a front page newspaper article about the Crewe incident and that Labour agreed to keep quiet on the understanding Morrison would not fight the 1992 election.
Much hinges on an alleged ‘back street’ meeting between Morrison’s agent Frances Mowatt and Labour parliamentary candidate, the late David Robinson , in the centre of Nicholas Street Mews, Chester, when the Conservative and Labour party offices were at opposite ends.
Mrs Mowatt, who was Morrison’s agent between 1975-88, told the inquiry she had no memory of the meeting nor any recollection of rumours about her former boss.
But the inquiry heard mention of a July 1987 letter by ‘Mr Walker’ from the secret service to cabinet secretary Sir Robert Armstrong which was paraphrased by IICSA lead counsel Andrew O’Connor: “Mr Walker recorded a conversation he had with Mr Peter Morrison and you see Peter Morrison himself mentioning the stories about his alleged homosexual behaviour which surfaced in his Chester constituency during the general election.”
The barrister put it to her: “Are you still sure you didn’t hear those rumours, Mrs Mowatt?”
“I didn’t,” she responded.
The barrister continued: “The paragraph goes on. ‘Unfortunately his election agent, in a well meaning but clumsy attempt to spare Morrison’s embarrassment had spoken, without Morrison’s authority or knowledge, to the Labour candidate’.
“‘’She did so in a back street of all places’. Morrison feared that if his agent’s approach reached the wrong ears it could be misrepresented as an attempted cover-up.”
The barrister asked Mrs Mowatt: “Are you sure it wasn’t you who spoke to Mr Robinson?” “I’m certain,” she replied.
Former Chester Labour MP Christine Russell, who gave evidence, said she recalled the meeting because she was Mr Robinson’s agent at the time.
“David Robinson came back and told not only myself but other people who were in the office at the time, ‘Well, Peter Morrison’s not going to stand down but Frances says that Peter is not a well man and he probably won’t be standing in the next election’. I think that was either during the ’87 election or soon afterwards because he was definitely the candidate.”
“She was trying to protect him, cover up if you like, all the gossip and the rumour-mongering and the allegations that were everywhere,“ said Ms Russell, who claimed all the local newspapers were aware of the speculation and that Private Eye had published stories.
She remembered telling regional party officials about the rumours but denied allegations made by Grahame Nicholls, who ran Chester Trades Council, about a deal being struck with the Labour Party.
The barrister put it to her: “He gave his account which was of a meeting in which you told the meeting that an agreement had been reached that the political parties and the press would cover up these allegations against Mr Morrison in exchange for Mr Morrison standing down at the next election. What do you say to that?”
She replied: “No truth whatsoever.”
An impassioned witness was Jane Lee, previously known by her married name of Leach, a former secretary of Gresford and Rossett Labour branch, who remembered a Labour-supporting journalist turning up at the pub following the monthly branch meeting to relay the news Morrison had been caught at Crewe Railway Station.
“She said with relish ‘Get the paper tomorrow morning,’ she said ‘It’s all set, it’s type set’. What?! What?! What?! She said Peter Morrison has been found in the toilet at Crewe station with, I can’t remember if she said boy or boys – I’m still confused about that – and it will all be in the paper tomorrow morning,” said Ms Lee, who still feels guilty that her instant reaction was to think ‘Great, we’re going to win in Chester’.
But it didn’t appear which the journalist later explained.
“She said the chief constable of Cheshire got a phone call from the prime minister’s office – Margaret Thatcher’s name wasn’t mentioned – but it was from the prime minister’s office and had been persuaded to not press charges but to give an official warning and well, we said ‘Why didn’t that go in the paper?’ and she said , and I don’t know if it’s true or not, but she said you can’t report warnings,” said Ms Lee, who clarified by warning she probably meant ‘official caution’.
She continued: “And that in return Morrison wouldn’t stand at the next general election was the deal.”
But the issue played on her mind and she mentioned it to Labour colleague and fellow branch member Ian Lucas, now Labour MP for Wrexham, and recalled saying: ‘Ian, we need to do something about this. It’s not right’.
She added: “I didn’t get chance to suggest anything because immediately Ian said ‘I have done, Jane, I’ve rung somebody higher up and they’ve told us ‘We just don’t do that’ and these were the words he used ‘For every one they’ve got, we’ve got one’.
“It was so shattering because at that moment I knew my party was in the same position,” added Ms Lee, who accepted a deal could have been struck by Labour to stay silent rather than make the matter public. “If what Ian said to me was true that for every one they’ve got, we’ve got one, then it would have been mutually assured destruction.”
Many years later, in 2014, Ms Lee reported the experience to police because she felt guilty for helping to cover-up what had gone on and expected to be arrested. She claimed a police sergeant told her the only person ‘that’s done anything wrong here’ was the journalist for ‘bandying it about in a pub’.
However, an inspector, who took the case more seriously, said accusations had been made against Morrison over many years including some of a ‘horrific’ nature but ultimately the inquiry led nowhere.
Tearfully, she told the inquiry: “I just feel we are all guilty – everyone who kept quiet. it’s just terrible.”
The inquiry heard that in a statement to the inquiry, Mr Lucas MP recalled being at the pub after a branch meeting in 1988 or 1989 when a member who was a journalist told the group Peter Morrison had been arrested at Crewe Railway Station for ‘some form of sexual offence’.
IICSA counsel Katie O’Byrne added: “You’ve seen references already to Mr Lucas’s denial that he spoke to anyone in the Chester Labour Party or in the national Labour Party about that at the time.”
Searches by British Transport Police about the Crewe incident had failed to turn up any files about Morrison except a ‘nominal record not relating to a crime or intelligence record’. Likewise, Cheshire police searches had not pinpointed any information about the MP being arrested for any matters in Cheshire or that anyone may have intervened to keep issues out of the media.
■ Morrison’s successor, ex-Chester Tory MP Gyles Brandreth, will give evidence during Tuesday’s hearing, along with former cabinet secretary Lord Armstrong and retired MI5 director general Baroness Eliza Manningham-Buller.
https://www.cheshire-live.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/child-abuse-inquiry-asks-former-15959012
@REBELTROOP
Day 7 of Westminster hearing Thread
We heard from Susan Hogg, Morrison’s Diary Secretary, who worked alongside him arranging appointments.
Mrs Hogg confirms that Peter Morrison moved in high circles, counting the Duke of Westminster and Prince Charles amongst his friends. His sister is still lady-in-waiting to the Queen.
Mrs Hogg recalled an incident when Peter Morrison came back from Downing Street in November 1984. He wasn’t happy.
Eliza Manningham-Buller gave evidence. Confirms she knew Morrison and was told he was telling others she was his girlfriend
Their fathers, both peers knew one another to socialise with.
Finally, because of his serious drink problem and abusive statements about public servants, she tried to avoid seeing him. She did not attend his funeral
Lord Armstrong giving evidence
Confirms Thatcher supported Peter Morrison and concluded there was nothing in the allegations
Manningham-Buller 1986 MI5 Memo and Correspondence between Sir Robert Armstrong and Sir Antony Duff – ex-MI5 Chief @ciabaudo
More correspondence between Antony Duff and Lord Armstrong, alongside Manningham-Buller’s statement. Confirmation Thatcher and No 10 knew about Sir Peter
Robin Butler and Patrick Walker talking about trips abroad for Morrison in light of his ministerial post.
Ex-MI5 chief avoided minister’s funeral after child abuse claims
Manningham-Buller tells inquiry how her friendship with Peter Morrison ‘withered’
12 March 2019
Eliza Manningham-Buller, the former director general of MI5, stayed away from the funeral of the Conservative minister Peter Morrison over allegations of child sex abuse and his pretence that she was his girlfriend.
Her revealing comments about her “withering” friendship with the former parliamentary private secretary to the prime minister was given at the end of her evidence to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
Lady Manningham-Buller told the inquiry on Tuesday that she may have been the source of information passed by the security service to the cabinet secretary which included the comment that Morrison had a “penchant for small boys”.
She was then asked by Brian Altman QC, counsel to IICSA, why she had stayed away from Morrison’s funeral in 1995 since she had previously been a friend.
“It’s an insight into my feelings,” Manningham-Buller said. “By the end of the 80s … my friendship with Peter Morrison was withering.
“He was seeking to give the impression that I was his girlfriend which was not accurate. The allegations [of paedophile activity] which I did not know the truth of … made me uncomfortable.”
She continued: “I wasn’t sure I liked him much. He had a drink problem. He was very abusive to his public servants and I chose not to go to the funeral.”
Morrison, then MP for Chester, had been the minister for energy as well as trade and industry during the 1980s when Margret Thatcher was prime minister.
Questions of his sexual activities led to correspondence between MI5 and the cabinet secretary, Sir Robert Armstrong, about whether he was a security risk.
At one stage, the inquiry heard, Morrison was discouraged from visiting Russia in case he was blackmailed. On a visit to China, it was arranged that he should be accompanied by officials to avoid problems.
Earlier, Morrison’s departmental private secretary, Susan Hogg, told the inquiry: “He clearly had an alcohol problem and used to start drinking at lunch time.” He often got through a bottle of vodka by tea.
He had a temper, she added, and used to be in a bad mood particularly when required by Buckingham Palace to escort Princess Margaret.
On occasions, Hogg said, she used to take phone calls from Morrison when she was still in the department in the evening. “There would be giggling in the background and he would say: ‘Stop it, Eliza. Stop it Eliza.’ I thought she was his girlfriend.”
Morrison was infuriated by the language used by civil servants, calling them “Martians”. He asked her to retype their memorandums, she explained, so that they were no longer written in “Martian”.
Lord Armstrong, as he now is, also appeared before the inquiry and confirmed that Margaret Thatcher had been aware of the rumours but that she had supported Morrison in the absence of any criminal prosecution.
“I took it from the fact that [Margaret Thatcher] didn’t appear to want me to take any further action that she was being fully informed by the [Conservative] party,” Armstrong said.
“I think it was up to the Conservative party as to whether they took the rumours sufficiently seriously to report them to the police. I thought the police had been aware. I was certainly not aware of any cover-up. Morrison has emphatically denied the allegations.”
Lord Armstrong said that Thatcher had evidently not considered the rumours to be true because she appointed him as her parliamentary private secretary in 1990.
Richard Scorer, a solicitor at the law firm Slater & Gordon who represents victims at the inquiry, said: “The Peter Morrison case is a shameful saga of institutions avoiding responsibility despite widespread rumours about his ‘penchant for small boys’.
“It appears police knew of allegations, but did nothing. Security services knew. Cabinet secretary knew, but thought it was for prime minister & Tory party to deal. The prime minister took no action. The Tory party did nothing. What we see here is buck passing across the board and Morrison escaping scrutiny because of his connections”.
@CassandraCogno
there’s so many ways to ignore #CSA but the belittling “in a bit of a jam over boys” “fuss over nothing” attitude is class specific
@InquiryCSA
“I don’t believe that anybody had really thought there was anything in any of this… I don’t think he would have been appointed deputy chairman of the Conservative party,” says Mr Brandreth.
@ShoebridgeC
MI5 admits to UK child sex abuse inquiry that it knew of serious allegations of paedophilia against 1980s govt minister and other senior officials including an MI6 chief, but didn’t inform police and did little if anything to prevent the abuse continuing
Thatcher protected Tory MP suspected of abusing children, MI5 files reveal
Peter Morrison’s alleged ‘penchant for small boys’ was considered only in national security, not criminal terms, witness tells Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse
The witness, who gave evidence anonymously, admitted that memos and a letter from 1986 had discussed claims that Morrison had a “penchant for small boys”, and there was nothing to indicate MI5 passed the information in its possession to police.
The inquiry heard that two 1986 memos were written by Eliza Manningham-Buller, who went on to be the director general of MI5 between 2002 and 2007.
In one 1986 memo, the future Dame Eliza stated Morrison had told her he was being doorstepped by reporters seeking comments about five-year-old allegations that the press had become keen to publish now former Tory deputy chair Jeffrey Archer had been caught paying off a prostitute.
The inquiry heard Ms Manningham-Buller wrote that Morrison did not tell her what the allegations involved, adding: “Peter hoped the press would publish something so that he could sue and nail the lies that were being spread about him.
Her role, the inquiry was told, would have been confined to passing on information, rather than making decisions on what to do about the MP, who had been one of the first backbenchers to urge Thatcher to stand for the Tory leadership in 1975 and her parliamentary private secretary in 1990.
n one 1986 memo, the future Dame Eliza stated Morrison had told her he was being doorstepped by reporters seeking comments about five-year-old allegations that the press had become keen to publish now former Tory deputy chair Jeffrey Archer had been caught paying off a prostitute.
The inquiry heard Ms Manningham-Buller wrote that Morrison did not tell her what the allegations involved, adding: “Peter hoped the press would publish something so that he could sue and nail the lies that were being spread about him
“The prime minister was aware of it and was supporting Peter.”
Admitting that in the 1980s the service considered the allegations only in national security terms, the MI5 lawyer said: “It’s a matter of regret that no consideration was given at the time to the criminal aspects of the matter.
“The knowledge and understanding of child sexual abuse at the time was much, much lower than it is now. So I’m to some extent unsurprised that wider consideration wasn’t given in 1986. With hindsight, it’s a matter of real regret.”
The MI5 lawyer added that MI5’s reasoning in 1986 would have been: “If the prime minister [Thatcher] knew of the allegations and was not particularly, on the face of it, concerned about them, if this is a true account of the situation, then there would be little point in MI5 investigating them further.”
Brian Altman QC, lead counsel to the inquiry, also quoted from the 2014 independent Wanless-Whittam review of information held in connection with child abuse between 1979 and 1999, which had summarised MI5’s handling of the Morrison allegations by saying: “In response to claims from two sources that a named member of parliament has ‘a penchant for small boys’ … Matters conclude with acceptance of his word that he does not, and the observation that ‘at the present stage … the risks of political embarrassment to the government is rather greater than the security danger’.”
Mr Altman said: “The risk to children is not considered at all.”
The witness said that if the same information came into MI5’s possession today, it would be referred to police.
Mr Morrison, who between September 1986 and June 1987 was deputy to Conservative party chair Norman Tebbit, was knighted in 1991 and died in 1995 aged 51.
The inquiry has already been told by Mr Altman that there will be exploration of “whether there was a culture whereby people of public prominence were shielded from investigation at the expense of their victims”.
Mr Morrison is forming one of three case studies, along with the late Liberal MP Cyril Smith and Green Party member David Challenor who was jailed for 22 years in August after being convicted of sexual assault against a 10-year-old girl.
Mr Altman said a question by Labour deputy leader Tom Watson in the House of Commons in 2012, in which he said there was “clear intelligence suggesting a powerful paedophile network linked to parliament and No 10”, could be seen as the “catalyst for the establishment of this inquiry”.
But he clarified that some allegations had already been shown to be false.
Geoffrey Robertson QC, acting for Harvey Proctor – whose home was raided under the Metropolitan Police’s Operation Midland before the probe closed in 2016 without a single arrest – claimed Mr Watson and “various febrile journalists” had “started a moral panic” over an alleged paedophile ring.
The inquiry continues.
mw:
1989 Police seized an audio tape from a woman’s safe during a probe into organised crime in south-east London. An MP is heard on the tape “engaged in a sexual activity” with a “teenager”, an ex-detective anonymised as “GB” says in statement to CSA inquiry.
Name of MP on audio tape, engaging in sexual activity with a male “teenager”, redacted by CSAinquiry, although it has identified him (presumably by mistake). Inquiry failed to call “GB” to testify, but instead has skated over his bombshell evidence
Tape of MP engaged in sexual activity with a teenager mysteriously DISAPPEARED from storage at a police station, ex-detective GB reveals to CSA inquiry in statement
There was other evidence that raised concerns about the MP on the “sex tape” with a “teenager”… “Children were seen leaving the constituency office of [redacted name of MP],” GB tells CSA inquiry in his statement…
In interview with Met’s ‘Operation Winter Key’ in 2016, GB says that children from care system were “spending the night at his [ie MP’s] constituency surgery” and were “seen coming out in the morning,”
GB tells Met in interview that the evidence against MP on “sex tape” and who had boys staying overnight at his surgery was not definitive. “He could have been a nice man putting them [up] for the night, nothing a 100 per cent.”
“It sounded like they didn’t know that they were being recorded,” GB tells Met in interview. Police suspected that organised crime gang in south-east London was “blackmailing” the MP…
@InquiryCSA
Mr Altman asks the witness whether she (Mannigham-Buller) thinks the Security Service should have waited before deciding not to take matter further, to have checked that what Peter Morrison was saying regarding the Prime MInister being aware and supporting him?
Mr Altman – “which would have been of importance to the narrow focus that was being taken towards this issue in Peter Morrison’s case?
Eliza Manningham-Buller – “Yes.”
Mr Altman – “Do you agree that the police should have been involved, whether there was a safeguarding policy or not?”
Eliza Manningham-Buller – “Obviously, they should have been.
There was a potential crime. There were two reports of small boys.”
@InquiryCSA
Turning to events of November 1983, Lord Armstrong confirms that the Prime Minister was aware of the rumours about Morrison, and that they agreed that they were no more than rumours.
If a criminal offence had been committed then the police were aware of it and it was “consequently their responsibility to deal with it”
Mr Altman asks whether there was any suggestion of involving the police at any time. Lord Armstrong – “I think it was up to the Conservative Party to consider whether they took the rumours sufficiently seriously to report them to the police”
Medomsley detention centre: Ex-officers convicted over abuse
Mar 12 2019
Five former staff members at a youth detention centre have been convicted over the physical abuse of young prisoners in the 1970s and 1980s.
The men, who are now aged in their 60s and 70s, worked at the former centre in Medomsley, near Consett, County Durham.
They were found guilty of a range of charges including assaults, wounding and misconduct in public office.
Jurors at Teesside Crown Court were told much of the violence was “for the enjoyment of the officers”.
The five will be sentenced at a later date.
Their convictions follow a series of trials resulting from Operation Seabrook, which was launched by Durham Police in 2013 and became one of the largest investigations of its kind in the UK.
The guilty men are:
- Christopher Onslow, 72, convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm, wounding and misconduct in public office. Acquitted of indecent assault
- John McGee, 74, convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and misconduct in public office. Acquitted of sexual assault
- Brian Johnson Greenwell, 71, convicted of misconduct in public office. Acquitted of sexual assault and physical assault
- Kevin Blakely, 67, convicted of two counts of misconduct in public office. Acquitted of two counts of wounding and two of assault
- Alan Bramley, 70, convicted of misconduct in public office. Acquitted of wounding and two counts of assault
- Neil Sowerby, 61, was acquitted of misconduct in public office, sexual assault and physical abuse
- David McClure, 63, was acquitted of misconduct in public office, wounding and four counts of assault
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-47228358
Claims local media and political groups kept quiet over child sex abuse allegations and arrest of former Chester MP
Mar 12th, 2019
Local MP Ian Lucas says he is ‘shocked’ at claims made in the evidence session, and says “I did not take part in a cover up and would never do so” – you can read his full statement here.
Original story below…
Claims have been made that Conservative and Labour groups in Chester worked together in the late 1980s to ensure an MP stood down rather than be revealed as a paedophile, with assertions that local media at the time knew of the allegations but also helped a ‘cover-up’.
The allegations discussed yesterday at the inquiry looking into allegations of child sexual abuse linked to Westminster centre around former Conservative MP for Chester Peter Morrison, who was also a well connected Parliamentary Private Secretary to the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and alleged Bryn Estyn ‘visitor’.
The serious and numerous child abuse allegations regarding Morrison are long documented with the new inquiry looking at a range of related issues as part of it’s scope, including who was aware of the involvement of people of public prominence associated with Westminster in the sexual abuse of children, and failed to take adequate steps to prevent any such abuse from occurring and/or took steps to prevent such abuse from being revealed.
Wrexham’s MP Ian Lucas also has had his submission to the inquiry branded ‘disappointing’ by a witness at yesterday’s hearings.
Jane Lee the former secretary of the local Labour branch for Gresford and Rossett gave evidence to the inquiry in London yesterday (Full transcripts here) and spoke about various interactions she had in the late 1980s with Ian Lucas, then Chairman of the branch, as well as conversations with a local reporter for the Wrexham Leader on the topic of Morrison.
The evidence given by Ms Lee stated that the Leader reporter and Labour party member ‘Eileen Neidermyer’ (also named as ‘Eileen Nederlof’ by Mr Lucas) attended a post-meeting gathering in a pub in Gresford that she claims was also attended by Mr Lucas and his wife Norah. At that gathering, the Leader reporter ‘said with relish’ the paper would be running the story about MP Morrison being arrested for an incident involving a young boy or boys in toilets at Crewe station.
It is alleged the reporter told those present the story was ‘all set, it is typeset’, ready to print, and encouraged them to buy a copy of the paper the very next morning.
Ms Lee explained, with regret, how the mood was buoyant at the news, “We just thought great”, “We are going to win in Chester, he is going to be all over the front page”.
The story never appeared.
At a similar meeting a month later Ms Lee explained the Wrexham Leader reporter was asked why the story never appeared. Recounting the conversation from memory Ms Lee told the inquiry: “I can remember it virtually word for word.
“She said the Chief Constable of Cheshire got a phone call from the Prime Minister’s office — Margaret Thatcher’s name wasn’t mentioned, but it was ‘from the Prime Minister’s office’ and had been persuaded to not press charges but to give a warning, an official warning, and, well, we said, ‘Well, why didn’t that go in the paper?’, and she said — and I don’t know if it’s true or not, but she said, ‘You can’t report warnings. You can’t put warnings in the paper’.
Later Ms Lee clarified ‘warning’ could well have been a ‘caution’.
In the submission from Mr Lucas he recalls a member called Eileen Nederlof, a journalist working in Chester, raising the question of Peter Morrison. In a group discussion Nederlof ‘reported to us all an incident which occurred at Crewe railway station, with Morrison being arrested for a sexual offence’. Mr Lucas was clear to say the discussion was not official business of the Branch.
Mr Lucas added said he was ‘expecting it to be reported in the local press but it was not’.
Ms Lee was asked if she raised the matter with Ian Lucas.
Ms Lee said yes: “We always used to arrive at the branch venue early, Ian and I, a sort of pre-meeting meeting, and I just said to him, after a month of thinking about it, I simply said, ‘Ian, we need to do something about this. It’s not right’.
“Immediately Ian said, ‘I have done, Jane. I have rung somebody higher up, and they’ve told us, ‘We just don’t do that’ ‘, and these were the words he used, ‘For every one they have got, we have got one’.
Ms Lee was asked what she meant by ‘somebody higher up’, she replied: “I didn’t ask. I was so shocked at what he said that it was like — I didn’t say anything.
“I knew not to say — it was awful, really. I knew not to ask. Because it seemed to be such a serious statement, not just, ‘There is one’, and, ‘If they tell about us, our one, we will tell about their one’, but it was the fact that he was saying, everyone they have got, every paedophile they have got, we have got one. So it was so shattering, because, at that moment, I knew that my party was in the same position.”
Ms Lee added later: “The only exact words I can remember are the words ‘For every one they’ve got, we’ve got one’. I can remember those words precisely. He said something else before that to the effect of, ‘We don’t tell on them and they don’t’ — ‘There is an unwritten rule: we don’t tell on them, they don’t tell on us’.
Ms Lee said it was a ‘tumbleweed moment’ saying she did not ask anything further, and she ‘kept quiet for many many years’.
The written submission to the Inquiry from Mr Lucas was referenced (below) with Ms Lee told “Mr Lucas states here that he did not discuss the incident concerning Peter Morrison with anyone at Chester Labour Party or the national Labour Party or, indeed, with anyone outside the group that evening in Gresford and Rossett.”
The below section of Mr Lucas’s statement was pulled up for reference yesterday:
Ms Lee was asked for her reaction to it: “I’m disappointed that he — I understand that what I’m saying — he’s a member of parliament. He was going to stand as a member of parliament very shortly after that. Dr John Marek was resigning — was retiring. I just feel this was a chance for Ian to say — he’s got two children. It was a chance for Ian to say, ‘We did have that conversation’, and I’m sorry that he didn’t find it in himself to do that.”
Ms Lee’s evidence can be viewed in the below video with her written statement in this PDF. Ms Lee also wrote a letter to the inquiry where she notes Mr Lucas’s ethical position over Facebook and Bradley Wiggins, and contrasts it to her historic claims.
Mr Lucas’s statement can be found on this PDF.
The Inquiry also heard from Frances Mowatt ( agent and secretary to the City of Chester Conservative Association during Morrison’s time), Grahame Nicholls (Labour Party official) and former Chester MP (1997 to 2010) Christine Russell. (Full transcripts here).
Grahame Nicholls spoke of how ‘everyone in the political elite in Chester’ knew of ‘rumours’ that Morrison ‘liked little boys’. A section of his written statement (parts here, redacted) was referenced:
Nicholls added in his verbal evidence that a Chief Reporter at a local newspaper ‘would talk about it all the time’ and that ‘the press certainly knew’, adding he first became aware of the Crewe station incident via said reporter, “The press certainly knew. The chief reporter on one of the newspapers that I was very friendly with, she would talk about it all the time, you know. So the press knew, certainly.”
Nicholls characterised an ‘agreement’ between political parties that Morrison would not stand in the 1992 election in return for ‘not breaking cover on the story’.
A ‘strong relationship’ between the ‘main newspaper’ and the Conservative party was referenced, and he ‘presumed’ the local media had bought into some kind of agreement to keep stories about Morrison out of print.
Nicholls added: “The local media wasn’t at that time … didn’t want that published, because there was a very strong relationship between them particularly the main newspaper and the Conservative Party.”
A question was asked, “So were the press involved in this agreement too, that they weren’t going to publish?
Nicholls replied: “Yes, they weren’t going to publish. She told me they weren’t going to publish.
He was asked: “Was that because they had also bought into some agreement of this nature?
Nicholls replied: “I presume, yes.”
Christine Russell gave details of ongoing rumours prior to the Crewe station incident, including that circulated by ‘mainly Conservative councillors’ of ‘wild parties’ at Morrison’s constituency home called The Stables in Puddington village where ‘a select list of guests’ would attend mainly young men.
Rumours about excessive drinking ‘were then embellished’, and were known widely ‘not just in the political community but throughout Chester’.
Russell was asked: “What did you or anyone else do about these rumours during the 1980s?
She replied: “I think because the allegations were coming from police officers, from Conservative councillors, I would say to them, ‘What have you done about it?’ And it was, ‘Oh, he’s being protected, isn’t he?’ That was the common response.”
An odd meeting between Labour and Conservative party representatives in Nicholas Street Mews in central Chester was referenced, where the outcome was it became known Morrison would stand down. The meeting, apparently common knowledge and now ‘mythology’ in political circles, was described in detail being in on a ‘wet rainy day’ and the meeting in the middle of the street with the conservative offices at one end and labour’s at the other.
Russell said there was no truth in claims of ‘agreement’ taking place in effect consisting of various entities covering up for Morrison in exchange for him to step down, when directly asked: “You heard Mr Nicholls give evidence. You have his account, which was of a meeting in which you told the meeting that an agreement had been reached that essentially the political parties and the press would cover up these allegations against Mr Morrison in exchange for Mr Morrison standing down at the next election. What do you say to that?
Russell replied: “No truth whatsoever.”
Russell was asked, “Can you explain why Mr Nicholls and Ms Lee have both remembered something that you can’t?
Russell replied: “I can’t explain it.”
Russell noted three local papers were fully aware of various allegations, naming them as the Chester/Cheshire Observer, Chester Chronicle and Evening Leader, and that none reported on it.
Russell was asked: “It seems to have been the position that none of them reported it.
She replied: “No, they didn’t report it. There was no coverage.”
Later an anonymous person from MI5 gave evidence off camera, and said of the matter: “Today, as a matter of formal policy, MI5 does report all allegations of this sort to the police and, if the same information had come to MI5 today, it would be passed to the police”
Evidence sessions continue today regarding Morrison, with Gyles Brandreth another former MP of Chester appearing in person to give evidence on oath.
Locally further accounts may surface in publications who will be able to give their insider facts on if stories were pulled and other claims relating to their non-reporting, and will likely be able to locate and quiz employees from that era.
In other evidence media not running stories is also referenced with an arrest of Morrison in 1988 for ‘cottaging in Piccadilly Circus’ not published by the Mirror, with a reporter confronting him at home but being threatened with a libel action.
In the same evidence pack in 2012 there is an unsettling reference to a mystery call to a reporter who had just commented on Jimmy Savile allegations live on Sky News. The caller said they were aware of Morrison and claimed the ‘story went much deeper’.
A page from submitted documents also gives an insight to the lengths the Mirror went to while trying to get elements of the story out in this internal note from 1987:
The full three hour evidence session from yesterday can be viewed below and the text based transcripts in this PDF.
MI5 did not tell police of minister’s ‘penchant for small boys’, inquiry hears
Security service lawyer says it ‘regrets’ claims against Peter Morrison were not investigated
Mar 11 2019
Peter Morrison, the former MP for Chester, at Downing Street
MI5 warned the cabinet secretary in the 1980s about rumours that a minister had a “penchant for small boys” but did not inform the police or launch an investigation into the allegations, according to a member of the security services.
Giving evidence anonymously to the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA), a lawyer with the security service apologised for it having taken a “narrow, security-related view” of the accusations against Sir Peter Morrison.
“With hindsight,” the lawyer, whose voice was heard via remote video link, said “it was a matter of deep regret” that MI5 had not cooperated with police or made inquiries into the activities of the former MP for Chester, who died in 1995.
The official said the security service did not investigate people merely because they had a public profile but only when there was reason to suspect they posed a threat to national security. Not all files were “adverse”, he added, saying that some might be opened if a person was targeted by a terrorist group or could be susceptible to approaches by a foreign intelligence organisation.
A letter from the then head of MI5, Sir Antony Duff, to Sir Robert Armstrong, the then cabinet secretary, that was sent in 1986 was read out to the inquiry. It said that stories about Morrison, who was then minister of state for trade and industry, “persist”.
A member of MI5, Duff wrote, had heard from two sources that Morrison had “a penchant for small boys”. The source was understood to be Donald Stewart, the Conservative party agent for Westminster.
The security service was not sure whether it was based on rumours previously aired in 1983 or on more recent events. Duff ended the letter saying: “I would just as soon that we didn’t get involved for the time being.”
An internal MI5 memo in November 1986 from Eliza Manningham-Buller, later director general of the security service, said she had seen Morrison and his family the previous night for dinner and he had told her that the prime minister was supporting him. Morrison said he hoped the press would publish so that he could sue and “nail the lies”.
The security service also recorded reports that Morrison had been picked up for importuning. Manningham-Buller, who is due to appear before IICSA on Tuesday, has told the inquiry that she was not the member of MI5 staff who had first heard the rumours against Morrison, who later became parliamentary private secretary to Margaret Thatcher.
Brian Altman QC, counsel to the inquiry, suggested that the statement that Thatcher knew about the allegations against Morrison and was nonetheless supporting him depended entirely on the MP’s version of events. The MI5 lawyer agreed that appeared to be so.
“Wasn’t the obvious route,” Altman suggested, “that an inquiry should have been made of Sir Robert Armstrong to ask if the prime minister was supporting Morrison in those terms?” The service had been “rather blinkered” about the proper approach, he added.
The inquiry also heard evidence about MI5’s investigation into the activities of Sir Peter Hayman, a former high commissioner to Canada, who retired in 1984 and died in 1992.
He kept detailed diaries about his sex life which were seized when his flat in Bayswater, central London, was raided. The director of public prosecutions (DPP) later gave MI5 access to them.
The security service interviewed Hayman’s friends and then him, particularly about reports that in the 1950s when he was in Baghdad local boys had visited him for sexual purposes. The DPP, Hayman told MI5, had given him immunity from prosecution.
The outcome of the investigation, the MI5 lawyers said, was that Hayman had rendered himself vulnerable to blackmail but that there had been no actual prejudice to security.
The MI5 officer was also taken through a list of prominent individuals whose activities had raised questions about child abuse. Among them was Maurice Oldfield, a former head of MI6, who had told Thatcher that he had had “homosexual encounters”, dating back to the 1940s and 1950s, with “house boys” and “hotel stewards” in Asia.
Allegations against the former home secretary Leon Brittan were said to have come only from a disgruntled prisoner who resented having been denied parole.
The agency’s records, the inquiry was told, also mentioned unsubstantiated allegations against the former Conservative MPs Christopher Chataway, Charles Irving and Sir William van Straubenzee. All have since died. It is not clear whether any information on them was ever passed to police.
@perryscope21
IMPORTANT – IICSA have posted my statements on the website:
See what they were trying to hide about SB dirty tricks, false D-notices, interviews with ex SB officer, Flying Squad, and top cop who buried C Smith files:
https://www.iicsa.org.uk/key-documents/9729/view/INQ003722.pdf … … and https://www.iicsa.org.uk/key-documents/9731/view/INQ003723.pdf … …
Investigative journalist tells child abuse inquiry he was given a list of ’16 paedophile MPs’ but it was seized in raid
Don Hale, former editor of the Bury Messenger, says he was handed the dossier by late Labour peer Barbara Castle in the 1980s.
8 MAR 2019
Don Hale, former editor of the now defunct Bury Messenger, says he was handed a cache of documents by late Labour peer Barbara Castle about the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) during the 1980s.
The organisation advocated abolishing the age of consent and Mr Hale alleges that the documents revealed many senior figures supported its aims and were involved in fundraising.
Mr Hale, who was awarded an OBE for campaigning journalism for his involvement in the acquittal of Stephen Downing for murder, said then home secretary Leon Brittan was supportive of the group.
He said over a period of about eight weeks in the summer of 1984, Baroness Castle handed him a number of sensitive documents to photocopy relating to parliamentary committee meetings discussing the PIE.
The documents revealed who was present, who chaired the committees and who had sent apologies for their absence, the Westminster strand of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse heard.
Mr Hale claims that the entire store of documents was confiscated by officers from special branch as soon as he started trying to verify the allegations made by Baroness Castle.
The inquiry, which is expected to sit for three weeks, is examining ongoing allegations of historical abuse by politicians and systemic cover-up by institutions.
In his opening address, Brian Altman QC said Labour MP Tom Watson’s comment in the House of Commons in 2012 saying there was “clear intelligence suggesting a powerful paedophile network linked to Parliament and No 10”, could be seen as the “catalyst for the establishment of this inquiry”.
Mr Altman emphasised the inquiry will look at how organisations responded to child sex abuse allegations rather than the truth of claims against individuals.
Mr Hale went public with his allegations about the documents and special branch in a series of articles in national newspapers including the Daily Mirror and the Daily Mail in 2014.
He claimed that Leon Brittan chaired several of the meetings discussing the PIE and had been exploring the possibility of lowering the age of consent.
Other names implicated were former education minister Rhodes Boyson, Liberal MP Jeremy Thorpe and Conservative MP Keith Joseph.
Mr Hale also claims that among the documents was a list compiled by the parliamentary committee of 16 MPs actively involved in paedophilia.
He said that he was initially visited by Cyril Smith, then Liberal MP for Rochdale, who furiously demanded he hand over the documents, and that a day later they were seized by special branch.
The inquiry heard that there is no mention in either the Met or Greater Manchester’s special branch records of the raid on the Bury Messenger’s offices.
A statement from an officer sent to find the files said this could be because it was not recorded, the records had been destroyed, or because the raid never took place.
In his evidence to the inquiry on Friday, Mr Hale said: “(Baroness Castle) wanted me to write a story about the fact the meetings were taking place and what the subject was likely to be – she wanted me to expose quite a number of things.”
He added: “Barbara felt that everything seemed to go through Leon Brittan, he seemed to be the centre of things regarding these matters.”
He said Baroness Castle had details of 16 politicians who were involved in paedophilia in addition to supporting the PIE.
Mr Hale said: “In regards to the 16 names contained in the files who were involved in paedophilic activity, I have been asked many times to recall the names that I saw but I have been unable to recall them.”
When asked by Mr Altman if he could think of even one name on the list, he replied: “I wasn’t a political animal, I had only come into the job a few months before.”
He added: “I have no copy of that document – my recollection is that there were some important names but I just can’t remember.
“The whole experience of being raided by special branch was a complete shock and you want to block things out of your mind.”
There were no witnesses to the raid, Mr Hale said, and he alleged he was served with a “D-Notice” requiring him to hand over the documents in the interests of national security.
He said he could face two years in prison if he refused to co-operate.
Describing the visit by Smith, he said: “He was absolutely furious – I thought he was going to hit me. He’s a very big guy as you can understand.”
He added: “The strange thing was that his name, as far as I can remember, never appeared in any of the documents.
“You could wonder considering his history whether he did think his name was mentioned in the documents or whether he was acting on behalf of his liberal colleagues.
“I was quite stunned by what had happened – when someone as powerful as him comes and spits in your face and threatens you, you are concerned.”
He said one officer had given his name during the raid, but that he could not remember the name and had not noted it down in the wake of the raid.
Mr Hale said there were multiple discrepancies between the evidence he gave to the Independent Office for Police Conduct and the final written statement that he was asked to sign.
The statement said no copies of the documents had been made, when he had repeatedly told them that “no other” copies had been made other than those locked in a drawer in his office.
But he said there were 48 emails between him and the Independent Office for Police Conduct over a period of six months to try to clarify and amend his statement.
“You get the impression they are trying to discredit my evidence,” he said.
Mr Hale accepted that he had been paid for the newspaper articles that ran in 2014.
He will return to give further evidence before the end of this strand of the inquiry.
Ms Castle alleged to Mr Hale that PIE was funded by the Home Office – and received cheques directly from it. “It’s difficult to remember now but I think she mentioned substantial funds… £20,000 plus,” adds Mr Hale
Mr Hale says Ms Castle told him that a man who was eventually knighted, Mr Rhodes Boyston, was “directly involved” in the distribution of the PIE’s magazine ‘Magpie’ to people in Westminster.
@CassandraCogno
Boyson was former headmaster of Islington’s all boys’ school Highbury Grove 1967-1974 – he moved straight from teaching in Islington to becoming an MP #Islington #PIECentral
@InquiryCSA
Mr Hale’s statement reads: “The Chair of the meeting would be Leon Brittan or Ted Heath. Regular attendees at the PIE meetings were Charles Napier, Keith Joseph, Jeremy Thorpe, Rhodes Boyson and Peter Hayman.”
@CassandraCogno
Was Michael Burbidge from the Department of Environment there?
https://bitsofbooksblog.wordpress.com/
So what’s being described sounds very similar to the proto All Parliamentary Party Group (APPG) for pro-paedophile rights that Righton, Ian Greer and Antony Grey started lobbying for in 1968-1969 – cross party lobbying was essential
@InquiryCSA
The Inquiry hears Ms Castle inferred that the NCCL (the National Council for Civil Liberties) was “also trying to help with funding and protection of the PIE organisation”.
@CassandraCogno
Without the NCCL there would have none of the substantial shadow network supporting child abusers & PIE that existed within legitimate organisations – housing, legal advice, employment, trade unions etc #Islington councillor Henry Hodge was Chair of NCCL when PIE affiliated
@InquiryCSA
Mr Hales says Mr O’Carroll’s comments are a “way of having a pop at me”. He says the funding issue was told to him by Ms Castle in 1984. “From what Barbara said, there was a distribution office in Westminster.”
@CassandraCogno
Like the one Steven Adrian Smith boasted about running with Barry Cutler in the Home Office in his brief history of PIE ?
………………..
PIE had at least physical proximity to power. During his chairmanship of PIE, Smith actually worked as a contract electrician in the Home Office, which oversees Britain’s police and other security agencies.
Smith kept PIE’s files in a locked cabinet in his office, according to a biographical essay published in 1986 and quoted widely in UK media. His security clearance was annually renewed, he wrote.
PIE Secretary Barry Cutler also worked in the Home Office but was fired in 1983 when a UK tabloid outed his affiliation with the group.
A Home Office spokesman would not confirm or deny either man’s employment.
Other members had high-profile jobs in the public and private sectors, like Peter Righton, a social worker, child protection expert and consultant to the National Children’s Bureau. Righton, who died in 2007, wrote openly in defense of pedophilia even while working in child care homes in the 1970s.
https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-03-18/man-pedophile-and-proud-it
The former Tory Prime Minister backed notorious paedophile Savile for an OBE just two years after the perverted presenter was passed over for a lesser honour.
Sir Edward Heath also attended more than half a dozen meetings of the notorious PIE group at Westminister.
In relation to Edward Heath, he continues:”I can say that I saw him inside the flat on more than one occasion and I am certain that it was him.” He says that he still stands by this statement. #westminsterhearing
@craftymuvva:
CYRIL SMITH, JEREMY THORPE, EDWARD HEATH and LEON BRITTAN were seen by Sinclair entering the flat in Cricklewood. Sinclair is positive he identified the four MPs with his own eyes.
InquiryCSAVerified account@InquiryCSA
His statement reads: “I can say that the team observed various men frequent the flat I am sure that four of them were MPs who I recognised as Cyril Smith, Jeremy Thorpe, Leon Brittan and Edward Heath.”
Day 4 of #westminsterhearing thread Witness testimony from Sue Simpson, retired police officer, claims Jimmy Savile and Jonathan King were often mentioned!
Robertson called on the inquiry to clear the names of those, such as Proctor, who have been wrongly accused of abuse.
@CassandraCogno
@InquiryCSA
Adam Wagner will now deliver a statement on behalf of Harvey Proctor. He is led by Geoffrey Robertson QC who could not be here today. “The evidence to this Inquiry has cleared him [Proctor] completely. There is no evidence of any Westminster paedophile network,” he says.
@CassandraCogno
Spartacus’ PAN December 1980 reported @RobertsonQC had withdrawn as O’Carroll’s defence barrister after second committal of 1980 in November (first committal February 1980) when trial date of 5 Jan 1981 set https://www.brongersma.info/images/Pan7.pdf@InquiryCSA
From Pan magazine
December, 1980
LONDON, ENGLAND The number of PIE defendants was reduced to four on 28 November when charges against David Grove, who is seriously ill with throat cancer, were dropped. On the same day the other four were informed that the trial was definitely going ahead on 5 January as scheduled in the Old Bailey. Three days later Geoffrey Robertson, their barrister, author of a book on obscenity, informed them that he would not argue their case, leaving them now without senior legal representation. Most of the PIE defendants have been fired from their jobs and have thus had to go to Legal Aid in order to receive any kind of defence at all, while the prosecution has all the wealth of North Sea oil to pay for the best legal minds in Britain. The defendants are trying to get the trial postponed until they can recover from this eleventh-hour decision of Barrister Robertson to pull out — and rebuild some kind of defence strategy.
In 1998 Robertson QC identified sir Peter Hayman as having had a long & distinguished career with MI6 in his book The Justice Game
@CassandraCogno
Policeman Collins at iicsa – Collins was cross examined by Robertson (pre QC) at PIE first committal in February 1980 was that acknowledged at @InquiryCSA ?
@ciabaudo
Err, has it been mentioned that Geoffrey Robertson QC who represents the former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor at @InquiryCSA was part of PIE-linked NCCL?
GEOFFREY ROBERSON, NCCL executive member 1974.
Colleagues: members of the Paedophile Information Exchange and their supporters
Geoffrey Robertson QC, Nettie Pollard, Tom O’Carroll, Roland Jeffrey, Ivan Geffen, Antony Grey
London Friend’s 1st General Secretary
(September 1975 – September 1977)
THE PLACE TO MEET PEOPLE JOCKEYING FOR INFLUENCE IN THE LATE NINETIES – Islington
Location matters. We know where to find the old Establishment, the people and networks, the clubs, salons and dynasties that Henry Fairlie meant when he gave the term currency in the Fifties, through an article in the Spectator. They are in the clubs of St James’s, the ministries of Whitehall, at home in the grand houses of Belgravia, Knightsbridge, Kensington and Chelsea. Never too far from the Queen.
Tony Blair, famously, lives in Islington. Some of his closest political friends live in the north London borough, some practically on his doorstep: Margaret Hodge MP, former head of Islington Council; her husband, Henry Hodge, a leading figure in the Law Society; Geoffrey Robertson, the prominent barrister.
Madame Cyn’ – who died this week – made prostitution seem like a lark for pensioners. Geoffrey Robertson QC, her defence barrister, salutes an accidental campaigner
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“If you had not asked that question,” moaned a Lord Justice of Appeal as I attempted to overturn the over-severe 18-month prison sentence on Cynthia Payne, “this case would have attracted four …
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Cynthia Payne was organising fetish parties
Cynthia Payne with Lord Longford
Another QC member of NCCL – PIE member Adrian Fulford
Back in the late 1970s he was a newly qualified Left-wing barrister when he joined the NCCL, now known as Liberty, which had links to known paedophile groups and attempted to lower the age of consent to 14 and water down child pornography laws
Fulford’s involvement with the radical movement to legalise child sex goes even further than that of the Labour Ministers, documents uncovered by The Mail on Sunday show.
He personally set up a group to support the ‘executive committee’ of PIE in the summer of 1979, after they had their homes raided by police.
Images of child abuse and group literature were seized and five leaders, including chairman O’Carroll, were charged with the rare offence of ‘conspiracy to corrupt public morals’.
Fulford and his colleagues called the organisation the Conspiracy Against Public Morals (CAPM), and it went on to distribute leaflets calling for the PIE ‘show trial’ to be dropped, and held protests outside courtrooms.
In October 1979 Fulford wrote a full-page article in gay rights magazine Broadsheet, in which he was described as ‘the founder’ of the PIE support group.
He claimed that classified adverts placed by PIE members, which led to the trial, were ‘simply to enable paedophiles to make friends and offer each other mutual support’ rather than to contact children or exchange banned images.
A leaflet distributed by CAPM and available through PIE’s mailing list went further, claiming: ‘This is a trumped-up charge designed to silence a group merely because it is unpopular with the guardians of public morality.’
And the prosecution was condemned as ‘an attack on PIE’s right to freedom of speech and freedom of association’.
A longer briefing note put together by the CAPM called the paedophiles a ‘minority group ripe for bashing’ because they were open about their aims.
In 1980, a Marxist collective used the almost identical name, Campaign Against Public Morals, and the same Central London PO Box address as Fulford’s group to publish a 60-page diatribe that called for the age of consent to be scrapped ‘for the liberation of children’.
Convicted Barrow paedophile, Tom O’Carroll, is thanked at charity event at the House of Lords
Mar 5 2019
A NOTORIOUS paedophile – who campaigned for sex with children as young as ten to be legalised – was invited to a House of Lords bash by a charity.
Tom O’Carroll, a former head of the Paedophile Information Exchange (Pie), which campaigned to lower the age of sexual consent, was among 60 guests who were thanked at a reception for donating money to Book Aid International.
Book Aid International is a charity which sends books to children in Sub Saharan Africa and around the world.
Speaking to a national newspaper at his flat in Barrow, the 73-year-old said: “I was kind of a guest of honour.
“A few years ago I did give a pretty substantial amount.
“I was invited by one of the members of the Lords, who is patron or chairman.”
In 1980 he wrote a book entitled Paedophilia: The Radical Case, in which he argues some sexual relationships between an adult and a child should be “normalised”.
O’Carroll was a key activist for PIE – which was set up in 1974 to campaign for a change in the law – and was once described as ‘one of the most infamous perverts on Earth’.
He was jailed in 1981 for ‘corrupting public morals’ and again more than two decades later for child sex offences.
He received a two-and-a-half year jail-term at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court in December 2006 for two counts of distributing indecent images of children.
Book Aid International’s chief executive Alison Tweed said: “We were all shocked to learn of Mr O’Carroll’s history. We have already taken action to sever all ties and will increase our vigilance for future invitation-only events. We hope that this incident does not in any way affect our ability to continue our vital work helping children around the world to achieve their potential.”
She confirmed O’Carroll donated less than £500 in total over three separate occasions since 2015 and this money had been refunded. No children were at the event.
PAUL BOATENG, NCCL executive member. NCCL linked to PIE – of which Tom O’Carroll was a leader
A House of Lords spokesperson said: “The event sponsored by Lord Boateng, on behalf of Book Aid International, met the rules regarding the use of banqueting facilities in the House of Lords.
“Those who were invited to attend the event went through airport-style security on entry to the estate and were not left unsupervised. The organisation arranging an event and the member who sponsors it are responsible for who they invite to attend.”
Barrow MP John Woodcock said: “It is alarming that the charity apparently did not conduct checks on their donors given their focus on children, and I hope that this will be a wake-up call to this organisation and other publishers.”
He became Chair of Book Aid International in June 2014.
I was invited by one of the members of the Lords, who is patron or chairman.”
Twice-jailed Tom O’Carroll, 73, was among up to 60 guests who were thanked last December for donating money to a children’s book charity.
Book Aid International, which provides books for children in sub-Saharan Africa, said it was unaware of O’Carroll’s past and has launched an investigation.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8548584/paedophile-tom-ocarroll-invited-to-house-of-lords-bash/
According to his research, the NCCL officer Nettie Pollard, who worked in the organisation until the late Nineties, ‘wrote a letter inviting the Paedophile Information Exchange to affiliate in 1975’.
Pollard, a militant lesbian and gay rights campaigner and a member of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality’s executive, was a powerful voice in support of a more relaxed approached to child sex.
In 1980, she even helped Tom O’Carroll with the writing of his proselytising book Paedophilia: The Radical Case. Such support reflected her own belief that children are sexual beings and that Britain ‘should eliminate harmful age of consent laws’.
‘We thought we could manipulate the Establishment and find allies within it,’ said the former PIE chairman Tom O’Carroll. Through the NCCL, he achieved a degree of success in that aim, at least within the Left.
Boateng was also involved with the NCCL, the National Council for Civil Liberties, which at one point allowed PIE to become affiliated to it – PIE being the organisation that campaigned to legalise sex between children and adults. Boateng was an executive member of the NCCL. Many other leading lights in New Labour were involved with NCCL, including Harriet Harman, Patricia Hewitt, Jack Dromey and Henry Hodge.
http://www.drsallybaker.com/uncategorized/tower-hamlets-paul-boateng-and-tessa-jowell/
Vicar found guilty of child sex abuse after Church of England cover-up
Church of England twice alerted to former bishop chaplain’s behaviour but failed to act, court hears
Mar 7 2019
Former vicar and child abuser Charles Gordon Dickenson leaves Chester Crown Court after pleading guilty to eight counts of sexual assault
A retired vicar is facing prison after he admitted to sexually abusing a young boy, as it emerged that the Church of England twice covered up his crimes and promoted him.
Charles Gordon Dickenson, 89, admitted to eight counts of sexual assault against his victim in the 1970s. He assaulted his victim in the church hall, vicarage and invited him to his home when his wife was away.
The survivor, who attended Christ Church in Latchford, Cheshire had felt unable to speak about the abuse for over four decades.
Chester Crown Court heard the Church of England were twice alerted to Dickenson’s behaviour but failed to act on the information.
He was eventually caught when officers interviewed the victim in 2017 while investigating sexual abuse allegations of former Bishop of Chester Victor Whitsey.
He told police it was the first time he had spoken about the abuse after “burying it away”, calling it a “dirty secret”.
Dickenson, of Crewe, ordered his victim not to tell anyone about the abuse, the jury was told.
“The first incident occurred on a Saturday evening when the church would host dances in the hall, Dickenson told the victim there was a problem with the boiler and lured him into the basement,” Prosecutor Myles Wilson said. “Dickenson, aged 45 at the time, sexually assaulted the boy and afterwards told him he ‘hoped he enjoyed it but not to tell anyone about it’.
“A few weeks later, while the church was preparing for Warrington Walking Day, the boy visited the vicarage to drop off decorations. As he went to leave, Dickenson took him into a side room and locked the door.”
The victim told police he was “full of dread” and was sexually assaulted again.
The assault only stopped when Dickenson’s wife shouted out his name.
Dickenson then told the boy: “I miss seeing you around, I hope you are not avoiding me.”
The third incident took place in the private sacristy after Dickenson lured the boy into the back entrance of the church, telling him others were inside.
He locked the back door and the doors to the sacristy behind him before abusing the boy.
On another occasion, he approached the boy outside the toilets before assaulting him.
After the final incident, Dickenson told the victim his wife was going away and that he wanted the boy to visit him at the vicarage.
The court heard he was moved to another parish and given a promotion after a female organist told her parents she had seen him “embrace” the boy.
When confronted by the church warden, Dickenson admitted: “I interfered and succumbed to temptation.”
He was appointed as a bishop’s chaplain and worked for another 20 years until retiring in 1994 although he was still allowed to officiate services until 2014.
A letter uncovered by police from Dickenson to the church, sent in 2009 as part of a vetting procedure, acknowledged the accusation of indecently assaulting a young boy.
It stated that Bishop Whitsey made him “promise never to do it again”.
When interviewed last June, Dickenson told police he “couldn’t remember interfering with the boy but could remembering being accused of it”.
However, when the archdeacon visited him last year to offer pastoral care, Dickenson admitted his crimes.
In a personal statement, the victim said: “These crimes made me question myself. Why was it me? Was I a homosexual? The shame made me not tell anyone, the first time I spoke about it was in December 2017 to the police. The shame came out in alcohol abuse and the way I treated girls, until I met my wife.”
Judge Steven Everett said: “He was regarded as a man of God and was wholly trusted. He was put in a position where he could get away with what he wanted – he certainly has never said sorry to the victim.”
Speaking after the case, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Chester said: “We offer an unreserved apology to the survivor.
“He has shown bravery and courage to share his experiences with the police and we acknowledge how difficult and distressing this must have been for him. The Diocese of Chester has provided full co-operation with the police throughout the current investigation and anyone affected by today’s news should contact the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser.
“Information brought to light to the church in 2009, if acted upon then, may have led to the police bringing a prosecution against Gordon Dickenson much sooner. The Diocese apologises for not acting on this information in 2009. A review will now be conducted into the handling of the case, to identify where any failures in procedures arose and what lessons can be learned.”
Dickenson will be sentenced later this month at Liverpool Crown Court.
Witches, abuse and murder – The pagan paedophile ring that rocked Cornwall
The main players are either locked up or dead
4 MAR 2019
Peter Solheim and Margaret James pictured at a pagan ceremony
It was a paedophile ring that saw men indulge in their sick fantasies wearing hooded robes and terrifying their young victims with daggers.
Decades of abuse culminated in a trial which dramatically implicated a parish councillor ‘witch’ and the victim of a partly unsolved murder that shocked the county a decade earlier.
The two men accused of being part of a paedophile ring that ran a witches’ coven in St Ives carrying out “ritualistic, sickening” sex abuse of young girls, were given lengthy jail sentences in December 2012.
Jack Kemp and Peter Petrauske, both from Falmouth, spent years tormenting their female victims, one said to be as young as three years old.
Both men had denied any involvement in the abuse, claiming they were victims of a “witch-hunt”.
But a jury at Truro Crown Court dismissed their protestations, convicting the pair of a string of offences dating back to the Seventies, as well as finding Kemp guilty of several more recent sexual assaults unconnected to Petrauske.
Petrauske was said to be the “high priest” of a witches’ coven that met in an undisclosed location in St Ives and ordered the girls to carry out his sick fantasies. The court heard Kemp videoed the abuse.
He also took part in the assaults, along with friends Peter Solheim – who was later found murdered and mutilated floating off the Lizard – and Stan Pirie, a notorious paedophile who died in jail following his conviction for sex abuse in the mid-2000s.
Petrauske described himself as the high priest of a white witches’ coven
Judge Cottle told them: “You are two of the surviving members of a paedophile ring, together with others whose names have been repeated frequently in this trial who were members of a ring that operated in Falmouth in the Seventies and Eighties.
“I’m satisfied that you have both had a lifelong sexual interest in young, female children.
“It [the trial] has featured ritualistic, sickening abuse of young, young children. The scars left on (two victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons) are so obvious that it would seem extremely unlikely that either of them have any real prospect of recovery.
“Finally, the truth about your lies and your undoubted propensities has caught up with you.”
The duo’s victims gave harrowing evidence from behind a screen during the three-week trial. They told how they had been abused by their tormentors before being given money and sweets to buy their silence.
Petrauske was convicted of rape, aiding and abetting an attempted rape, and indecent assault. Judge Cottle sentenced him to 18 years in prison.
Kemp was found guilty of ten sexual offences including indecent assault and indecency with a child, and was handed a 14-year term.
Child abuse complaints against late Tory MP `not reported to police´
4 Mar 2019
Allegations about a Conservative MP’s “penchant for small boys” were passed to the security service but not investigated or reported to police, an inquiry has heard.
The claim concerned the late Tory MP for Chester Peter Morrison, the Westminster strand of the wide-ranging Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) was told.
The inquiry, which is expected to sit for three weeks, will deal with “extremely serious issues” and aims to address “outstanding questions of public concern” related to abuse allegations against people linked to Westminster, Monday’s session heard.
Lead counsel to the inquiry Brian Altman QC said that during its work the inquiry has obtained a copy of a 1986 letter, written by then-director general of the security service Sir Antony Duff.
Mr Altman said: “The letter makes it clear that the information that Mr Morrison had ’a penchant for small boys’ had been passed to the security service by a member of the Westminster establishment, who had heard it from two sources.
“We have obtained other documents relevant to this correspondence from both the Cabinet Office and the security service.
“Those documents make it clear that neither the security service nor the Cabinet Office took steps to investigate this allegation, nor did they report them to the police.”
Former MI5 chief Baroness Manningham-Buller, who the inquiry heard was a friend of Peter Morrison, will be among those called to give evidence at the inquiry’s London headquarters.
Leon Brittan’s attendance at Cricklewood flat, alongside Jeremy Thorpe, Cyril Smith and Edward Heath New revelations have emerged of how Sir Peter Hayman tried to bribe officers investigating his case
Roddam Twiss – He rented a room to vile paedophile
When police investigated Roddam Twiss in the late 1970s, it appears they had no idea that one of Britain’s most vicious paedophiles, Lennie Smith, was renting a room from him.
Twiss confirmed that Smith, jailed in 1992 for his part in a paedophile gang that killed five boys, once rented a room at his Cricklewood Broadway flat.
Twiss said he helped police to investigate Smith, adding: ‘He was a nasty individual and I was content to provide police with information they deemed useful.’
The paedophile, above, was reportedly 23 when he left Twiss’s flat, which suggests it was around 1978 or 1979 – the same time police were investigating Twiss after following Cyril Smith to Cricklewood.
Tim Hulbert
https://www.itv.com/news/2014-07-09/westminster-pie-grant-home-office-whistleblower-tim-hulbert/
Former MI5 chief Baroness Manningham-Buller, who the inquiry heard was a friend of Peter Morrison, will be among those called to give evidence at the inquiry’s London headquarters.
@rebeltroop
The investigation into Sir Peter Morrison Part 1 Met Police would later confirm that Peter Morrison’s activities were known about at the highest levels of government
The investigation into Sir Peter Morrison Part 2
The investigation into Sir Peter Morrison Part 3
Greville Janner (far left)
Inquiry will hear from 33 men who say Greville Janner sexually abused them
No date has been set for the inquiry into the former city MP to begin in earnest
6 FEB 2018
A date is still to be set for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), to begin in earnest its investigation into Greville Janner.
The inquiry team has confirmed up to 40 people or organisations, including 33 alleged victims, have been granted core participant status.
Core participants will be granted special rights throughout the inquiry, such as receiving documents, making legal submissions, suggesting questions and receiving advance notice of the inquiry’s report.
The seven organisations include Leicestershire Police, Leicestershire County Council and the Labour Party – all of whom will be asked about why he was not charged with offences against children when he was alive and well and what was known about his alleged sexual interest in children.
Speaking at the inquiry’s first preliminary hearing in the Janner strand, in March 2016, the former counsel to the inquiry Ben Emmerson QC said: “The allegations in summary are Greville Janner exploited children and perpetrated a full range of sexual offences against them, including what would now be termed as rape.”
The offending was alleged to have taken place at children’s homes in Leicestershire and hotels, and dated between 1955 and 1988, the hearing was told.
https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/inquiry-hear-33-men-who-1176847
Ex-spy boss to be grilled about Tory MP who escaped investigations into child sex abuse
4th March 2019,
Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller is expected to appear before the child abuse public inquiry next week about her contact with Sir Peter Morrison, a close aide to Margaret Thatcher
Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller is understood to have told her bosses in the mid-1980s about Sir Peter Morrison.
But the allegations were suppressed by then-head of MI5 Sir Antony Duff, who died in 2000.
Sir Peter, a close aide to Margaret Thatcher, died in 1995.
Dame Eliza, who later became the MI5 boss, is expected to appear before the child abuse public inquiry next week, The Times reported.
Mr Duff wrote to cabin secretary Robert Armstrong that two sources had claimed Morrison’s “penchant for small boys” but asked that no further action be taken because “the risks of political embarrassment to the government is rather greater than the security danger.”
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8553991/spy-boss-tory-mp-child-sex-abuse/
Eliza Manningham-Buller has always been interested in science, particularly biology, and is intrigued by many aspects of the Trust. The work at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute holds particular appeal as she is “fascinated by genetics” and currently sits on the Board of Directors.
Alongside her Governor role, she is vice chairman of the council of Imperial College London and an advisory board member for the Centre for Security and Resilience Studies, University College London.
Eliza Manningham-Buller is a crossbench life peer in the House of Lords and patron of a “very rewarding and successful small charity” called Street Kids International.
https://blog.wellcome.ac.uk/2011/05/31/eliza-manningham-buller/
2011
Event Success
Thanks to all who joined us on Monday 12th July to learn more about our Innovative Youth Entrepreneurship Programmes. The event was hosted by our patron, Baroness Manningham-Buller with the kind support of Hogan Lovell’s LLP. It was a great evening allowing existing supporters and those interested in our work to come together and learn more about Street Kids and the Street Work programme. We will be hosting more of these events in the future so watch this space if you’d like to attend…
https://web.archive.org/web/20110508083651/http://streetkids.org/#ceo
2012
Trustees, volunteers and patrons
Our hard-working team in London is supported on all sides by a fantastic Board of Trustees, and a group of very generous volunteers, without whom we would not be able to function.
We are also fortunate enough to have some spectacular patrons; Baroness Manningham- Buller, and the Royal Ballet’s Golden Couple, Marianela Nunez and Thiago Soares.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140222070646/http://uk.streetkids.org/who-we-are
https://www.gramilano.com/2014/03/marianela-nunez-thiago-soares-giving-back/
Mannigham-Buller still patron in Oct 2014
Street Kids International UK is a member of a range of networks.
Street Kids International Charity Founder, Peter Dalglish, arrested on suspicion of Paedophilia
A United Nations adviser and the founder of Street Kids International was arrested on suspicion of pedophilia after he was caught with two young children during a police raid.
Peter John Dalglish, United Nations adviser and founder of the Street Kids International charity, was arrested on suspicion of pedophilia, at a home that he was staying at in Nepal. During the arrest, two young children, ages 12 and 14, were “rescued” from the home.
Latest on his trial from 1 month ago:
Peter Dalglish’s final hearing coming to an end
Feb 6 2019
A source told Kathmandu Tribune that Canadian Peter Dalglish’s final hearing is likely to happen at the end of this month or in the first week of March.
Dalglish was arrested last year for pedophilia charges. If convicted he will serve a minimum sentence of seven years in jail.
@ciabaudo
Eliza Manningham-Buller has been Chair of Wellcome since 2015, having served as a Governor since 2008. A conference, held at Cambridge and financially supported by the Wellcome Trust, made headlines:
Conference summary
This conference brings together social and political scientists, feminist scholars, sexologists, psychiatrists, historians of science, as well as mental health practitioners and sexual rights activists to critically explore the sexual classifications produced by the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published in May 2013. The DSM is the standard reference for the classification of mental disorders, and its first major revision since 1994 is consequently an important global event. The conference will explore which categories of ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’, ‘healthy’ and ‘pathological’ sexualities and identities the new manual produces, and critically scrutinise their consequences for diagnostic practices as well as their wider social and political implications. The conference will take place on 4 and 5 July 2013 at the interdisciplinary Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) of the University of Cambridge. It is financially supported by CRASSH, the Wellcome Trust, the Sexual Divisions Study Group of the British Sociological Association, the French Institute, Northumbria University, the Laboratoire de Sociologie of the University of Lausanne, and The Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES).
Supported by the Centre for Research in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CRASSH) at the University of Cambridge, the British Sociological Association Sexual Divisions Study Group, The Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES) and Northumbria University.
Philippa Frankl- between 2006 and 2008 she was Head of Programmes at the Prince’s Trust; Member Board of Trustees at Khulisa (http://www.khulisa.co.uk/)
Plan UK – board of trustees https://plan-uk.org/about/our-people/our-board-of-trustees
Lady Amanda Ellingworth (nee Knatchbull), Chair of Plan International UK
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Amanda_Ellingworth
Lady Amanda Patricia Victoria Ellingworth (née Knatchbull; born 26 June 1957) is a British social worker and non-executive director of several NGOs.
She is the daughter of the 7th Baron Brabourne and the 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma; therefore she is the granddaughter of Admiral of the Fleet the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, a first cousin once removed of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a third cousin once removed of Queen Elizabeth II.
Amanda Knatchbull turned down Prince Charles’ marriage proposal in 1977. https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/779944/amanda-knatchbull-prince-charles-girlfriend-proposed-royal-house-windsor
The Channel 4 documentary revealed how Charles’ “honorary grandfather” Lord Mountbatten tried to manoeuvre the Prince away from his future wife Camilla, and instead set him up with his granddaughter Amanda.
http://aanirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/prince-philip.html
Prince Philip, aged 9, was sent to England to be looked after by George Mountbatten, the 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven, and by Lord Louis Mountbatten.
The Marquess of Milford Haven had the largest collection of sadomasochistic pornography in Europe.
Nicholas Knatchbull, killed alongside Mountbatten http://pierrejoubert.blogspot.co.uk/2005/05/mountbatten-oldfield-kitchener-haig.html
“Mountbatten was particularly attracted to boys in their early teens ; it was this characteristic which made him especially vulnerable to the IRA , because he needed to slip away from his personal bodyguards to keep dates with such boys , some of whom came in contact with IRA men.”
https://www.voat.co/v/pizzagate/2517598
Lady Amanda Ellingworth (nee Knatchbull), Chair of Plan International UK
I worked in child protection and child services within London Local Authorities. I have experience as a chair, working with social care and housing providers, The Guinness Partnership, and as deputy chair of Barnado’s.
However, after sponsoring children through Plan International UK for 27 years, I was delighted to be given the opportunity to become chair of this organisation. Through sponsorship, I was lucky enough to gain first-hand knowledge of Plan’s lasting work – now I’m keen to contribute in a more substantial way.
https://plan-uk.org/about/our-people/our-board-of-trustees/meet-our-trustee-amanda
St Aloysius’ College crisis deepens as top Glasgow private school faces five new abuse claims
It has further emerged that the family of a former pupil who took his own life believe that he too was a victim.
10 MAR 2019
Five new claims of abuse have emerged at one of Scotland’s top private schools.
They have been made to solicitors representing a former pupil of St Aloysius’ College who reported serious allegations to police, revealed in the Sunday Mail last week.
Detectives investigating were unable to progress the probe because the man’s claims of sexual and physical abuse at the hands of three Jesuit priests and a lay teacher lacked corroboration.
The new allegations made to Thompsons solicitors are likely to end up with Police Scotland.
It has further emerged that the family of another former pupil, who took his own life, believe that he too was a victim.
Patrick McGuire, a partner with the firm, said: “We have new accounts of abuse at the school covering two distinct periods of time.
“Three people have contacted us regarding the mid-1960s.
“One describes physical abuse in the form of high levels of corporal punishment, while the other describes both sexual and physical abuse.
“The third involves someone who attended the school and later took his own life.
“His family have had concerns for many years over what happened at the school and got in touch after reading the article last week.
“Two further cases relate to the mid-1980s involving allegations of sexual and physical abuse.
“We can’t direct survivors to police but explain steps they can take both in terms of pursing financial justice and criminal justice.
“If a survivor wants to make a formal complaint to police, we explain what’s involved and can put them in touch with survivors charities who can support them.”
All of the men involved in the claims attended Scotland’s only Jesuit private school school between the 60s and 90s.
The Catholic Church has faced a series of damaging abuse claims but the cases were the first time St Aloysius’ has been investigated by police.
A former pupil, now aged 66, named two Jesuit priests to officers as carrying out sexual abuse in the 60s. Detectives established the pair had died.
The ex-pupil also told officers about a third priest who he claimed had been involved in carrying out physical abuse.
A fourth man, a lay teacher, was identified as another alleged abuser. The man, who now lives in England, was also interviewed but not charged.
Police Scotland said they carried out an investigation but there was insufficient evidence to report the matter to the Crown Office.
The former pupil, who asked to be named only as Andrew, said: “I’m pleased that other people are coming forward.
“I always knew there would be other victims. I knew I couldn’t be the only one.”
A St Aloysius’ spokeswoman said: “The College has not received any notification or complaint of historical abuse since the article last week.
“If we were to receive any notification or complaint of historical abuse, we would liaise with all relevant authorities, including the police, in accordance with our procedures.”
A spokesman for the Jesuit order insisted they take claims of abuse serious and employ a safeguarding officer.
He added: “Any Jesuit who perpetrated the kind of abuse described in the Sunday Mail article is a source of shame for us and we deeply regret the hurt caused to any victim.”
A Jesuit priest stood in the showers wearing his sports kit and watched pupils as they washed, a former St Aloysius pupil claimed.
The clergyman, who died last year, has been named as an abuser by several alleged victims. The ex-pupil, now 30, told the Sunday Mail how the priest told the boys he was making sure they “were washing properly”.
Named only as Anthony, he said: “There was a big square in the changing rooms with showers around it.
“The priest would stand in his kit and look at you. He’d say he was making sure all the boys were washing themselves properly.
“I used to come home with my kit still on under my blazer as it got to the point where I didn’t want to go for a shower in school.” The man also claimed the priest would whip boys’ legs with his whistle if he thought they were not running fast enough at the school training grounds in Millerston, near Glasgow.
He added: “I told him I thought he was a pervert.”
Cops probe historic sex abuse allegations at top Glasgow private school St Aloysius’ College
A former pupil claims he suffered 50 years of hell after being systematically abused by Jesuit priests at the prestigious school
3 MAR 2019
Shocking claims of historic sexual abuse have emerged at one of Scotland’s top private schools.
Police opened an investigation into allegations against two staff at St Aloysius’ College in Glasgow.
A former pupil, now aged 66, claimed he suffered systematic abuse over two and a half years by two Jesuit priests, one of whom was a teacher at the college, which is among the UK’s most prestigious schools.
He also said he was subjected to sustained physical abuse by another two teachers – a Jesuit and a lay teacher.
As a result of the claims, police interviewed two suspects one of whom has since died. The two others implicated were dead when he came forward. Detectives did not rule out criminality but could not corroborate the claims.
The dad today tells his story publicly because he believes there are other victims.
The fee-paying college was founded in 1859 and remains highly regarded.
The victim, now retired, and who asked to be named only as Andrew, said: “Sexual abuse began towards me from about the age of 12 in my first year at the school and lasted about two-and-a-half years.
“The first incident happened just before Christmas. There was a crib on the teacher’s desk, which I always remember. He asked me if I knew where babies came from. There was inappropriate sexual talk and then he made me perform sexual acts on him.
“I was only 12 at the time and we wore short trousers, which made it quite convenient for him.
“He told you that you were fortunate to have been chosen as one of the lucky ones. It escalated from this first time and there were about 10 incidents in just over two years.
“You were always reminded you were lucky to be picked as a special one. The sexual abuse was mainly cases where they forced me to do things to them, apart from one case where he forced himself on me.
“The Jesuits at the time wore these long black gowns and, to my parents at least, they were the nearest thing to God.
“I went to one of the priests and said that another had touched me under my shorts but unfortunately he stuck me in to the others.
“I was summoned and given nine lashes on the bare back, bottom and legs.
“I couldn’t even sit down on the bus home. I told everyone who came on to have my seat and all the passengers thought I was so polite. They didn’t know what had happened.”
Andrew lived at the time in Glasgow’s east end and attended the school for about four years. He named two Jesuit priests to police as involved in the sexual abuse.
Detectives established the pair had died years previously. Andrew told officers about a third priest, who he claimed had been involved in carrying out physical abuse. He was interviewed by police but never charged. He died last year.
A fourth man, a lay teacher, was identified as another alleged physical abuser. The man, who now lives in England, was also interviewed but not charged.
Andrew told how his parents were not wealthy but paid for him to attend the school as “they thought they were doing the very best they could for me”.
The Catholic Church has faced a series of damaging abuse claims but this is the first time St Aloysius’ has been investigated by police.
Andrew said: “It was a very strict regime, with attendance at mass every morning, which is fine, but the level of control felt like psychological torture to me.
“The headmaster would walk along the corridor with a ruler and would measure how long people’s hair was at the side. If your hair came down past the ruler he would crack you with it. If a lay teacher or one of the Jesuits considered you had done something wrong, they would give you a piece of paper known as a bill. They put a letter F on it which stood for ferula, the Latin for cane.
“Next to that was a number, such as a two, for the number of lashes. This would be known as a bill for two.
“You could choose whether to cash your bill that afternoon or the next morning.
“If you put it off, you would be thinking about it all night. I looked on that as like a form of mind control. It was like psychological torture.”
He recalled an occasion, aged 15, where he was subjected to nine lashes after accidentally knocking a ruler off his desk.
He said: “It was carried out at 4pm. I couldn’t even carry my schoolbag home afterwards as my hands were numb. At home, I began to kick up a fuss without ever saying precisely what was happening.
“School was horrendous. It ruined my life and made me feel I was a waste of space. Eventually my parents agreed to send me to another school.
“I was left with an overwhelming sense of not being good enough.
“I was in my 40s before I sought help and have seen a psychiatrist and clinical psychologist since then.
“I would say to anyone affected in such a way to come forward. You have to accept you need help to get through.
“After years of counselling, I was convinced by a psychologist to report my childhood traumas to police.
“I gave statements at London Road police station in Glasgow in 2017. This was not done lightly or with a view to taking the Catholic Church to court.
“I merely wished to stand up and be counted. I want to, perhaps, give some other poor soul the courage to hold their head up and seek help.
“In my statement, I named four people – three Jesuit priests and a teacher – and police established two of the priests were dead. The two remaining men were brought in for questioning. Both turned up with lawyers – one in Glasgow and one somewhere in England – and I was told both declined to make any comment.
“My case, I’m told, lacks corroboration. People describe it as historic sex abuse but it never leaves you. They have cost me 50 years of pain.” Patrick McGuire, a partner with Thompsons solicitors which is representing Andrew, said: “His testimony is as powerful as it is compelling and we will do everything in our power to obtain justice for him.
A police spokeswoman said: “We can confirm officers received a report in 2017 of historical sexual abuse on a 64-year-old man, which occurred in the 1960s at St Aloysius’ School. Inquiries were carried out, however, there was insufficient evidence to report to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.”
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/cops-probe-historic-sex-abuse-14079320
Former pupil of St Aloysius’ School – lGerald Malone MP
He was appointed a Minister of State at the Department of Health in 1994, when Virginia Bottomley was the Secretary of State.
Malone was chairman of Regent-GM, one of Britain’s biggest suppliers of generic drugs to the National Health Service (NHS) and a subsidiary of Nadhmi Auchi‘s General Mediterranean Holding.[5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerry_Malone
Allegations against dead politicians will form part of Westminster strand of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse
1 March 2019
Anthony Gilberthorpe, a former antiques dealer, was paid thousands of pounds by a tabloid newspaper in 2014, for a story in which he claimed to have supplied cabinet ministers with underage boys for sex parties in the 1980s.
The 56-year-old said the drug fuelled orgies had taken during the Conservative Party conferences between 1981 and 1984 and were attended by a string of high profile figures.
Mr Gilberthorpe, who would have been a teenager himself at the time, claimed he had scoured the streets of Blackpool and Brighton for rent boys, before taking them back to the main conference hotel where they had sex with male politicians including members of Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet.
On one occasion he claimed the sex party took place in the hotel’s swimming pool with participants taking large quantities of cocaine.
An IICSA spokeswoman confirmed that Mr Gilberthorpe’s claims would form part of the hearing and would also feature briefly in the opening statement by its lead counsel, although he would not be called to give evidence.
Mr Gilberthorpe, 57, said: “I just think that for I and others like me to have our say is important.”
IICSA is also expected to explore a series of claims against the former Prime Minister, Sir Edward Heath, who died in 2005.
Harvey Proctor, who has been afforded core participant status for the Westminster strand, said it was increasingly looking as if IICSA would provide a platform for further lies to be spread about those who cannot protect their reputation.
It is not clear if Mr Gilberthope has submitted any material to IICSA, but a statement given to Scotland Yard by the Sunday Mirror journalist who interviewed him in 2014, has been submitted.
A former Tory councillor in Gloucestershire, Mr Gilberthorpe, once tipped himself as a future Prime Minister.
But a series of failed business ventures resulted in him being declared bankrupt.
In 1988 he sued a number of newspapers over a story which alleged he was promiscuous and was suffering from Aids.
He won the initial case, but it was later overturned by the Court of Appeal.
Claiming to have been on board the same flight and insisting he had a photographic memory, he contacted Mr Trump’s campaign team saying he would testify that he had seen nothing untoward.
Number of documents about Shoebury Sex Ring disappear from Essex County Council’s archive
7 February 2019
A NUMBER of potentially vital documents about the Shoebury Sex Ring have disappeared from Essex County Council’s archive.
A legal action by the YA has revealed that more than a year’s worth of records from the Southend child protection committee are missing from the vault.
The dates of the missing documents coincide directly with the duration of a police and social services investigation into a paedophile ring which abused dozens of Southend children.
In May 1989, Essex Police arrested two men for being the ringleaders of the child sex network. They were convicted and jailed just over a year later in May 1990.
But seven whistleblowing child protection workers, who each had a professional link with the case, have raised concerns with the YA about the way the investigation was conducted.
They claimed the child victims were not given the support and treatment they needed and that other men involved in the ring were never prosecuted.
Last year the YA used Freedom of Information legislation to demand the release of all the minutes from the Southend child protection committee between January 1989 and December 1991.
In December, the county council released a batch of documents, but every set of minutes from between April 1989 and April 1990 was missing. The records picked back up in mid-May 1990, one day after the paedophile ringleaders were jailed.
Minutes then continue as normal until mid-1991, when another crucial record about the Shoebury Sex Ring is missing.
After the ringleaders were jailed, the county council ordered a series of meetings to investigate failings in the authorities’ handling of the case.
They ran from autumn 1990 until spring 1991 and were attended by representatives from County Hall, Shoebury High School, children’s charities, the Southend Health Authority and other bodies.
After the final meeting, the group was asked to write a report for the child protection committee, recommending changes to procedure which might improve future investigations.
The minutes from the meeting where the committee received and discussed that report are also missing from County Hall’s archive.
. The records of these meetings are not the only official documents about the Shoebury Sex Ring to mysteriously disappear.
http://www.yellowad.co.uk/article.cfm?id=140676
‘Lonely’ paedophile, 68, behind notorious 1970s group that advocated abuse is allowed to contact another child sex offender because he’s ‘socially isolated’ and has no friends
- Barry Cutler, 68, jailed in 2011 when he was arrested with other paedophiles
- He was arrested with former members of the Paedophile Information Exchange
- Cutler given sexual prevention order (SOPO) to stop him talking to paedophiles
- But a judge allowed Barry Cutler to talk to Anthony Zalewski, an ex-PIE member
A former member of a defunct paedophile ring which wanted the age of consent to be abolished has been allowed to talk to a fellow member because he is ‘socially isolated’ and has no other friends, a judge ruled.
Barry Cutler, 68, was jailed in 2011 after he was arrested alongside members of the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE), which became infamous in the 1970s for advocating sex with children and was officially disbanded in 1984.
Cutler was arrested when police raided the home of PIE ringleader Steven Freeman, in Putney, south west London, and found 15,000 indecent images and films, along with 3,000 obscene sketches, in July 2008.
Barry Cutler bottom) was arrested when police raided the home of PIE ringleader Steven Freeman (top), in Putney, south west London, and found 15,000 indecent images and films
Cutler, from Beckenham, south east London, was jailed for 12 months in July 2011 after he pleaded guilty to four counts of possession of indecent photos of a child and one count of failing to disclose a key to protected information.
He was given a sexual prevention order (SOPO) which banned him from meeting or communication with anyone who has been convicted of sexual offences against a child.
But Judge Nicholas Cooke, QC, agreed to alter the SOPO order by allowing him to contact Anthony Zalewski, an ex-PIE member with two child sex convictions dating back to 1976 and 1985.
Judge Cooke said he was concerned Anthony Zalewski, who was present when Cutler was arrested for the offence which led to his conviction, but added the matter had been investigated and was concluded he had not offended.
Speaking at the Old Bailey, Cooke said: ‘His former membership of the Paedophile Information Exchange is also worrying.
‘However, the prosecution or Commissioner has never sought an order preventing the applicant from having any contact with former members of the Paedophile Information Exchange, per se.’
Judge Cooke refused to roll back to SOPO any further after Cutler demanded for it to be removed.
Cooke labelled Cutler a ‘sad figures’ who ‘lacks insight into the damage done by child pornography.’
He added: ‘I am convinced that unrestrained by the parts of the sexual offences prevention order with which I decline to interfere he would be likely to offend again.’
Cutler had tried to argue his social circle was ‘extremely limited’ by the order, and tat a ‘restriction on ‘associating with individuals who he saw as friends, some of whom he had known for over 30 years, was disproportionate’.
But again, appeal judges refused the application, ruling that doing so would do nothing to prevent the perverts passing sick child abuse images between them.
They found Cutler ‘was a member of a determined and sophisticated paedophile ring’ which utilised data encryption ‘to avoid detection’.
There was there was still ‘an obvious risk’ of them continuing to offend, adding that ‘the abhorrent views of the individuals were reinforced by the group and the meetings between them’.
Cutler’s friends, John Parratt, 70, and John Morrison, 44, were jailed alongside him in 2011.
On his initial sentencing, Oliver Sell QC told him: ‘It is plain beyond doubt that you were all part of what has been described as a paedophile ring engaged in the possession, the viewing and the distribution of indecent images of children.
‘The photographs I have seen necessarily involved and encouraged the abuse and the exploitation of children who are vulnerable and unable to protect themselves from such perverted adult behaviour.
‘In your different ways and to varying degrees you have all contributed to that abuse of children wherever they may be.’
Freeman was told by the judge he posed significant risk to children and should be locked up indefinitely for the protection of the public.
The twisted paedophile drew sickening child rape scenes with young boys which he shared among the group he dubbed ‘My Paeds’.
He also had a sick board game called ‘Epicenium’ which could be played by children and adults.
The players took the parts of Roman slaves and masters and various pictures were displayed as the game continued.
‘The nature of the game is adult men having sex with boys. A computer version of this game was at the home Mr Freeman shared with John Morrison,’ said prosecutor Mark Gadsden.
The court heard the aim of the computer games was to have as much sex with as many boys as possible.
One of the instructions reads: ‘You will score highest with fully-consummated anal sex. In short, buggery wins.’
Police who raided Cutler’s home found if so full with magazines, photos and clutter that they had to walk through the hallway sideways to get past.
Three weeks after his arrest, Freeman posted an internet message under the name ‘Alcibiades’, which read: ‘Time for some more bad news then I’m afraid.
‘For over ten years now I’ve been hosting regular weekly gatherings of former PIE colleagues with occasional visits from other paed friends or friends of friends.
‘Four weeks ago on one of those evenings, at about 8pm, my house was invaded by a dozen or so shouting people brandishing weapons.
‘It was a police raid. I an five of my friends were arrested.’
In another, he heralded the internet as an ‘enabling technology’ which allowed paedophiles to further their sickening cause.
He wrote: ‘The anonymity of the internet allows paedophiles to communicate more freely with one another than was physically or legally possible before.
‘It’s a massive enabling technology. The question for the thinking paedophile of today is: how do we make best use of this technology to further our collective interest?
‘How do we translate the limited freedom of the web into the greater social freedoms we seek? How can this cyber community help us to promote greater tolerance and understanding?
‘When we finish talking to one another sooner or later we must begin talking again to the world at large, addressing its fears and suspicions.
‘How, where and when we take that step should be the abiding question for all of us.’
What was the Paedophile Information Exchange?
Judge Nicholas Cooke QC
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Full Title: His Honour Judge Nicholas Cooke QC Category: Ordinary Bencher Bench Call Date: 29.6.2010 Call Date: 22.11.1977 Bio:Resident Judge at Cardiff Crown Court and Honorary Recorder of Cardiff, Nick spent his practising life at the Bar with his family in Cardiff near where he still lives. He is Deputy President, Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales; Chancellor of the Diocese of St David’s; and Chairman, Governing Body of the Church in Wales. He was Leader of the Wales and Chester Circuit (elected 2007 but appointed to the bench in the same year), contributed to the Wales Law Journal and Welsh Legal History Society, lectured on ethics at the BVC in Cardiff, and, on a variety of legal subjects, to the professions. He was appointed a Deputy High Court Judge (QBD) in 2010. |
https://www.middletemple.org.uk/bencher-persons-view?cid=34523
Shoulder to shoulder with Australia’s worst paedophile priest: George Pell accompanies his housemate who assaulted 65 children to court in chilling footage taken 25 years before the cardinal’s own conviction
- Cardinal George Pell was in December convicted of molesting two choirboys
- Footage emerged of him accompanying Australia’s worst paedophile in 1993
- In the video, Pell walked into court in support of his housemate Gerald Ridsdale
- Ridsdale is in jail aged 84 for assaulting 65 children in Ballarat over decades
Cardinal George Pell walked into court with Australia’ worst paedophile priest who assaulted 65 children in the hope his support would lessen the pervert’s sentence.
Walking shoulder to shoulder in footage broadcast around the country, Pell accompanied Gerald Ridsdale to Melbourne Magistrates Court in May 1993.
The image sat uneasily with Australians because it suggested the church was more interested in protecting itself and its priests than the innocent young victims who were abused.
Twenty five years later, Pell walked into court again – this time for his own despicable crimes.
Pell, Australia’s highest-ranked Catholic, was in December convicted of raping one choirboy and assaulting another in a verdict made public on Tuesday.
During a royal commission into child sex abuse within Australia’s Catholic Church in 2016, he admitted it was a ‘mistake’ to support Ridsdale all those years ago.
‘I had some status as an auxiliary bishop and I was asked to appear with the ambition that this would lessen the term of punishment, lessen his time in jail,’ he said.
He is now 84 and still in jail – but will be eligible for parole from April this year.
It comes as Pell is set to take one last shot at freedom by requesting to stay on bail as he appeals his conviction for molesting two choirboys.
Pell will face County Court at 10am on Wednesday for a pre-sentence hearing before he is likely sent to jail next month.
He was convicted of one count of sexually penetrating a child and four counts of committing an act of indecency in December in a verdict made public on Tuesday.
Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ jail.
Victorian County Court chief judge Peter Kidd said Pell, 77, would be remanded in custody after the hearing until his sentence.
However, Pell’s lawyers filed a bail application at the court of appeal for 2.30pm on Wednesday, hoping to keep him out of jail until his appeal is heard.
It was not clear whether Pell would be forced to spend the few hours in between in a holding cell.
The Court of Appeal can grant bail at its discretion while it reviews an application to quash a conviction, which can take months.
Should the court end up overturning Pell’s conviction, prosecutors would have to decide whether to re-try the case in the County Court.
Investigations related to Pell during the Royal Commission into sex abuse in institutions would remain sealed until his appeals were exhausted.
Judge Kidd wanted to have Pell thrown in jail immediately after the verdict, but let him stay free so he could have a double knee replacement.
A suppression order against making the conviction public was only lifted on Tuesday after prosecutors abandoned a second case against him.
Two boys had claimed Pell molested them in a Ballarat swimming pool in the 1970s when he was a parish priest there.
Australian media was forced to report Pell had stepped down from his role as the Vatican’s chief financial officer due to old age.
n reality, he was sacked by Pope Francis immediately after his conviction.
Pope Francis also banned from saying Mass in public and from going near children until his appeal against the conviction is over.
Acting Holy See spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said Pope Francis was pained by Pell’s conviction and knows it has shocked many people in Australia.
But Francis also noted that Pell ‘has reiterated his innocence and has the right to defend himself’, Gisotti said.
The two 13-year-old boys were on scholarships to the prestigious St Kevin’s College in late 1996 and were caught swigging sacramental wine in the priest’s sacristy by Pell, newly installed as Archbishop of Melbourne.
FROM ALLEGATIONS TO CONVICTION: A TIMELINE OF THE CARDINAL GEORGE PELL CASE
1996
– Pell appointed Archbishop of Melbourne by Pope John Paul II
– Pell sexually abuses two 13-year-old choirboys after a Sunday solemn mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral
– A second indecent act is committed by Pell against one of the choirboys in a corridor at the Cathedral.
2016
– The Herald Sun reports Pell is being investigated by Victoria Police’s Sano taskforce for ‘multiple offences’ committed while he was a priest in Ballarat and Archbishop of Melbourne
– Pell says the allegations are ‘without foundation and utterly false’ and calls for an inquiry into how the police investigation became public
– Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton asks the anti-corruption watchdog to investigate the leak, but denies it came from police
Cardinal George Pell, 77, is known as the Vatican’s treasurer and had been granted a leave of absence while facing trial over child sex offences in Australia. He has surrendered his passport
– Pell gives evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse’s inquiry into abuse in Ballarat
– Under Vatican rules, Pell gives Pope Francis his resignation on his 75th birthday, as is customary. It is not accepted
– Victoria Police investigators hand over to the state’s Office of Public Prosecutions a brief of evidence on allegations of sexual abuse by Pell
– Officers travel to Rome to interview Pell over the abuse claims. He voluntarily participates in the interview.
2017
– Police present their final brief of evidence to the Office of Public Prosecutions to consider charges
– Prosecutors give police the green light to charge Pell.
JUNE 2017
– Pell is charged with multiple counts of historic child sex offences
– He denies the charges and vows to clear his name
– Lawyers for Pell appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court
– Pell takes leave from his Vatican finance chief role to fight the charges.
JULY 2017
– Pell returns to Australia
– He hires top barrister Robert Richter QC
– Supporters set up a fund to help Pell fight the charges.
MARCH 2018
– Prosecutors drop one of the charges against Pell
– A month-long committal hearing begins to determine if Pell will face trial
– Prosecutors withdraw more charges
– Mr Richter claims police conducted a ‘get Pell operation’ and accuses magistrate Belinda Wallington of bias. She refuses to disqualify herself from the case.
MAY 2018
– Magistrate Belinda Wallington orders Pell stand trial on some charges, but throws out others
– Pell formally pleads ‘not guilty’
– Two trials are ordered, separating the 1970s and 1990s allegations
– A Victorian County Court employee is sacked for looking up information on the Pell case.
AUGUST 2018
– The 1990s ‘cathedral trial’ begins in the Victorian County Court in Melbourne
– Pell pleads not guilty again to one charge of sexual penetration of a child under 16 and four of indecent acts with a child, over incidents involving two 13-year-old choirboys at St Patrick’s Cathedral in 1996.
SEPTEMBER 2018
– The jury is discharged, unable to reach a verdict following a week of deliberation. Some jurors weep.
NOVEMBER 2018
– A retrial begins. The jury aren’t told of the previous hung jury.
DECEMBER 2018
– Pell is found guilty on all charges by an unanimous jury
– Mr Richter says Pell will appeal
– Suppression orders prevent Australian media reporting the verdict but it spreads through international media within hours.
FEBRUARY 2019
– Hearings begin ahead of the second trial. Prosecutors drop another charge
– An appeal is filed against the cathedral trial conviction
– A County Court judge deems vital evidence inadmissible
– Prosecutors withdraw all remaining charges against Pell and drop a second trial over allegations Pell indecently assaulted boys in Ballarat in the 1970s when he was a parish priest
– Pell is due to be taken into custody on Wednesday February 27 as the plea hearing begins.
MARCH 2019
– Pell is due to be sentenced by County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd.
Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell found guilty of child sex charges
February 26, 2019
One of the most powerful men in the Roman Catholic Church was found guilty of multiple historical child sex offenses at a secret trial in Melbourne in December, the existence of which can only now be revealed.
Paul @Oatcake1967
Former HK Governor Lord Chris Patten is George Pell’s spin doctor
LORD PATTEN OF BARNES is Cardinal George Pell’s covert personal media advisor, head of his “black ops” propaganda unit and chief strategist of damage control.
Independent Australia has been informed that Patten owes Pell his job and felt obliged to respond to Pell’s plea for help after a series of public relations blunders and manoeuvres scripted in Rome and Australia backfired on the increasingly beleaguered Cardinal.
Further, IA is aware that some Vatican and Australian communications personnel have become increasingly disaffected with what they interpret as Pell’s disingenuous conduct, and his continuing lack of duty of care and compassion for victims/survivors.
As well, there is also some antipathy between Pell’s Roman staff and the office of the Archdiocese of Sydney whom, we are told, are getting fed up with being on call 24/7 and acceding to the demands of the autocratic Pell and his various acolytes.
Pell apparently still treats Sydney HQ as his own turf.
PATTEN RECRUITED BY PELL FOR HOLY SEE
In July 2014, the erudite and personable Patten was made president of the Vatican’s extensive media and communications divisions, charged with overhauling all print and electronic matters and to usher the Vatican into the digital age.
Much to the ire of many, Patten was recruited in a phone call “out of the blue” by George Pell, but why was the Prefect of the Secretariat of the Economy now lording it over the Vatican’s communications unit and hiring staff, and overruling incumbent administrators ?
On the surface, Patten’s appointment was ostensibly to cut costs but it was enough to ruffle the feathers of angels.
In response to an earlier report on the Vatican’s media and communications by consultants McKinsey & Company – famous for their Anil Kumar and Rajat K.Gupta insider trader scandals – to overhaul media, Patten was eventually appointed and now oversees a committee that includes former Singapore Finance Minister, George Yeo.
http://linkis.com/independentaustralia.net/L9yst
Patten patron of St benedict’s where a paedophile ring has been operating for decades
Patten’s former PPS – paedophile Patrick Rock
Patten involved with the BBC cover up of Jimmy Savile’s crimes
Patten accused of a cover-up on BBC Savile probe blunder: Chairman knew of a tape where inquiry author admit he had made a ‘mistake’
- Nick Pollard headed inquiry into why Newsnight dropped Savile report
- In taped phone call he says director-general knew of Savile accusations
- Mark Thompson denies being told about planned Newsnight inquiry
Theresa May in cover-up row as it emerges GCHQ spy chief who ‘was allowed to resign for family reasons’ actually quit after he helped a paedophile Catholic priest avoid jail
Foreign Secretary William Hague with the blessing of Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg appointed Robert Hannigan
Gloucestershire-born Hannigan, meanwhile, previously had the ear of one-time Labour PM Tony Blair, whom he advised on Northern Ireland’s peace process.
He later headed up Blighty’s national security strategy in 2007 under Blair, and appears on the steering group for the Cabinet Office’s 2008 review of the government’s handling of personal data [PDF] – he also wrote its interim progress report the year before [PDF]. This study was launched after HMRC lost a couple of CDs containing personal records on every child-benefit-claiming family in the UK. At the time, Hannigan was Head of Security, Intelligence and Resilience, at the Cabinet Office.
The top spook grew up in Yorkshire and studied classics at Wadham College, Oxford.
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/15/brit_spymasters_gchq_get_shiny_new_spook_boss/
Are Peter C M Hannigan and Pamela (nee Atkinson) Hannigan, the parents of Robert Peter Hannigan…
Hannigan has a particular interest in the history of cryptography and Bletchley Park, where he is a Trustee.
https://companycheck.co.uk/director/923882735/MR-ROBERT-PETER-HANNIGAN/summary
The Holy Father (Pope John Paul) also met the Headmaster of the Westminster Cathedral Choir School and his wife – Peter and Pamela Hannigan.
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| Married Lowe, who taught English and Maths and who now lives in Bristol, was found guilty of abusing six young boys while teaching at Westminster Cathedral Choir School in London (above) in the 1970s and 1980s |
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| Lowe was also convicted of abusing four young boys while working at Ampleforth College, near York (above) |
Housemaster at Westminster Cathedral Choir School guilty of molesting ten boys including chorister who sang at his wedding
- David Lowe, 61, abused 10 boys aged under 14 between 1978 and 1984
- Guilty of sexually abusing boys at Westminster Cathedral Choir School
- Also convicted of abusing young boys while working at Ampleforth College
- Jury told he assaulted boys as they lay in their beds in school dormitories
- English and music teacher also fondled pupils in one-on-one vocal lessons
- Lowe convicted of 15 counts of indecent assault at Southwark Crown Court
One of the victims later told his mother he had been touched by Lowe, who then reported it to the then-headmaster of the Westminster school, Peter Hannigan, via a family friend.
Mr Hannigan, who worked at the school between 1977 and 1995, and hired Lowe in 1978, earlier told the court: ‘Mr Lowe was a good teacher. There was never anything sexual.’
Mr J McIntosh, headmaster of the London Oratory School, admitted that the cane was still used in his school but was unable to say what, if any, the Cardinal’s recommendation would have on this policy.
But Mr Peter Hannigan, Headmaster of Westminster Cathedral Choir School over which Cardinal Hume has direct authority, said that corporal punishment had not been used in the eight years that he had been at the school. “In a school of 90 people it would be absurd if such a sanction was required”, he said.
Similarly at Ampleforth College, the well-known Catholic public school attached to the monastery of which Cardinal Hme was Abbot until 1976, it was being said that corporal punishment had been phased out sometime during the Cardinal’s period of office there.
Westminster Cathedral Choir School has been rescued from the threat of closure. Cardinal Hume, Archbishop of Westminster, has told parents in a letter published yesterday.
Mr Peter Hannigan headmaster or a preparatory school in Doncaster, is to take over as head-master of the choir school from Father F. Comer ford in September.
A new board of governors will be set up, including the Duke of Norfolk, Cardinal Hume, Father Patrick Barry, former chairman of the Headmasters’ Conference and Head Master of Ampleforth College, Dr John Rae chairman of the Headmasters’ Conference and Head Master of Westminster School, and Mr David Willcocks, Director of the Royal College of Music.
Notable former pupils
Robert Hannigan, Civil Servant, Director of GCHQ
Peter Hannigan and paedophile Lowe mentioned in IICSA documents
NYP000104
Westminster Cathedra] Choir School Mr Charles Foulds, at present Assistant Headmaster of Slonyhurst College, has been ap¬ pointed Headmaster from Septem¬ ber 1995 in succession to Mr Peter Hannigan. who retires after 18 years in the post.
Like SAVILE and JACONELLI, HUME was a Freemason, of high degree, and with infinite loyalty to fellow brothers.
Basil HUME died on 17th June 1999, two weeks after receiving the Order of Merit.
In the light of the on-going Ampleforth revelations, Basil HUME’s relationship with Jimmy SAVILE merits the closest scrutiny.
And what about any relationship between Basil HUME and Peter JACONELLI?
Are we to believe that that Abbott Basil HUME, Athenaeum patron of one of the two most prolific predatory paedophiles of our times – both of them Catholic, both of them Freemasons, both of them perverts who offended together as well as separately – knew nothing of SAVILE’s co-offender and alleged sexual partner, Peter JACONELLI, the Roman Catholic Freemason?
- Robert Hannigan helped a paedophile priest avoid jail, Mail on Sunday reveals
- He stunned Whitehall with his exit after just two years in charge of GCHQ
- The MoS learned he stepped down after the NCA discovered he helped a family friend avoid a custodial sentence for possessing 174 child pornography images
- Mr Hannigan provided a reference for Father Edmund Higgins at his 2013 trial
One of Britain’s top spy chiefs quit after it emerged that he helped a paedophile Catholic priest avoid jail, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Prime Minister Theresa May was last night accused of a cover-up over the scandal as she knew of GCHQ director Robert Hannigan’s connection to the child sex offender when he stood down in 2017.
At the time, Mr Hannigan had cited ‘family reasons’, with this crucial link kept secret.
The high-flying civil servant, who was lauded for his role in striking peace in Northern Ireland, stunned Whitehall with his exit after just two years in charge of GCHQ.
This newspaper has learned he stepped down after the National Crime Agency discovered that he helped a close family friend avoid a custodial sentence for possessing 174 child pornography images.
After his conviction, Edmund Higgins, who had served at St Elizabeth’s Church in Richmond, South-West London, was defrocked and changed his name to Edmund Black
After Mr Hannigan provided a character reference for Father Edmund Higgins at his 2013 trial, the priest’s eight-month sentence was suspended. The judge said Higgins had ‘struggled with his sexuality’. But Higgins went on to reoffend, and during an NCA probe his links to Mr Hannigan were discovered and No 10 was alerted.
The powerful mandarin gave the reference ‘in good faith’ a year before his appointment as director of the 5,000-strong Government Communications Headquarters, the notoriously secretive eavesdropping agency.
With the Prime Minister’s blessing, he was allowed to resign on January 23, 2017, citing family commitments. Anonymous briefings were given to the media that he would be caring for sick relatives. That same year, Mrs May said: ‘The sunlight of transparency acts… as an important check and balance, and helps ensure the highest standards of public life among senior Government representatives.’
Last night Mr Hannigan, who began to train as a priest before joining the civil service, confirmed that Higgins had been a family friend for two decades. But he admitted his ‘judgment was completely wrong’ in providing the character reference.
After his conviction, Higgins, who had served at St Elizabeth’s Church in Richmond, South-West London, was defrocked and changed his name to Edmund Black, but continued to offend.
The Mail on Sunday has learned that No 10 was alerted in early 2017 that the NCA was investigating Higgins as part of a major probe into online chatrooms that hosted abuse of babies. His connection to Mr Hannigan was highlighted to figures at the very top of Government, including the Prime Minister.
Mr Hannigan offered to step down to avoid dragging GCHQ into the scandal but the significant reason behind his departure was never made public. Even senior officials within the Foreign Office, GCHQ and Cabinet Office were unaware.
In his resignation letter to Boris Johnson, who as Foreign Secretary had oversight of GCHQ, Mr Hannigan wrote: ‘After a good deal of thought I have decided that this is the right time to move on and to allow someone else to lead GCHQ through its next phase.’ He added that his job ‘demanded a great deal of my ever patient and understanding family, and now is the right time for a change in direction’.
Mr Johnson replied: ‘You have led the renewal of some of our most important national security capabilities. I wish you the very best for your future career.’
Last night, Scottish National Party MP Pete Wishart said the ‘shocking episode reeked of a cover-up’, adding: ‘The Prime Minister is immersed in this up to her eyes.
‘No 10 must give a full account of what they knew, when they knew and why they have failed to do so before. The Prime Minister must come to the Commons tomorrow and explain the Government’s role in this appalling episode.’ Government insiders said in Mr Hannigan’s defence the truth was not revealed because the investigation into Higgins was still active. Higgins’s home was raided by the NCA the following January.
However, the truth remained classified long after Higgins was charged. He was jailed for 31 months in June 2018 in a case the NCA described as ‘horrendous’.
They had caught Higgins boasting online of his sexual interest in babies and he later confessed to possessing and making child abuse images. He visited chatrooms when child sex abuse was being shown, and in May 2016 he hosted a chatroom where nine videos were played showing horrific child abuse, with one victim thought to be just three months old. When his house was raided, the NCA found more than 800 illegal images, 201 of which were in the most severe category. Even while he was on bail he returned to the depraved online forums to reoffend.
After his conviction, senior NCA officer Martin Ludlow said: ‘Every time these horrendous images are shared that child is victimised… [Higgins] has shown no remorse. He went out of his way to encourage others to view and share images.’
Mr Hannigan has since gone on to a lucrative career in the private sector. He said last night: ‘Mr Higgins had been a close family friend for 20 years. After he pleaded guilty to child sexual imagery offences in 2013, we submitted a character reference on our knowledge of him to the court in good faith.
‘His subsequent criminal actions appalled us and have shown that our judgment was completely wrong. When I later became director of GCHQ, all the correct steps were taken in relation to my involvement in this case and this was verified by Government lawyers. This is a personal family matter. We will not be making further comment.’
How his diamond table rescued the Ulster peace deal
Seat solution: Ian Paisley, far left, and Gerry Adams, far right, at Mr Hannigan’s diamond table
Robert Hannigan’s meteoric rise to the top of the British Establishment began with an ingenious diamond table that helped unlock power-sharing in Northern Ireland.
During testy negotiations in Belfast in 2007, Republicans demanded they must sit next to Unionists, but they in turn demanded they must sit opposite their former adversaries.
As an adviser to Tony Blair, Mr Hannigan came up with a diamond-shaped table that allowed the key players to sit both opposite and next to each other, breaking the deadlock.
He quickly rose up the diplomatic ranks, counselling Gordon Brown and David Cameron on security affairs, before being appointed head of the country’s largest spy agency GCHQ, with a seat on Whitehall’s all-powerful Joint Intelligence Committee.
At the time, Mr Hannigan was named the country’s third most powerful Catholic by religious newspaper The Tablet, which noted that he ‘enthusiastically follows hurling and Gaelic football.’
Before entering the Civil Service, Mr Hannigan trained to be a priest at Allen Hall seminary in Chelsea. But friends say he ‘fell in love and could not go down that path’.
It was through his wife that he first met Father Edmund Higgins, a notorious paedophile.
That friendship would help destroy Mr Hannigan’s otherwise blemish-free career when a sister intelligence agency discovered his past support for the clergyman – support which he would come to regret.
Mr Hannigan has since gone on to take a host of jobs in the private sector, commenting publicly on national security and most recently defending Chinese technology firms.
Fr Higgins, who had been a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary before being incardinated into the Archdiocese of Southwark in January 2011
Higgins had practised as a priest since he was 18.
Head of Catholic order failed to tell police of sexual abuse at London school
The head of one of the country’s most powerful Catholic orders was made aware of sex abuse allegations dating back to the 1970s at one of its schools but did not alert the authorities – contrary to the recommendations of a church commission on which he sat.
The wide-ranging Independent Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse has been shown a handwritten document compiled by Abbot Richard Yeo, who as president of the Benedictines conducted an inquiry at St Benedict’s School in Ealing, west London, in June 2010 following reports that there had been widespread abuse of pupils by teachers and monks.
The year before Yeo’s visit, Father David Pearce, the former head of the junior school, had been jailed for eight years – reduced to five on appeal –after being found guilty of abusing five boys over a 36-year period.
According to notes Yeo took when he visited St Benedict’s, and which will soon be uploaded on to the inquiry’s website, many at the school had been concerned about Pearce decades before he was jailed. Yeo’s notes state: “Mid 70s knew David engaged in dubious activities.” Another monk told him: “Knew since I was junior school head there was something wrong. Graffiti ‘Fr David is bent’.” A third said he was aware of rumours of abuse when he arrived 25 years ago, and expressed disbelief that a former abbot claimed to Yeo he “never knew anything about it”.
The Catholic church’s failure to confront systemic clerical sexual abuse was acknowledged last week at an unprecedented summit on the issue opened by Pope Francis, attended by 180 bishops and cardinals. “The holy people of God are watching and expect not just simple and obvious condemnations, but efficient and concrete measures to be established,” he warned.
Yeo, who stood down as president of the Benedictines in 2017, told the inquiry he did not pass his 2010 notes on to the police because Pearce had already been jailed and that he did not know if they had any evidential value.
But Richard Scorer, specialist abuse lawyer at Slater & Gordon, who is representing several of the victims at the school, and referred to Yeo’s note in a blogpost, said it was not for the abbot to determine what was relevant to the inquiry. He described Yeo’s failure to share his notes with the police as remarkable given that he had been a member of the 2007 Cumberlege commission, the Catholic church’s review of its child safeguarding policies in England and Wales.
“The Cumberlege commission report from 2007 is clear that ‘all allegations of abuse are required to be reported to the statutory authorities who must decide whether a statutory investigation is required,’” Scorer said. “Yeo was a member of this commission, yet when allegations of abuse came into his possession in 2010 he failed to follow the Cumberlege commission’s own rules and report them to the statutory authorities. This demonstrates yet again that senior figures in the Catholic church are happy to ignore the church’s own rules when it suits them and self-policing in the Catholic church always fails.”
Jonathan West, the father of a former pupil, who was instrumental in raising concerns, said repeated failure to investigate abuse at the school highlighted the need for mandatory reporting, which would require all staff working with children to report concerns about the welfare of a child to the local authority.
“Mandatory reporting would make it almost impossible for a long-running situation such as occurred at St Benedict’s to happen,” West said. “First, there will inevitably be a greater climate of awareness making reporting more likely. And second, no head teacher is going to risk being prosecuted for suppressing a report of somebody else abusing. These two factors will make it extremely dangerous for abusers to operate in schools. They won’t dare. Abuse will be prevented as a result.”
The inquiry has heard that there were numerous warning signs which should have triggered intervention.
Katherine Ravenscroft, a drama teacher, said that when she joined the school in 1990, “it was spoken about quite freely among the boys in the school that Father David Pearce would oversee swimming while they were in the junior school and that he would line the boys up naked after swimming to feel them in order to check that they were dry”.
Ravenscroft told the inquiry in a statement now published on its website that there were also rumours about Abbot Laurence Soper – who was convicted in 2017 of 19 charges of rape and other sexual offences against 10 boys at the school.
Ravenscroft raised her concerns with police the same year. When she told the new headmaster, Christopher Cleugh, that she wished she had reported the concerns about Pearce earlier, she said he responded: “You can rest assured he will seek absolution for his sins.”
Ravenscroft said it seemed child protection at the school was not taken seriously until its deputy head master, Peter Allott, was sentenced in 2016. “It still seemed as if things were being brushed to one side,” she said in her statement.
Penny Jones, a deputy director of the independent education and school governance division in the Department for Education, said in 2010 ministers were alarmed to learn monks who had committed sexual offences were still living in Ealing Abbey next to the school. “We lacked the powers necessary to require the abbot to remove monks who had offended from the abbey, as the power to remove monks fell [outside] DfE’s jurisdiction,” Jones told the inquiry.
Gerry Adams’ ex-IRA commander brother who was jailed for 16 years for raping his own daughter dies behind bars aged 63
- Convicted paedophile Liam Adams dies aged 63 after a battle with cancer
- He was jailed for 16 years for sexually abusing his own daughter Aine Dahlstrom
- He was ex-IRA commander and brother of former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams
Adams, a former youth worker, was convicted of 10 offences – three counts of rape, four of indecent assault and three of gross indecency.
Gerry Adams gave evidence at his brother’s first trial – which collapsed in April 2013 for legal reasons.
During the 2013 trial, Mr Adams told the court that in 2000, during a walk in the rain in Dundalk, his brother had admitted sexually abusing his daughter, Ms Dalhstrom.
Mr Adams made his first report to police about the allegations in 2007 shortly after his party voted to accept the PSNI, but did not tell officers about the confession until 2009, when he made a second statement.
Mr Adams was criticised for not informing police about the confession at an earlier date.
In 2015, the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman found that police were not politically motivated when they said Gerry Adams should not be prosecuted for allegedly withholding information about his paedophile brother.
The police watchdog said there was no evidence of misconduct, or that officers had been influenced by the former Sinn Fein president’s status.
Ms Dahlstrom first took the matter to police in the mid-1980s. This was in the midst of the Northern Ireland Troubles and a time when many people in republican communities distrusted and refused to co-operate with the security forces.
She did not pursue the matter at that stage, claiming that detectives were more interested to hear information about her famous uncle than about the allegations she was levelling against her father.
It would be another 20 years before she went to police again, after finding out that her father was working in a west Belfast youth club that her children attended.
Federal prosecutors broke law in Jeffrey Epstein case, judge rules
February 21, 2019
Federal prosecutors, under former Miami U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta, broke the law when they concealed a plea agreement from more than 30 underage victims who had been sexually abused by wealthy New York hedge fund manager Jeffrey Epstein, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
While the decision marks a victory for crime victims, the federal judge, Kenneth A. Marra, stopped short of overturning Epstein’s plea deal, or issuing an order resolving the case. He instead gave federal prosecutors 15 days to confer with Epstein’s victims and their attorneys to come up with a settlement. The victims did not seek money or damages as part of the suit.
It’s not clear whether the victims, now in their late 20s and early 30s, can, as part of the settlement, demand that the government prosecute Epstein. But others are calling on the Justice Department to take a new look at the case in the wake of the judge’s ruling.
“As a legal matter, the non-prosecution agreement entered into by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida does not bind other U.S. Attorneys in other districts. They are free, if they conclude it is appropriate to do so, to bring criminal actions against Mr. Epstein and his co-conspirators,’’ said lawyer David Boies, representing two of Epstein’s victims who claim they were trafficked by Epstein in New York and other areas of the country.
Earlier this month, the Department of Justice announced it was opening a probe of the case in response to calls from three dozen members of Congress. Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Oversight Subcommittee, on Thursday asked the DOJ to also re-open Epstein’s plea deal.
“The fact that it’s taken this long to get this far is heartbreaking and infuriating,’’ said Sasse. “The Department of Justice should use this opportunity to reopen its non-prosecution agreement so that Epstein and anyone else who abused these children are held accountable.”
Epstein’s lawyer, Martin Weinberg, did not return a call from the Miami Herald.
Brad Edwards, who represents Courtney Wild — Jane Doe No. 1 in the case — said he was elated at the judge’s ruling, but admitted he is troubled that it took 11 years to litigate. He blamed federal prosecutors for needlessly dragging it out when they could have remedied their error after it was brought to their attention in 2008.
“The government aligned themselves with Epstein, working against his victims, for 11 years,’’ Edwards said. “Yes, this is a huge victory, but to make his victims suffer for 11 years, this should not have happened. Instead of admitting what they did, and doing the right thing, they spent 11 years fighting these girls.’’
Marra, in a 33-page opinion, said prosecutors not only violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act by not informing the victims, they also misled the girls into believing that the FBI’s sex trafficking case against Epstein was still ongoing — when in fact, prosecutors had secretly closed it after sealing the plea bargain from the public record.
The decision follows a three-part series published by the Miami Herald in November, “Perversion of Justice,’’ which detailed how federal prosecutors collaborated with Epstein’s lawyers to arrange the deal, then hid it from his victims and the public so that no one would know the full scope of Epstein’s crimes and who else was involved.
The 66-year-old mogul lured scores of teenage girls from troubled homes — some as young as 13 — as part of a cult-like scheme to sexually abuse them by offering them money to give him massages and promising some of them he would send them to college or help them find careers. Future president Donald Trump, former president Bill Clinton, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, Prince Andrew and other world leaders, scientists and academics were friends with Epstein, who also owns a vast home in Manhattan, a private jet, and an island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where he now lives.
Marra, noting that he reviewed affidavits, depositions and interrogatories — presumably some of them sealed — showed “Epstein worked in concert with others to obtain minors not only for his own sexual gratification, but also for the sexual gratification of others, ’’ the judge said.
Instead of prosecuting Epstein under federal sex trafficking laws, Acosta allowed Epstein to quietly plead guilty in state court to two prostitution charges and he served just 13 months in the Palm Beach County jail. His accomplices, some of whom have never been identified, were not charged.
Epstein’s victims were not told the case was closed until it was too late for them to appear at his sentencing and possibly upend the deal. Two of them filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in 2008, claiming that prosecutors violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, which grants victims of federal crimes a series of rights, including the ability to confer with prosecutors about a possible plea deal.
Marra said that while prosecutors had the right to resolve the case in any way they saw fit, they violated the law by hiding the agreement from Epstein’s victims.
“Particularly problematic was the Government’s decision to conceal the existence of the [agreement] and mislead the victims to believe that federal prosecution was still a possibility,’’ Marra wrote. “When the Government gives information to victims, it cannot be misleading. While the Government spent untold hours negotiating the terms and implications of the [agreement] with Epstein’s attorneys, scant information was shared with victims.’’
The U.S. attorney’s office in Miami declined to comment.
Acosta, who was nominated as labor secretary in 2017, issued a written statement through a spokesman:
““For more than a decade, the actions of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida in this case have been defended by the Department of Justice in litigation across three administrations and several attorneys general. The office’s decisions were approved by departmental leadership and followed departmental procedures. This matter remains in litigation and, thus, for any further comment we refer you to the Department of Justice.”
Michelle Licata, who was molested by Epstein when she was 14, said the judge’s decision was “a step for justice.’’ But she still questions why federal authorities have failed to open a new case against Epstein, given that more victims and evidence has come to light in recent years.
“They should see if they can prosecute him for something. I mean, really prosecute him — instead of giving him 13 months where he was allowed to come and go as he pleased. I just want to see him face some consequences for what he did.’’
Francey Hakes, a former federal prosecutor, said the Crime Victims’ Rights Act doesn’t spell out any punishment for violating its terms, so it would set a precedent to re-open Epstein’s agreement.
“Epstein will surely argue he complied with the agreement, relied upon it, and plead guilty under it so it can’t be overturned in fairness to him,’’ she said. “I will be very interested to see what the parties say the remedy for the violation should be. Ultimately, it is simply shocking the Government went to the lengths they did to keep the victims in the dark in order to make a serious predator’s high priced defense team happy. Justice should not, and does not, look like this.’’
There has been no statute of limitations for sex trafficking since 2002, but Edwards and other lawyers involved in the case said they tried without success to get federal authorities to investigate whether Epstein’s crimes went beyond Palm Beach.
In an op-ed published Sunday in the Herald, Jeffrey H. Sloman, the former first assistant U.S. Attorney under Acosta during the Epstein case, defended their decision to give Epstein federal immunity. He claimed that many of the victims were too frightened to testify against Epstein.
He also noted that there were “significant legal impediments to prosecuting what was, at heart, a local sex case.’’
Marra suggested otherwise in his decision, saying: “Epstein and his co-conspirators knowingly traveled in interstate and international commerce to sexually abuse Jane Doe 1 and Doe 2 and others, [and] they committed violations of not only Florida law, but also federal law.‘’
The bulk of his opinion quoted emails exchanged during the tense negotiations between federal prosecutors and Epstein’s legal team, which included Roy Black, Jack Goldberger, Alan Dershowitz, Jay Lefkowitz and former Whitewater and Clinton prosecutor Kenneth Starr.
Those emails suggested ways in which both parties tried to keep Epstein’s victims in the dark, he said.
“The CVRA [Crime Victims’ Rights Act] was designed to protect victims’ rights and ensure their involvement in the criminal justice process…’’ Marra wrote.
“…Under the facts of this case, once the Government failed to advise the victims about its intention to enter into the [non-prosecution agreement], a violation of the CVRA occurred.’’
Victims advocates applauded the judge’s decison.
“This is a tremendous victory for crime victims and for the rule of law. The Court made clear that the statute was enacted to make crime victims full participants in the criminal justice system,’’ said Jeff R. Dion, executive director of the Zero Abuse Project. “And when the Government gives information to victims, it cannot be misleading. The Government’s conduct was a clear violation of the CVRA, and the court must now consider a remedy.’’
Penelope Mellor jailed for breaching restraining order
2/19/19
AN obsessive woman who breached her restraining order by posting a series of aggressive Tweets towards an anti-abuse campaigner has been jailed for four months.
Penelope Mellor denied two counts of breaching the order, which was put in place in March 2015 and banned her from contacting or posting messages online about Shy Keenan, who lives near Colchester.
However, yesterday a jury at Chelmsford Crown Court found the 57-year-old guilty on both counts.
Judge David Turner sentenced Mellor to four months in jail for each offence to run concurrently.
He said: “In spring 2015 I explained, I hope with clarity, what the consequences of breaching the order would be.
“I told you if you breached the other you would receive a prison sentence of up to five years and breach the order you did.
“There is no doubt at all the victim is a vulnerable person and I have no doubt she has been seriously affected by these Tweets.
“You convinced yourself she was a bad person in this field and you have made it part of your life’s work to make her life more difficult.”
The five year order had banned Mellor from publishing any information relating to Ms Keenan or her family directly or indirectly online.
It also banned her from posting complaints or documenting any complaints about the book Broken or any other book or article written or published by Ms Keenan.
However, in October 2015, it was found Mellor had posted a Tweet where she made reference to “Joanne Pepper” – an alias used by Ms Keenan.
The other breach took place in August 2016, when Mellor posted a cryptic message which the prosecution said referred to Broken as “utter drivel”.
She also used gun emojis in both posts.
During the trial, Mellor declined the opportunity to take to the witness stand.
Anthony Abell, prosecuting, said the ordeal had been extremely distressing for the Ms Keenan, who is an anti-abuse campaigner and founder of the Phoenix Chief Advocates’ Consultancy.
Reading a statement from the victim, Mr Abell said: “As a result of the distress caused I have been enforced to increase my on and offline security.
“It has had a negative impact on myself, my family, my friends and supporters’ lives.”
Imran Khan, mitigating, said mother-of-eight Mellor had recently been forced into caring for her mother and asked for a suspended sentence to be passed.
He said: “There is no intention on her part to contact Ms Keenan again or any other activists. Because of her children and her mother it is not likely she will repeat the same mistake.”
Mellor, of Coven, Wolverhampton, was also ordered to pay £1,500 in costs and the restraining order was extended for five years.
Penny Mellor’s supporters:
During the 2015 trial, high-profile child rights campaigner, Esther Rantzen, gave evidence on behalf of Mellor.
Childline founder Dame Esther Rantzen has denied being told Jimmy Savile was a paedophile decades before he was unmasked.
Rantzen, 74, appeared in court as a witness during the trial of a woman accused of cyberstalking child abuse campaigner Shy Keenan, 52, on Twitter.
Ms Keenan has previously alleged that she told the former TV presenter that Savile, Gary Glitter and Jonathan King were paedophiles in 1986.
Rantzen said: “Shy Keenan was telling them that I said they were too rich, too powerful and that I, Esther Rantzen, could do nothing about it.
Lennie Smith (who lived with Roddam Twiss – son of Black Rod, Sir Frank Twiss) linked to Shoebury Sex Ring
Roddam Twiss confirmed that Lennie Smith, jailed in 1992 for his part in a paedophile gang that killed five boys, once rented a room at his Cricklewood Broadway flat.
Southend:
Yellow Advertiser helps Essex Police reopen Shoeburyness ‘child sex ring’ investigation for a second time
It resulted in four whistleblowers – all child protection workers in the Southend area during the 1980s and 1990s – raising concerns with the YA over a ’sex ring’ they felt had not been properly investigated.
Two men were convicted of child sex charges, relating to six victims, after the original Essex Police investigation in 1990.
http://www.yellowad.co.uk/article.cfm?id=128447
Address given to Essex Police by ‘Shoebury Sex Ring’ victim belonged to Jason Swift murder suspect Lennie Smith
A PAEDOPHILE murder suspect has been definitively linked to a Southend address given to police last year by a known victim of the “Shoebury Sex Ring”.
The property in Westcliff has been linked through public records to Lennie Smith, a member of the “Dirty Dozen” paedophile gang which killed at least three schoolboys, Jason Swift, Barry Lewis and Mark Tildesley.
Smith, who died in prison in 2006, was implicated in all three killings but evaded prosecution by arguing that the only witnesses against him were unreliable paedophiles.
However, he was convicted and jailed for other serious child sex offences.
In November 2018, as part of a series of interviews with sex crimes officers in Rayleigh, a man in his late 40s gave detectives a list of addresses connected with his childhood abuse.
The man was approached by police in 2017, who said they had reason to believe he was a victim of a Southend paedophile ring in the 1980s. He is named as a victim in social services documents from 1990 and 1991.
Among the addresses he gave police was in San Remo Parade, Westcliff.
There is no suggestion that anybody living at that address now is linked to any abuse.
He told police he would visit the property in the 1980s as a teenager to buy marijuana. He said that on one occasion when he did so, a man who lived there led him to a property in nearby Finchley Road, where the boy was then sexually abused by another man.
Smith’s prison records, released under the Freedom of Information Act, include two documents from 1983 which list his address as the house in San Remo Parade, Westcliff.
The witness, who completed his final on-camera interview with police in November, told officers he did not believe he had ever met Smith, but that one of the paedophile ring’s leaders had often threatened boys that if they were not compliant, they would be taken to Lennie Smith.
He told police the remarks had left the boys baffled, as they had no idea who Smith was or why they should be frightened of him.
In fact, the witness still had no idea who Smith was when he gave police his name last year. Smith’s notoriety was revealed to the witness by a counsellor after his interviews had ended.
It was already known that Smith had lived in Westcliff in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
A list of Smith’s convictions, released under Freedom of Information, places him in the area in June 1980, as he was convicted of theft at Southend Magistrates’ Court.
According to a now out-of-print book about the “Dirty Dozen” gang, called Lambs to the Slaughter, Smith moved to Westcliff from London and entered into a relationship with an older paedophile called Jack Parsons, who ran an amusement arcade.
The men used the arcade to lure and abuse children, then sell them as rent boys, as well as to deal drugs.
Investigation by the YA has found that while Smith never appeared on the electoral register at the property in San Remo Parade, Parsons did, from 1979 until the late 1980s.
By the mid-1980s, Smith had moved to the Kingsmead estate in Hackney.
He was living there when police first visited and questioned him over the disappearance of Jason Swift. After they left, Smith attempted suicide and then fled to Southend, although it is not known exactly where he stayed.
The letter was written by Doreen Pond, a secretary at the Children’s Society – a charity contracted by Essex Council to work with the Shoebury victims.
Doreen – who has since died – wrote the letter to after two policemen showed up at her home on September 12, 1990, asking questions about a number of people.
She used her shorthand skills to take comprehensive notes of the meeting, then sent the notes – plus a typed transcription – to one of her superiors.
She wrote: “They said that King and Tanner were only a small part of what was going on.”
Grayshott is in Petersfield.
Petersfield is near where Vishal Mehrotra was found & where Lennie Smith’s death was registered…
A few months after his son’s disappearance Vishambar Mehrotra said that he had been contacted by an unidentified man thought to be in his twenties.[3] This man suggested that Vishal had been abducted, and that this event may be connected to a group of influential paedophiles associated with the Elm Guest House.[3] The man stated that he had informed the police but they had not followed up his report.[3] Vishambar gave a recording of the telephone conversation to detectives, however, they dismissed it as a crank call and it was not followed up.[3][4] The location of Vishal’s disappearance was less than a mile from the Elm Guest House.[3]
In June 1987 Lennie Smith was jailed for 2 1/2 years along with pop star Adam Ant’s father Leslie Goddard for taking part in a child sex racket…’
Adam Ant’s mother was an embroiderer or the Queen’s dressmaker Norman Hartnell and worked at Paul McCartney’s house as a cleaner.
Like Sidney Cooke, Leslie Alfred Goddard was also a chauffeur to rich families.
Jailbird Jonathan Aitken was closely linked to RELEASE. He is even mentioned in connection with David Offenbach, lawyer for Lennie Smith who assisted Sidney Cooke in the rape and murder of Jason Swift.
SECRET FILES REVEALED: Children abused by Southend paedophile ring were transported to Basildon, Havering and Tower Hamlets – and claimed their abusers included police officers
Was the Shoebury sex ring ‘covered up’? Secret documents detail ‘corruption, beatings, threats and missing evidence’.
N MARCH 2016, Essex Police made national headlines by announcing a review of a historic paedophile ring investigation. It was a direct result of a Yellow Advertiser investigation, in which three whistleblowers had voiced concerns that the 1989/90 ‘Shoebury Sex Ring’ case had been bungled.
Announcing the 2016 review, police commissioner Nick Alston said the whistleblowers were ‘eminently credible’ and the review was to determine whether the failings could be chalked up to ‘cock-up or cover-up’.
Two-and-a-half years later, the YA is in touch with seven whistleblowers, most of whom suspect the latter. One testified in an Essex Council inquiry in 2000 that the case seemed to go awry after ‘information started coming out about people working in the statutory agencies’.
Between them, the whistleblowers – all former Southend child protection workers with professional connections to the case – saved hundreds of documents, including correspondence, handwritten notes and minutes from dozens of official meetings. Some were so worried about the possible risk to their evidence that they even stashed copies in different countries.
The documents chronicle the original investigation. After being allowed to view them, the YA is publishing the most detailed account ever written of the Shoebury Sex Ring investigation.
* * *
In May 1989, police arrested two men after two Shoebury boys alleged sexual abuse. The men were Dennis King, then 54 and living in Cunningham Close, Shoebury, and Brian Tanner, 56, of Beedell Avenue, Westcliff. Both men would later be prosecuted and jailed for being the ‘leaders’ of a ‘massive’ sex ring with ‘dozens’ of victims.
A month after the arrests, Essex Council convened the first of a series of multi-agency meetings, which would continue until 1991. The Children’s Society was asked to provide therapy to the boys – who now numbered 14 – and write a report about the case. Two other charities helping the boys – the NSPCC and youth justice scheme the Rainer Project – would also contribute.
In December 1989, the charities started meeting to share intelligence gathered from the children. They were assigned a liaison police officer to pass all information on to.
Immediately, the charities realised the ring was far bigger than just King and Tanner. There had been an early indication of this when police raided King’s flat and found a book full of names and addresses in London, with references to ‘tykes’.
A boy had identified three Southend addresses where he was taken by King. He said he was also taken to East London, where he was drugged and sexually abused for a ‘porn video’.
The Children’s Society met with Shoebury county councillor David Cotgrove. According to minutes the YA has seen of that meeting, Cllr Cotgrove said the ring was ‘not new’ and there were ‘high up people involved’.
By January 1990, the group had been told of possible links to Canvey, Thurrock, Havering and Basildon. More boys now reported being drugged and photographed.
Care homes were also named.
But children’s home staff weren’t the only state employees implicated.
Boys also named a police officer who frequented King’s flat, as well as a neighbouring flat occupied by a vulnerable drug addict, where men were known to sleep with underage girls. Allegations against him were listed in minutes as, ‘photographs, girls, drugs, blackmail’.
A boy told the charities the officer would, “target families, manufacture charges against any person, go round the house and have sex with the mums.”
The boy reported walking in on the officer having sex with a school friend’s mother.
One of the 14 victims confided in the charity workers that a friend of his had started ‘digging about’ regarding the ring and was ‘warned off by two CID’, who told him he was ‘out of his league’ and gave him a black eye.
By February, the group was receiving tip-offs from other Essex child protection workers who had heard of their work. Some made allegations about impropriety linked to Social Services.
The group continued to feed their intelligence to their liaison officer, but then he was suddenly replaced without any warning or explanation. His replacement, a whistleblower testified in 2000, “was always drunk.”
In March 1990, relations between the police and the charity workers soured dramatically.
On March 6, two of the workers bumped into their liaison officer and his colleague in the Cricketers pub, Southend.
“By the way,” the officer said, a bit worse for wear, “I’ve been asked by my boss to do a hatchet job on you lot.”
The incident was detailed in a memo sent to one of the charity’s head offices days later, which said the officer had then described one worker’s vehicle and day to day movements in meticulous detail, implying they were under surveillance.
Later that week, the charities were interrogated by Social Services as to why they kept meeting up. The Children’s Society was told Social Services would no longer be using the report it had commissioned from the charity and would write its own instead.
The group, feeling ‘attacked’ and ‘under pressure’, sent a joint memo to their head offices, saying they had received sensitive information they no longer trusted police to investigate. They became ‘worried’ about being ‘fitted up’.
A meeting was held in early April between the workers and the NSPCC’s legal department. Aided by a lawyer, they drew up a report listing ‘known facts’ and the authorities’ response.
It said police were told of boys willing to give information about paedophile activity in a Shoebury hotel and at addresses in Havering, Stratford and Southend – but had ‘shown no interest’ in speaking to them. ‘No perceivable action’ had been taken over detailed allegations against police or Social Services staff either.
The diary full of London addresses, seized from King’s flat, went ‘missing’ from police custody. In April, King and Tanner struck a plea bargain. Having initially faced charges with a maximum penalty of life in prison, they were sentenced to four and three years, respectively. The judge, incredibly, accepted the paedophiles’ argument that the boys – as young as 10 – had been the true instigators of the sexual activity.
In May 1990, the charities were told ‘no action’ would be taken over the officer named by the boys. Multi-agency meetings to discuss after-care for the victims continued into 1991, but nobody else was ever prosecuted for their abuse.
In 2016, hundreds of pages of original documents detailing the above events were handed to police. In 2017, the force said its review found ‘no evidence of any corruption’.
Father Francis McDermott: Priest ‘sex mad’, court told
A Roman Catholic Priest accused of abusing children was “sex mad”, a jury has been told.
Father Francis McDermott, now 75, is accused of committing sexual offences against six children in the 1970s.
One accuser told Aylesbury Crown Court he was abused when the priest lived in London and High Wycombe.
The man told the court Father McDermott had a locked cabinet containing pornographic magazines and had boasted of having sex with a girl.
Giving evidence from behind the screen, the witness, who is now in his late 50s, said his family were friends with Father McDermott when he was training to be a priest in north London in the early 1970s.
‘High sex drive’
He said Father McDermott, now of Atlantic Way, Westwood Ho, Bideford, Devon, regularly stayed at their home and sexually abused him.
The abuse started when the witness was still at primary school and continued when the priest moved to High Wycombe, he said.
He said: “He [Father McDermott] had a very high sex drive – he was sex mad. He was always talking about it. ”
The man said the sexual activity tapered off when he was about 17, and he stayed in touch with the priest, who had moved to Aylesbury.
In about 2004, when the man was living in Northampton, he said he received a call from the priest.
He said he recorded a conversation in which Father McDermott asked him to make a statement to support him after a complaint had been made against him by a woman.
The retired priest denies 18 indecent assaults, four indecent assaults on a male, two charges of indecency with a child, one of buggery and one of rape, allegedly carried out between 1971 and 1979.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-47129520
He retired from the Ministry in 2005.
Attacks are alleged to have happened between 1971 and 1978 when both Buckinghamshire and Norfolk were part of the Diocese of Northampton.
Fr McDermott later worked at Our Lady of Lourdes church in Aylesbury which is still part of the diocese.
Former priest found guilty of historic sex offences against children
A former priest has been convicted of eighteen sex offences against six children in the 1970s.
Francis McDermott, 75, was a priest in a number of different parishes between 1971 and 1979 where he befriended local families, and then sexually abused the children.
McDermott abused his first victim while he was training to become a priest in London. After he was ordained he worked in Norwich and High Wycombe, where he committed further offences against the children of families he had got to know.
Some years later, McDermott contacted his first victim again, after being accused of sexually assaulting a young girl who he believed the victim knew. The victim recorded the conversation he had with the priest at this time. In 2017, after receiving therapy, he reported the abuse he had experienced and shared the recording with the police. As a result, the police contacted the other victims who gave evidence against McDermott.
Yasmeen Malik, for the CPS, said: “Francis McDermott exploited his position as a priest to strike up friendships with families in his local parishes, and then used his charm and charisma to gain the trust of the children so he could sexually abuse them.
“The victims have shown great courage in admitting what happened to them and giving evidence against McDermott; it’s their brave actions that have seen him convicted of these serious offences.”
McDermott will be sentenced on 14 March 2019.
Convicted priest Tony McSweeney also worked in Norwich.
Who knew about the abuse at St Benedict’s? The entire Catholic Church
Feb 17 2019
At the child sexual abuse inquiry Stephen Bleach sees the truth emerge about the school where he and other boys were harmed. And it hits him: the instinct to shield paedophiles was endemic
Earlier this month the inquiry spent five days examining the appalling record of child abuse at Ealing Abbey, west London, and the school it ran, St Benedict’s — where I was a pupil in the 1970s.
@JonathanWest
One thing that became clear at the @InquiryCSA hearing was how outsiders with concerns were frozen out and ignored (and even accused of anti-Catholic motives) while commissioning advice from people (like Lord Carlile) who said what they wanted to hear, that all is well now.
Had Carlile been right in saying that, there wouldn’t have been so much still to be discovered in the inquiry hearing and there would have been no need for the Abbot (who commissioned Carlile) to resign before the hearing had even finished.
Chris Patten with Abbot Martin Shipperlee
Catholic Abbot RESIGNS after he admits didn’t report priest jailed for child sex offence
THE Abbot of a Benedictine abbey has resigned after it emerged he withheld an allegation of abuse from police about a priest who was later jailed for child sex offences committed while teaching at a leading Catholic school.
Feb 8, 2019
Abbot Martin Shipperlee has resigned
Abbot Martin Shipperlee of Ealing Abbey offered his resignation in a letter after serving as the head of St Benedict’s Junior School in West London from 1993 to 2000. It comes after Express.co.uk reported Abbot Shipperlee failed to report a claim of abuse against a Benedictine monk to the police when informed of it in 2001. Dom Jamieson, current Abbot President of EBC, revealed to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) that today he received a letter from Abbot Shipperlee offering his resignation as Abbot of Ealing.
Abbot Shipperlee stated in his resignation letter: “My administration of safeguarding as has been serially revealed, has been of an insufficient standard.”
To which Abbot Jamieson said: “In light of this I have accepted his resignation.”
David Pearce and Laurence Soper, two Benedictine monks from the abbey who taught at the £16,845-a-year school, were jailed in 2009 and 2017 for historic child abuse offences.
Abbot Shipperlee last week admitted to the IICSA he failed to report a claim of abuse against Soper to the police when informed of it in 2001.
Laurence Soper was jailed for 18 years at the Old Bailey in December 2017
He said: “Because I simply did not believe that this was possible.
“I was outraged that such an accusation could be made against someone of whom I – well, it did not occur to me that it was possible that this sort of thing could happen.”
Reacting to news of his resignaiton, Mr O’Donnell, representing Jonathan West, said: “Under the circumstances, it seems sensible to us that Abbot Shipperlee has tended his resignation, but we do ask the question whether this would have happened if he had not given evidence to the Inquiry.”
“In the current era, can parents really trust Catholic organisations to take care of their children.”
In October 2009, Pearce, a former junior school head master at St Benedict’s, was jailed for eight years for abuse at the school from 1972 to 1992, as well as one offence in 2007.
Soper, the former Abbot, was jailed for 18 years at the Old Bailey in December 2017 after being on the run for five years.
He was arrested in Kosovo and extradited to the UK, where he was convicted of 19 counts of child sex abuse.
In a witness statement to the inquiry last Thursday, Abbot Shipperlee said he was unaware of receiving any complaints against Laurence Soper between 1980 and 2001.
During today’s inquiry, Imran Khan QC on behalf of G2, said: “It has taken a great deal of courage and resilience for victims and survivors who have clearly been traumatised for sharing their accounts with us.”
While Alan Collins representing G1 and G3 to G6 said: ”If there is no change, the risk of child abuse in Catholic organisations will continue.”
When speaking about lessons learnt, Abbot Jamieson told the inquiry: “The need to stop being self referential, moving beyond that, I want know what is it about the Catholic culture that seems to have facilitated a culture of abuse.”
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1084413/child-sex-abuse-catholic-priest-resign-st-benedicts
@Richard_Scorer
“It is clear that the Vatican Bank were facilitating Soper’s flight from justice and failed to hand over information which would have assisted the police in locating him… this gives the lie to the Pope’s claims to want to root out abusers in the church”.
February 6, 2019
Justice Department opens probe into Jeffrey Epstein plea deal, How a future Trump Cabinet member gave a serial sex abuser the deal of a lifetime
February 06, 2019
The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta’s role in negotiating a controversial plea deal with a wealthy New York investor accused of molesting more than 100 underage girls in Palm Beach.
“I hope that the Department of Justice investigation answers the questions of why this case was handled by the U.S. attorney’s office in the way that it was, and may it somehow result in justice and an apology by the government for the victims and their families,’’ Reiter said.
The case has raised fundamental questions about whether well-connected, wealthy people wield influence over prosecutors and others in the justice system. Epstein had a wide circle of powerful friends, including Bill Clinton, President Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, lawyer Alan Dershowitz and a former prime minister of Israel, Ehud Barak….
For months after the deal was executed, federal prosecutors kept Epstein’s victims in the dark, and the FBI led some of them to believe the investigation was ongoing. Most of the girls, ages 13 to 16 at the time, found out about the plea bargain only after learning about it on television when Epstein was sentenced in June 2008.
Acosta agreed to seal the agreement and keep it from Epstein’s victims so that the girls couldn’t try to derail it before he was sentenced, the Herald found.
Nov. 28, 2018….His client, Palm Beach multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein, 54, was accused of assembling a large, cult-like network of underage girls — with the help of young female recruiters — to coerce into having sex acts behind the walls of his opulent waterfront mansion as often as three times a day, the Town of Palm Beach police found.
Ex-Celtic Boys Club coach jailed over abuse
Feb 7 2019
Frank Cairney is the third former Celtic Boys Club coach to be convicted
A former manager of Celtic Boys Club has been jailed for four years after being convicted of nine charges of sexually abusing young footballers.
Sentencing Frank Cairney, the sheriff told the 83-year-old former coach he was a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”.
During his trial the court heard that Cairney’s victims had suffered badly from the abuse, which dated back to the 1980s.
Sheriff Daniel Kelly praised the “courage” of the victims.
Cairney was acquitted of similar charges 20 years ago.
Following his conviction in December, a man who accused Cairney of abusing him in the early 1970s, said justice had finally caught up with the “evil paedophile”.
Both Jim Torbett (left) and Frank Cairney (right) have been convicted of abusing children at Celtic Boys Club
The man, whose identity is protected under the law, said Cairney had used his standing at Celtic FC to gain access to innocent young boys and abuse them in the most horrible way.
Some of the abuse took place in the dressing room at Celtic Park.
After sentencing he told BBC Scotland, Cairney had been given four years but his victims got a life sentence and they would take their experiences to the grave.
“When I saw him in court in December, he looked evil. I haven’t been able to get that image of him out of my head,” he said.
The man, who is in his late 50s, said he would wanted the authorities to ask if sentences handed down to men like Cairney were sufficient.
“The sentences have to be stricter so that we can protect our vulnerable,” he said.
‘Great respect’
Cairney is the third former Celtic Boys Club coach to be convicted of child sex abuse in recent months.
In November, Boys Club founder Jim Torbett was jailed for six years, while another coach, teacher Gerald King, was also convicted of abusing boys at a school.
After the conviction of Torbett, Celtic expressed “deep regret” for the victims but stressed the boys club was a separate entity.
The club made a similar statement on Thursday following the conviction of Cairney.
“Although Celtic Football Club is an entirely separate organisation to Celtic Boys’ Club, we wish to express our deep regret that these incidents took place, as well as our sympathy for the victims who suffered abuse,” it said.
“We are grateful for the courage of those who have come forward to report abuse and to give evidence after such a long period of time. We have great respect for them and their families as they continue to cope with the distressing effects of the abuse they suffered”.
The victim of Cairney the BBC spoke to had previously said that when he played for the Boys Club, they were regular visitors to Celtic Park and used to sweep the terraces there.
He said: “Celtic FC have been in denial of the association with the Boys Club. It’s appalling; please stop it.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-47157008
Catholic Abbot didn’t report abuse allegation against priest jailed for child sex offences
THE Abbot of a Benedictine abbey withheld an allegation of abuse from police about a priest who was later jailed for child sex offences committed while teaching at a leading Catholic school, an inquiry heard this week.
Feb 8, 2019
Abbot Martin Shipperlee
Abbot Martin Shipperlee of Ealing Abbey was head of St Benedict’s Junior School in West London from 1993 to 2000. David Pearce and Laurence Soper, two Benedictine monks from the abbey who taught at the £16,845-a-year school, were jailed in 2009 and 2017 for historic child abuse offences. Two ex-teachers who taught at the school at the time of the sex-abuse allegations described the institution then as “a bit like the mafia”.
Abbot Shipperlee admitted to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) he failed to report an allega
tion of abuse against Soper to the police child protection team when informed of it in 2001.
He said: “Because I simply did not believe that this was possible.
“I was outraged that such an accusation could be made against someone of whom I – well, it did not occur to me that it was possible that this sort of thing could happen.”
In October 2009, Pearce, a former junior school head master at St Benedict’s, was jailed for eight years for abuse at the school from 1972 to 1992, as well as one offence in 2007.
Soper, the former Abbot, was jailed for 18 years at the Old Bailey in December 2017 after being on the run for five years.
He was arrested in Kosovo and extradited to the UK, where he was convicted of 19 counts of child sex abuse.
In a witness statement to the inquiry on Thursday, Abbot Shipperlee said he was unaware of receiving any complaints against Laurence Soper between 1980 and 2001.
The inquiry heard a statement from a mother, whose four-year-old son was going to St Benedict’s junior school around 1997, saying a staff member had warned her about both Soper a
She wrote: “A senior member of the office staff approached me and told me not to leave my son, who would have been four at the time, on his own in the office at any time when Father David or Abbot Laurence were there.
“The person then told me that the child would be safer because they preferred boys with blond hair and blue eyes.
“The person then told me that Father David had been moved from the junior school to keep him away from the younger boys.”
In October 2001, the Archdiocese of Westminster wrote to Abbot Shipperlee with a victim’s claim of abuse by Soper.
David Pearce and Laurence Soper taught at St Benedicts School when the abuse took place (Image: NC)
A further letter in December, 2001 from the Archdiocese to Abbot Shiperlee said “the serious claim against Abbot Laurence Soper should be reported to the child protection team at Ealing Police Station”.
Inquiry counsel Riel Karmuy-Jones, QC, asked Abbot Shipperlee why he still had not informed the police despite being advised to do so.
He replied he was “convinced in my own mind it must be a spurious claim”.
Ms Karmuy-Jones said: “You took the view that your opinion of the situation had more weight than the opinion of the Diocese of Westminster?”
Abbot Shipperlee said: “Yes. I was wrong.”
Ms Karmuy-Jones replied: “Is that how you have approached safeguarding during your time?”
Abbot Shipperlee said: “No, you can see plenty of times when I have not done that, but you do have to make the judgment yourself.”
Despite not telling the police, Abbot Shipperlee went on to warn Bassingbourn Barracks – where Soper acted as chaplain in the army training regiment in 2002 – about the allegation.
In 2004, another allegation of rape and corporal punishment was made against Soper from the 1970s.
Abbot Shipperlee admitted not asking for a risk assessment about Soper as he “didn’t think it necessary”.
On Wednesday, the inquiry heard statements from two ex-teachers who described St Benedict’s at the time of the abuse allegations as “a bit like the mafia”.
One teacher said in a statement “if anybody complained or said anything about Pearce, Laurence Soper would protect him and to complain meant putting your job on the line.
“There had been a number of complaints against Pearce.”
Laurence Soper went on the run in Kosovo but was arrested in 2016 and extradited to UK (Image: NC)
A senior accounts assistant, who worked from 1995 to 2005, said she was warned by St Benedict’s head master, Dr Dachs after complaining about Pearce’s behaviour.
In a statement, she said: “On most Friday afternoons when I was on my own in the office, Father David would bring two or three boys to his office.
“He would shut the door and cover the glass window in the door with paper so that nobody could see into the office.
“I can’t remember how old they were, but they were not from the junior school, so would have been 11 or older.
“I was concerned about this so I contacted the headmaster, Dr Dachs. He told me, ‘If you know what’s good for you, keep your head down and do your job’.
“A short time later, I was talking to Abbot Laurence and I mentioned my concerns to him.
“He told me not to worry because the allegations against Father David were unfounded.
“I said that he was still around boys and Abbot Laurence said that Father David ‘just liked little boys’.
“I asked why Father David had been moved from the junior school and he said because he was ‘a sick man’.”
Abbot Shipperlee also told the panel he “did nothing” despite hearing Pearce had “a preference for blond children”.
The inquiry heard Pearce is now living in a flat and has his rent paid by Ealing Abbey through “charitable funds”.
The IICSA is the largest ever Government inquiry and is expected to last until at least 2020.
It is looking at 13 different investigations, including the Catholic Church.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1084189/child-sex-abuse-catholic-priests-st-benedicts
Peter Dalglish and Trudeau
Peter Dalglish’s final hearing coming to an end
February 6, 2019
A source told Kathmandu Tribune that Canadian Peter Dalglish’s final hearing is likely to happen at the end of this month or in the first week of March.
Dalglish was arrested last year for pedophilia charges. If convicted he will serve a minimum sentence of seven years in jail.
https://kathmandutribune.com/peter-dalglishs-final-hearing-coming-to-an-end/
IICSA
MI5 RESTRICTION ORDER
In December 2018, the Security Service, MI5, applied for a restriction order in the Inquiry’s Westminster investigation. As will become apparent, the ambit of the application has diminished considerably in the course of its consideration by the
Inquiry.
https://www.iicsa.org.uk/key-documents/9131/view/2019-02-04-sys-ro-determination.pdf …
@Richard_Scorer
Pope’s UK envoy fails to respond to requests by child abuse inquiry
V clear from evidence at @inquiryCSA that Abbot of Ealing (Shipperlee) delayed in providing crucial information to police which wd have assisted in apprehending paedophile priest Laurence Soper, who had fled to Kosovo. Shows how hollow are Catholic Church “apologies” to victims
Also revealed in @inquiryCSA today – a “lack of appetite” on part of Vatican to assist with apprehension of paedophile priest Soper. Vatican Bank had his secret address in Kosovo #EBCHearing
Tom Young @OldTomYoung
Kosovo you say… For some reason the Catholic Hierarchy site fails to mention Eugenio Sbarbaro’s time in the Washington DC Vatican Embassy.
Speaking of Vatican Ambassadors, I’m fairly certain further investigation of Eugenio Sbarbaro and his dealings with Nadhmi Auchi are worthwhile, both in the context of @InquiryCSA and the deeper issues surrounding organized abuse.
Lord Patten of Barnes is an Old Priorian and the Patron of Ealing’s St Benedict’s School
InquiryCSAVerified account @InquiryCSA
The witness concludes his evidence by giving a short statement. “Since WW2 we reckon that hundreds of boys were molested at St Benedict’s. If this country had mandatory reporting like the legislation currently in draft, hundreds of those wouldn’t have been abused.”
IICSA
The Inquiry will hold a week of public hearings into allegations of child sexual abuse at Ealing Abbey and St Benedict’s School, part of the Roman Catholic Church investigation from 4 – 8 February 2019
@ciabaudo
At the IICSA inquiry, the Pope’s nuncio, Edward Adams, was accused of ‘cowering behind his diplomatic immunity’ for not providing crucial evidence to the child sexual abuse inquiry. There were even calls for his expvulsion.
Not only is Patten a patron and an alumnus (together with Laurence Soper) of St. Benedict’s, he is also an adviser to the Pope. I wonder what media advice the man who presided over the Jimmy Savile scandal at the BBC gave in this case?
Pope’s ambassador refuses to give evidence over paedophiles at St Benedict’s
February 4 2019
Archbishop Edward Adams had a private audience with the Queen in 2017
The Vatican’s ambassador to Britain is refusing to give evidence to a public inquiry investigating decades of sexual abuse at a leading Roman Catholic private school, a hearing was told today.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) has made repeated efforts to obtain information from the papal nuncio, Archbishop Edward Adams, the diplomatic representative of Pope Francis in Britain.
The Vatican’s embassy — the Apostolic Nunciature — was directly involved in the Church’s response when The Times exposed widespread sexual abuse at Ealing Abbey and St Benedict’s School, west London, in 2010 and 2011.
@Richard_Scorer
Papal Nuncio hiding behind diplomatic immunity to avoid giving information to @inquiryCSA for St Benedict’s/ Ealing Abbey investigation. More Vatican stalling and cover up of Catholic abuse scandal #EBCHearing
At the IICSA inquiry, the Pope’s nuncio, Edward Adams, was accused of ‘cowering behind his diplomatic immunity’ for not providing crucial evidence to the child sexual abuse inquiry. There were even calls for his expulsion.
@BrianWillmot
Absolutely disgraceful behaviour by the Pope (the buck stops at the top) in thwarting an investigation into Child Sex Abuse by Catholic priests/monks .
An American in England representing an Argentinian who resides in Italy . . . Appointed by Pope Francis on 8th April 2017 . . . Edward Joseph Adams . . >
Feb 2 2019
1978-1983: Architects of PIE infiltrate Islington gay youth group to lobby MPs directly with Heath & Mandelson’s help
- In 1978 Peter Righton and PIE Manifesto author Micky Burbidge team up to exert control over grassroots gay youth groups, establishing the umbrella Joint Council for Gay Teenagers (‘JCGT’)
- Righton & Burbidge take control of the London Gay Teenage Group (‘LGTG’) liaising with the Greater London Council and ILEA for official recognition and relocating the LGTG to Islington, Manor Gardens Community Centre
- In 1980 Chair Edward Heath and his Youth Affairs Lobby (‘YAL’) meet with Burbidge and the LGTG
- With the assistance of YAL Liaison member the British Youth Council (‘BYC’) and its Chair Peter Mandelson, Burbidge gets to take a group of gay teenagers to lobby a group of cross-party MPs directly with Clement Freud MP (Lib), Charles Irving MP (Con) attending with 4 Labour MPs
- By 1982 JCGT and PIE’s Micky Burbidge have been invited to meet with Islington Councillors Bob Crossman, Sandy Marks, Derek Hines and Keith Veness at a Gay Groups meeting – the access to Councillors lobbying groups had was later deplored by Council Chief Executive Leisha Fullick in her report Modernising Islington
- JCGT teamed up with the National Association of Youth Clubs (NAYC) to form GYM (Gay Youth Movement) in time for GYM to campaign for the defendants of the second PIE trial during September-October 1983
more here:
Today is the 2nd anniversary of the exposure of John Smyth QC, the most prolific church abuser in the 20th century.
So far the church has not contacted survivors or held an inquiry, in spite of the fact that dozens of clergy who hid his abuse are still alive.
The John Smyth affair two years on. Has anything changed?
Today, February 1, is the second anniversary of the Channel 4 programme about the John Smyth scandal. In many ways this scandal remains the greatest open wound among Anglican abuse scandals that has yet to heal. What went on in a hut in a Winchester garden between 1979 and 1981 has never been properly resolved. Although Smyth acted alone, the way that his actions involved so many others, victims and supporters, is mind-blowing. Although his behaviour was not actively condoned by anyone else, the networks he belonged to allowed him to escape scrutiny and justice for the rest of his life. Those who passively supported Smyth have also been allowed to escape questioning. Although the extent of exactly who knew about his nefarious activities is in dispute, it is apparent that a whole tranche of well-connected Christian individuals did know what was going on. These people are in some cases still alive, but they have never been questioned in a formal way. The common denominator was a link with the camps at Iwerne Minster. Smyth had been chairman of the trustees for these camps, so he would have known and been known by everyone active in this network at the time. As has been stated on various occasions in this blog and elsewhere, the camps at Iwerne in Dorset brought together, as participants or supporters, a wealthy elite within the evangelical world. To this day the Titus Trustees continue this same work, the task of evangelising a privileged sector of English society, public school boys.
When the scandal of John Smyth’s behaviour broke with the screening of the Channel 4 programme, everyone expected that there would be a full enquiry about what had been revealed. While the probing eyes of IICSA have been allowed to dig deep into the Chichester Diocese and the Peter Ball affair, no such enquiry has been conducted into the affair of John Smyth. When Smyth died last year, a press release from the C/E safeguarding bishop, Peter Hancock, was released. He stated that ‘It is important now that all those organisations linked with this case work together to look at a lessons learned review, whilst continuing to offer formal and informal support to those who have come forward as survivors.’ The promised enquiry (and the support for survivors) seems to have vanished into thin air. One of the problems may be that the Titus Trustees, who maintain fierce independence from the wider church when it suits them, may simply have refused to cooperate. There was also a statement from Archbishop Welby which expressed an unequivocal apology for the role which the Church of England played in this deplorable affair. We might have expected that somewhere in the past two years some practical steps would be taken to begin to put right the appalling legacy of Smith’s toxic behaviour. But that does not appear to have happened.
There are believed to be at least 20 Smyth victims in Britain at this time. Based on the comments made on Twitter by one of them, Archbishop Welby has not met with any of them personally. I am not here going to get into the argument about how much the Archbishop himself knew of the activities of Smyth before it came into the public domain; even if he did not, it is quite clear that there was a serious conspiracy of silence among many other leading evangelicals in England about the whole matter. This cover-up and denial have exacerbated the pain of Smyth’s victims. Simultaneously a necessary challenge to the corrupt culture within evangelicalism which allowed Smyth’s toxic beliefs to flourish, has never been properly aired.
What could have happened in the past two years to make the Smyth episode resolve itself in some way rather than fester like a tank of stagnant water? I have a few suggestions.
- The Church of England even though it was not responsible for Smyth in a formal way, should, in the spirit of Welby’s apology, hold an enquiry. This would allow the questioning of key witnesses to establish who knew what and when. Several of the members of Smyth’s network which drew up the Ruston report in 1982 are still alive and none have given any public account of what they knew. The ability of Smyth to flee to Africa subsequently and be financially sustained by a group of wealthy evangelical sponsors, especially the Coleman family, needs to be properly explored.
- The second area, which needs to be explored by an enquiry, is the aberrant theology which undergirded Smyth’s behaviour. The biblical quotations with which Smyth intimidated his victims need to be understood. If there are still any evangelicals who believe such things as painful chastisement being of spiritual benefit, let them come forward and argue these extraordinary notions. If they disagree with these ideas, then that also needs to be heard. We need to know in 2019 that such toxic ideas about suffering and salvation have no place even in the darkest places of the Christian imagination. By allowing Smyth to flee the country and by sending considerable sums of money to support him, parts of the evangelical establishment seem never to have distanced themselves from him and his ideas right up to the time of his death. We need to understand more fully what this long-term support of Smyth by prominent and wealthy evangelicals implies about their own involvement in this dark area of Christian history.
- The third area of action that is needed is for the Titus Trustees to accept some responsibility for the care and support of those who suffered so grievously as the consequence of the incompetence of their predecessors on the Iwerne Trust. It has been noted that the Titus Trustees have control over considerable sums of money. They should be shamed into making a substantial contribution to the psychological welfare of Smyth’s victims. If they do not, their future work and the work of the Iwerne camps will be permanently tainted by their historic association with the activities of John Smyth. Is that what they really want to hand on to the next generation of their campers whom they hope to influence in the future?
Two years have passed since the Channel 4 programme and we are still waiting for some movement to take place. We look to the Titus Trustee as inheritors of the Iwerne tradition or to the Church of England, some of whose members helped to promote Smyth and his dangerous ideology. If nothing is done, one wonders how peace can ever return to the Church. There is still a bitter legacy to be addressed – a legacy involving brutal physical abuse, inflicted in the name of a corrupt theology. We are still waiting for the process of healing to begin.
Paedophile who escaped justice for 25 years dies in prison
23 Jan 2019
A social worker who escaped justice for 25 years after abusing young boys in his care for decades has died in prison. John Leslie Duncan, 65, was jailed alongside Kevin Duncan in 2014 for assaulting children at Feversham special school in Newcastle from the 1970s to the 1990s. The sex predator passed away on 25 June at HMP Rye Hill, in Warwickshire, where he was serving a 15-year-long sentence.
John Leslie Duncan was jailed for 15 counts of abuse against seven victims
Duncan, who worked as a social worker at the Dr Barnardo’s home at Shotley Park in Consett before moving to Feversham in 1986, was first jailed for nine years in 2001 after admitting sexually abusing two boys at the two schools.
However, in 2014 Duncan was convicted of 15 charges, including 10 counts of indecent assault and three of indecency with a child, against seven different victims. An inquest into his death has been opened and adjourned to be resumed at a later date. It took 25 years to reveal the true scale of Duncan and Kevin’s actions, despite a colleague speaking out more than 30 years ago. Ian Merry was a newly qualified social worker at Feversham in the late 1980, when he first began to suspect about his colleagues Brown and Duncan. Mr Merry decided to speak out in 1987 and contacted Feversham’s chair of governors and the mental health charity Mind but he was never believed. He said in 2014: ‘It took a while for me to work out what was going on, but eventually the children started to talk.
‘They started to tell me about the things that Brown was doing to them. At first Brown appeared to be a “pied piper” character with the children. ‘Duncan gave chase and the boy locked himself in his bedroom. When Duncan kicked the door open the boy said, “Get away from me, you gay”. And “gay” was not a commonly used term in 1987. ‘And there were a number of incidents where Brown and Duncan took a number of children away on trips. ‘They hand-picked boys for special treatment. Brown was slimy and disgusting and Duncan was cut from the same cloth.’ It comes as it was confirmed that the hidden horrors that occurred behind the walls of Feversham School are set to be laid bare as part of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), the UK’s biggest ever inquiry into child sexual abuse. Victims and campaigners have long been calling for a full public inquiry into what went on at the Throckley school and how the abuse was covered-up.
Man admits voyeurism and indecent image charges
22 Jan 2019
A man has pleaded guilty to voyeurism and making or possessing more than 300 indecent images of children.
Carl Beech, 50, formerly of Gloucester, admitted the offences on day one of his trial at Hereford Crown Court.
The offending pictures – including 36 at Category A, denoting the gravest abuse imagery – were found on three electronic devices belonging to Beech.
The voyeurism offence relates to Beech secretly filming a boy while he was using a toilet.
In total, Beech admitted four counts of making indecent images of children, one of possessing such images, and one count of voyeurism.
The defendant, who was remanded in custody, will be sentenced at a later date.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-46965787
Carl Beech found guilty of making up VIP Westminster paedophile ring
22 July 2019
Music school is named in child sex abuse inquiry
Jan 22 2018
Michael and Hilary Brewer, who were convicted of indecent assault at Manchester music school Chethams
A LEADING north-west music school will figure in a national child abuse inquiry – in the wake of a couple’s indecent assault convictions.
Manchester’s Chethams has been named as one of the focuses of a new strand of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), chaired by Prof Alexis Jay.
Their former choirmaster Michael Brewer and his wife Hilary, from Haslingden, were jailed for six years and 21 months respectively in 2013 over sex attacks on Chethams music student Frances Andrade.
She took a fatal overdose shortly after giving evidence at the couple’s Manchester Crown Court trial.
The pair’s convictions led to a further police investigation into alleged sexual abuse at Chethams, stretching back decades, which led to a number of prosecutions.
Five ‘victims and survivors’ of abuse at Chethams are represented at the IICSA hearings, as well as the institution itself.
Fiona Scolding QC, in an opening statement at a preliminary hearing, said: “The inquiry has decided to focus upon the music school sector because it raises issues which are distinct to other schools with a vocational focus, such as sports/drama, but also raises issues which are relevant to the schools sector more generally.
“The themes which emerge from the information and evidence already analysed include, but are not limited to, the fact that much specialist instrument or voice tuition is one-to-one, and therefore is often not subject to the oversight which takes place in group classes.”
Staff working as music teachers might also not have recognised qualifications, she added, and there was no compulsory registration scheme.
Recruitment procedures and vetting, alongside supervision and monitoring of tutors, will also be investigated, the hearing was told.
Other establishments, like the Purcell School for Young Musicians. The Yehudi Menuhin School and several cathedral choir schools, are also parties to the proceedings.
The inquiry’s remit echoes calls by Martin Roscoe, who formerly lived in Blackburn and was a section head at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester until 2002.
He said the Brewers’ convictions were the “tip of the iceberg” and that there should be a “full inquiry” into historic sexual abuse within the sector.
Further substantive IICSA hearings have now been scheduled for early 2020
2013 sex abuse scandal
In February 2013, Michael Brewer, Director of Music from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, and his ex-wife, were convicted of indecently assaulting a pupil, Frances Andrade, between 1978 and 1982. Andrade committed suicide after giving evidence at their trial.[40] Prosecutors claimed Brewer was forced to resign in the 1990s after an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old girl.[41] The school’s statement said the current staff were “shocked… to the core” by the revelations of “the most appalling acts which took place during his time at the school…”.[42] In March 2013 Brewer was found guilty of indecent assault, and was sentenced to six years imprisonment.[43]
It was reported that allegations of assault were made against another teacher in the 1980s.[44][45] On 12 February, Professor Malcolm Layfield, Head of Strings at the Royal Northern College of Music resigned from the RNCM Board after claims of his previous sexual misconduct were brought up during the Brewer hearing. Before his appointment at RNCM, Layfield had admitted to having relationships with six Chetham’s pupils aged between 16 and 18 whilst he taught there. Two RNCM teachers, including Head of Keyboard Studies Martin Roscoe, resigned in protest at his appointment in 2002.[46][47] In October 2013 Layfield was arrested on suspicion of raping and indecently assaulting an 18-year-old woman between 1988 and 1999,[48] but was found not guilty at a trial in 2015.[49]
On 14 February, Professor Wen Zhou Li, a violin teacher at the Royal Northern College of Music and former teacher at Chetham’s, was arrested on charges of rape that allegedly occurred whilst he taught at the school.[50] This case was dropped in 2016 before coming to trial, and Wen Zhou Li was told that he left court “without a stain on his character”.[51] Allegations of sexual abuse were also made against the pianist Ryszard Bakst, who died in 1999, and former violin teacher Christopher Ling.[52] Ling, who had moved to Los Angeles in the 1990s, shot himself at his home when US marshals arrived in September 2015 with a provisional arrest warrant.[53]
On 8 May 2013, the Greater Manchester Police reported that over 30 women had reported incidents of abuse relating to the school.[54] The investigation into allegations of abuse made against individuals said by police to “have or have had connections with either Chetham’s and/or Royal Northern College of Music and/or have taught music privately.”[54] was known as Operation Kiso.[55] 39 individuals were named and ten of these proactively investigated; the school stated that it was assisting the police with their inquiries, and had instigated an action plan to review their safeguarding processes and procedures.[55] An Independent Schools Inspectorate report published in 2014 praised the school’s current leadership, including its safeguarding provisions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chetham%27s_School_of_Music
Inquiry updates list of core participants for Westminster investigation
The Chair of the Inquiry, Prof Alexis Jay OBE, has granted an application made by Harvey Proctor for core participant status in its Westminster investigation.
The application was granted on the basis the Inquiry will hear evidence of allegations of sexual abuse made against him during non recent police investigations.
This will not include allegations made by Carl Beech, known as ‘Nick’, that led to Operation Midland.
The Inquiry has published the full notice of determination here.
The list of core participants for the Westminster public hearings, taking place in March 2019, is as follows:
Harvey Proctor
Esther Baker
Timothy Hulbert, former consultant to the Home Office’s Voluntary Services Unit
IPCC
Home Office
CPS
The Labour Party
Metropolitan Police Commissioner
Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police
RO-A1
RO-A2
RO-A4
RO-A5
RO-A6
RO-A7
RO-A8
https://www.iicsa.org.uk/news/inquiry-updates-list-core-participants-westminster-investigation
@craftymuvva
Not just a slap in the face for victims, but it makes a total mockery of the entire inquiry. How can a man who pleaded guilty and was convicted of underage sex with vulnerable young boys he purchased off a pimp, be allowed CP status?! @InquiryCSA
@ciabaudo
Meet your @InquiryCSA core participant …
@muchbiggertree
Since our current commissioner for investigatory powers is lord justice Adrian Fulford ( founder of the Paedophile Information Exchange) Which campaigned for the UK age of sexual consent to be lowered to FOUR . good luck.
High Court judge and the child sex ring: Adviser to Queen was founder of paedophile support group to keep offenders out of jail
- Lord Justice Fulford was named last year as an adviser to the Queen
- He was a key backer of the notorious Paedophile Information Exchange
- Police suspect the group of abusing children on an ‘industrial scale’
- He is revealed as a founder member of campaign to defend PIE
- At the time it was calling for the age of consent to be lowered to just four
Ex-Winchester College music chief Malcolm Archer denies historical sex offences
17 Jan 2019
A FORMER Winchester College music director is due to appear in court later this year accused of historical sex offences.
Malcolm Archer, 66, of High Street, Odiham, appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court last week to deny the one charge of indecent assault and one charge of committing an act of gross indecency.
The alleged offences involved a boy under the age of 16 and were reported to have been committed between 1978 and 1979 in the Chelmsford area.
Archer, previously director of chapel music at Winchester College, and formerly of Edgar Road, had been at the private school for ten years before leaving in November 2017.
He is due to face a trial on July 15, alongside Kenneth Francis, 71, of Akasaka in Tokyo.
Francis denied 13 counts of indecent assault and four counts of committing an act of gross indecency when he too appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court, Essex, last week.
The alleged offences involved four boys under the age of 16 and were reported to have been committed between 1972 and 1979.
Francis, a retired teacher, lived and worked in the Chelmsford area at the time.
A spokeswoman for Winchester College said: “The alleged offences are unconnected with the college and occurred many years before Mr Archer’s employment at Winchester.
“This notwithstanding, as soon as the school was made aware of the allegations, it treated them with the utmost seriousness, in full co-operation with the relevant authorities, and in accordance with the standards of a stringent safeguarding culture.
“Mr Archer was suspended from employment and later left the college.
The extent of alleged ‘perverted’ sexual abuse at Beechholme children’s home has been revealed – with figures expected to rise
Surrey Police have said that the number of people reaching out to them is changing all the time
Jan 19 2019
The shocking number of those alleging “perverted” sexual abuse at a Surrey children’s home has been revealed.
It is alleged that young children were plucked from their beds to face repeated rape and group abuse at the hands of adults.
The home housed poor children from infants to teenagers in what were intended to be “idyllic cottages”.
One former resident at Beechholme, in Banstead, has said he is “beyond angry” at the scale of the alleged sexual and physical abuse against vulnerable children.
It has been established through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request that at least 58 people have made formal complaints about abuse in the care home.
Police have indicated that these numbers are likely to rise.
It is understood that many of those who have reported suffering sexual abuse at the so-called “children’s village” at Beechholme have made multiple allegations.
There may be as many as 105 separate allegations against alleged abusers at the now-demolished home for orphans and vulnerable children.
This may also be set to rise, as Surrey Police indicate the numbers they receive are changing “on a daily basis”.
The home was under the control of London County Council from 1930, before being handed over to Wandsworth in 1965 and closing its doors in 1974 for demolition the following year.
Surrey Police are investigating claims of abuse between 1957 and 1974.
Graeme Sargeant entered the home as a young boy in 1960, and the now 61-year-old claims he suffered repeated abuse at the hands of adults at Beechholme where he claims he was forced to perform sex acts and paraded around naked.
He now campaigns on behalf of other survivors of alleged abuse at the home on Fir Tree Road and is angered by the scale of the alleged suffering
Mr Sargeant said: “It makes me more than angry. I’m seething.
“I’ve been informed that there have been 105 allegations about Beechholme.
“It is hard to believe the extent of the allegations, they are of a perverted nature and go right back.”
Arrest have been made as part of the investigation into alleged abuse at Beechholme, with people released under investigation.
There are believed to be staff links between Beechholme and an abuser who worked for the infamous Shirley Oaks care home.
It is understood the current investigation may take four years but Mr Sargeant, who works to represent other Beechholme residents, wants action.
He has had to relive the memories of Beechholme as more people come to him to share their harrowing stories.
The burden has taken its toll on Mr Sargeant who is still plagued by nightmares from his days in care and beset by flashbacks.
But he is determined to campaign for answers as to what happened in the children’s home where he says he was robbed of a childhood.
He said: “It upsets me. The things you hear are horrendous.
“Their stories have got to be told though. These people can’t be allowed to have suffered in vain.
“These people do not deserve to have been treated like this.
“I’m having nightmares and flashbacks. I’m also hearing what others have gone through – it’s dark.
“But however long it takes we will get justice.”
Mr Sargeant stayed at Drake House, one of 23 named houses on the vast Beechholme site, which were each home to dozens of children.
The site, built in 1880, was designed to provide idyllic “cottage homes” for vulnerable children. The series of homes were operated under the name Beechholme from 1951.
@ciabaudo
What was it Michael Gove said this evening in the no-confidence debate?
The Somerset MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, who has connections to Downside school, did not respond to the Guardian’s questions about whether he had discussed the investigation with Gove.
Lady Gillian Rees-Mogg, the MP’s mother, was the school governor with responsibility for child protection at Downside for some of this period. Her role, mentioned in evidence at the IICSA inquiry, is recorded in a July 2009 Downside school pamphlet on child protection and a subsequent Downside school parents handbook for 2010-11.
The abbot of Downside, Dom Aiden Bellenger, officiated at Jacob Rees-Mogg’s wedding in 2007, reciting a Catholic mass in Latin at the service in Canterbury Cathedral. The MP, whose constituency is next door to Downside, has spoken at Downside.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/columnists/article-428788/Jacob-gets-hitched-old-Tory-style.html
Child abuse inquiry refuses to publish evidence on Gove phone call claim
It was alleged the then education secretary tried to find out about an active investigation into a Catholic priest in 2010
14 Jan 2019
A public inquiry has refused to publish evidence that could shed light on an allegation that Michael Gove intervened in a child sexual abuse investigation.
He has been accused of trying, during his time as education secretary, to find out about an investigation into a priest suspected of abusing a boy at a boarding school.
The accusation has been made by two witnesses who have testified to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
The environment secretary has denied the allegation, saying it was inconceivable that he would have done so. IICSA has looked at the allegation, but said there was insufficient evidence to come to a conclusion about its veracity.
The inquiry has refused a request from the Guardian to make public the evidence, such as witness statements that it had gathered about the allegation. It has published some of the evidence, but not all.
In a statement, IICSA said : “All witness statements and evidence relied upon by the panel were published on the inquiry’s website.” Asked why some witness statements were published, and others were not, the inquiry said: “Evidence which is not relevant is not used or published”.
Two lawyers representing child abuse survivors have called for Gove to testify in front of the inquiry to clear up the allegation. Tom Perry, founder of the Mandate Now pressure group, which calls for a law requiring staff in schools and elsewhere to report child abuse allegations, said the inquiry was underfunded, which restricts its ability to investigate allegations thoroughly.
IICSA, which has had a chequered history, was set up in 2014 by the then home secretary Theresa May to examine claims that a range of institutions did not protect children from sexual abuse.
It has held hearings about alleged sexual abuse in Catholic schools. One of the allegations concerned a priest, known as F65 as he has been granted anonymity, who had been accused of sexually abusing a 16-year-old boy at Downside Abbey, a leading Catholic school in Somerset.
At a public hearing in December 2017, Claire Winter, the deputy director of children’s services responsible for children’s social care at Somerset county council, told the inquiry that in 2010, F65 was under investigation. She said that F65 was to be suspended from active public ministry while the investigation continued.
Winter described an incident that she said was “very unusual” and unlike anything she had experienced. She described receiving two phone calls from the secretary of state for education and his office asking for the time at which the decision to suspend the priest was to be made. She said she refused to discuss it as it was a child protection matter.
Her testimony was backed up by Jane Dziadulewicz , the then safeguarding official for the Clifton diocese, responsible for child protection in that region. She has said she helped produce a report for Gove’s office on the progress of the Downside investigation following the calls.
In January 2018, IICSA said it was requesting more evidence about the allegation concerning Gove. In August, in a wider report into child abuse at Downside and another Catholic boarding school, IICSA said: “We take the view that there is insufficient evidence on this point from which to draw any conclusions.”
The inquiry also refused to answer questions about how many people gave evidence about the allegation concerning Gove, how many witness statements were taken, and whether these statements were circulated to victims and others taking part in the inquiry.
Winter is known to have made three statements, but the inquiry has only published one. One of Dziadulewicz’s statements has been published, but the inquiry declined to say if she gave further evidence.
In his one published witness statement, Gove said neither he nor members of his office had called Winter, adding that there are no official records of such calls.
He added: “I think it extraordinarily unlikely that I would have made such a call. I cannot conceive of the circumstances in which I would have wished to do so … The only possible explanation for Ms Winter’s evidence is that she is labouring under some kind of misunderstanding.”
^ Dame Alun Roberts @ciabaudo
Gone are the days when I believed @InquiryCSA had any serious intention to get to the bottom of things …
Richard Scorer@Richard_Scorer
More extraordinary evidence at @InquiryCSA : Richard Yeo, until recently President of the Benedictines, admits that during his Presidency sex offenders were knowingly appointed as school governors and had input into safeguarding
Father Yeo was a member of the Cumberlege Commission into protecting children in the Catholic Church.
He was Abbot of Downside from 1998 to 2006 having been secretary to the Abbot Primate of the international Benedictine Confederation.
The monk is also one of three senior clerics on a committee which oversees the management of the Sant’ Anselmo, the Benedictine university in Rome.
The university’s treasurer was convicted paedophile Father Laurence Soper
Father Yeo was a member of the Cumberlege Commission. as was
Baroness Butler-Sloss (Vice Chair)
Father Richard Yeo was accused by Aidan Bellenger of hiding abuse
Child abuse ‘was encouraged by school’s abbots’ at Downside Abbey, Somerset
@ciabaudo:
Jacob Rees-Mogg’s mother – Lady Rees-Mogg – Governor with responsibility for Child Protection at Downside school.
Father Yeo admits that sex offenders were knowingly appointed as school governors. He was abbot of Downside from 1998 to 2006. No wonder Gove wanted to know what was going on at Downside!
Yeo was a senior cleric overseeing the Sant’ Anselmo university in Rome. The university’s treasurer was none other than Laurence Soper.
Father Yeo was a member of the Cumberlege Commission to review policies of the Catholic church to safeguard against child abuse. Vice Chair of the Cumberlege Commission was our old friend Butler Sloss, chair of @InquiryCSA. Talk about gatekeeping! http://www.cumberlegecommission.org.uk/
Cardinal Hume and a former Downside Abbey headmaster ‘did nothing at all’ after a paraplegic woman informed them of alleged sex abuse
Call in Lord Carlile, a safe pair of hands:
Accidentally on purpose: The monk, the wheelbarrow and the fire.
The Rees-Moggies, Basil and the Bellenger: https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/8222/cardinal-hume-and-a-former-downside-abbey-headmaster-did-nothing-at-all-after-a-paraplegic-woman-informed-them-of-alleged-sex-abuse…
Attendees included education secretary Michael Gove … https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/jan/10/tributes-lord-rees-mogg-funeral… https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/mar/20/gove-faces-fresh-scrutiny-over-school-sexual-abuse-case-downside…
Gillian Rees-Mogg was a Westminster councillor ‘in charge of appointing governors’ and, like Roger Bramble and Richard Denby, was involved with the English National Opera.
http://noreentaylorjournalist.com/portfolio/whats-next-for-lord-and-lady-rees-mogg/…
Despite being told he was unsuitable to work in any cathedral, Malcolm Archer went on to serve at Wells Cathedral. Were Lord Rees-Mogg, the Mewling Pencil’s father, and Heath backer Lord Armstrong, Directors at Wells Cathedral School, aware of this? https://www.dailymail.co.uk/columnists/article-302659/Banished-organist-rises-again.html…
Jacob Rees-Mogg’s wedding guest list in part looked as if it been copied from the Elm Guest House patron’s list: Peter Brooke, Peter Bottomley … http://mogg.wikia.com/wiki/Jacob_Rees-Mogg…
Gillian, Lavender, Whisky and Soda: Gillian Rees-Mogg and Lavender Patten – both directors of the London Early Years Foundation.
Michael Gove and his keen interest in abuse at expensive Catholic schools:
In 2007, Jacob Rees-Mogg married Helena de Chair (with a name like that, I’m surprised she wasn’t called on by @InquiryCSA). Her mother was Lady Juliet Tadgell, wife of the author Christopher Tadgell.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/columnists/article-428788/Jacob-gets-hitched-old-Tory-style.html… https://life.spectator.co.uk/2016/11/many-many-millions-mogg/…
Christopher Tadgell was taught by the paedophile Anthony Blunt and co-authored books with Alistair Laing, the man caught with Colin Peters ferrying scugnizzi to Ischia in the Bay of Naples. Ooops!
Jan 15 2019
THE FOUNDER of a leading child abuse charity has called for an independent inquiry into the Shoebury Sex Ring, saying he believes Essex Police has a conflict of interest.
Peter Saunders, founder of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC), said the force’s ’inexcusable actions’ should be investigated by somebody ’completely independent’.
Mr Saunders spoke out after the YA revealed last week that a notorious paedophile had been secretly working for Essex Police after he had already been serially convicted of sex offences – and even whilst the force was supposed to be investigating him.
In 1993, an officer told a charity worker that a senior officer was ’blocking investigation’ into Dennis King after he was accused of pimping out girls to fellow paedophiles.
King had a catalogue of child sex offences to his name and had only just completed a jail term for running a Rotherham-style paedophile ring in Shoebury, which transported children around Essex and beyond to be drugged and abused.
The officer running the 1993 case admitted to the charity worker that despite King’s criminal history, Essex Police had him on the books as a ’registered informant’.
Mr Saunders said the revelation had initially left him ’lost for words’.
He said: “I can’t believe the police would employ – because that’s effectively what they were doing – a child abuser. That is inexcusable.
“I have no doubt many of the characters involved in that will be retired now and living on cushy pensions somewhere, but they need to be held to account. It is just a blatant insult – not only to his victims, but also to wider society.
“We all understand police employing what we might call common criminals as informants, but someone that commits these crimes is in a different, vile category. I hope heads roll.
“It’s entirely inappropriate for police forces to investigate themselves, because we all know their propensity to cover themselves. This was extremely bad behaviour and it should be investigated by somebody completely independent. In fact, I wonder whether an independent inquiry wouldn’t be appropriate.”
One of King’s known victims, who has been trying for more than a year to get Essex Police to investigate his childhood abuse by the wider ring, echoed Mr Saunders’s comments.
He said: “King was being paid by the people we were supposed to be relying on take him off the streets. It’s just ridiculous. I mean, King wasn’t exactly a bank robber. He was a kiddie-fiddler. So who was he meant to be informing on? Who did he have dirt on? It’s a big can of worms.”
A document detailing the officer’s 1993 admission about King was shown to the YA by a child protection worker involved in the 1989/90 Shoebury Sex Ring case and the 1993 investigation.
They are one of seven whistleblowers who have told the YA about their concerns that King’s crimes – and his accomplices – were never properly investigated.
Children abused by the Shoebury ring told charity workers about other men and addresses that King and fellow ringleader Brian Tanner took them to, but no other abusers were prosecuted.
Meanwhile, King and Tanner – both now dead – were given a last-minute plea bargain which saw them receive minimal sentences.
Essex Police said last week it would not comment on the use of King as an informant, owing to national legislation governing police use of ’covert human intelligence sources’.
But a spokesman said: “We robustly investigate all information received in connection with crimes committed in the present and the past and we will continue to do so.
http://www.stratford-today.co.uk/article.cfm?id=137867
Damning new evidence that Dr Kelly DIDN’T commit suicide: The disturbing flaws in the official government story surrounding the death of Blair’s chemical weapons expert
- Official explanation was that the weapons expert had taken his own life
- But since Dr Kelly’s death in 2003, time has done nothing to dispel suspicion
- Successive governments have refused to allow full coroner’s inquest to be held
Dead football coach Michael ‘Kit’ Carson was ‘paedophile ringleader’
January 13 2019
An Irish football coach who died last week on the day his trial for sex abuse was due to begin was at the centre of a paedophile ring and may have abused hundreds of young boys during a 30-year career, according to one of his victims.
Michael “Kit” Carson, 75, was due in Peterborough Crown Court on Monday to face 12 counts of indecent assault and one of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, but was killed when his car hit a tree between Cambridge and Newmarket in an act that may have been deliberate. The car was heading away from Peterborough.
David Lean 💜 @DavidLeanLeano
Is the reason police DID NOT act on the names of Victims that Barry Bennell they already given them in 1998 when I came forward in 2013 because they knew the true scale of this & left the cork firmly in the bottle ? My case was then dropped Maybe they thought I would go away ?
Barry Bennell: Police missed chance to snare paedophile after admitting abuse in 1998
EXCLUSIVE: The footie coach owned up in a jail interview to the crimes against nine boys – but officers failed to contact the victims
12 Jan 2019
Paedophile football coach Barry Bennell was allowed to walk free after police failed to contact nine boys he admitted abusing in a 1998 jail interview.
The fiend is expected to die behind bars after getting 30 years last February for a sickening catalogue of crimes.
But evidence that victim David Lean gave the Sunday People suggests he should have got a lengthy term sooner.
UK Police began probing Bennell, 65, in 1994 after he was jailed for child sex crimes in the US.
Detectives given the names of nine alleged victims in 1997 said they traced those they could but none wanted to make complaints.
Bennell was jailed again in 1998 for abusing six lads.
After requesting an interview in jail the same year, he confessed to attacks on the other nine.
But police have admitted they did not “revisit” the victims.
And when the case was sent to the CPS without checking if any would be willing to testify, it was decided no further action be taken.
Bennell was released six years later and remained free until 2015, when he was jailed for abusing former Preston North End defender David.
David, 12 when he suffered his ordeal, said: “It’s sickening. Now I’m left wondering if he could have got a much longer sentence much earlier.
“How do we know he didn’t attack more kids after he was released?”
Bennell victim Ian Ackley, 50, who spoke out in 1997, said of the police admission: “It’s a huge injustice and an insult to the victims. These boys could and should have been approached and given the opportunity to pursue this.
“Are you telling me if a murderer confessed to another murder, police wouldn’t follow it up? It’s their job.
When David went to police in 2013, he was originally told Bennell would not be charged as he was the only new victim and he had already been jailed for similar crimes.
He challenged the decision and Bennell was finally charged.
But he only learned of the 1998 confession after the 2018 trial.
Cheshire Police apologised last year after admitting contacting the boys would have helped his case.
David said: “I was stunned and angry. I went through two years of hell trying to get the police to charge Bennell.
“I could have been spared this if they’d just spoken to the boys.”
David, of Preston, Lancs, met Bennell in 1979 at Butlin’s in Pwlleli, North Wales.
He said: “I was besotted with football. He told me I was a star of the future and he had links to Man City.”
Parents Margaret and Martin let him stay with Bennell for a football course in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that year.
David, a dad of two, said: “Bennell didn’t leave me alone. He was pulling me into him, making me massage his groin. Then we went to bed and it got really weird.”
Bennell was eventually convicted of four attacks over two nights.
At the time David was left feeling it was his fault – especially when Bennell turned up unannounced at his home.
He said: “My mum told me to take him upstairs and show him my trophies. He wasn’t aggressive.
“He said, ‘Don’t worry, I won’t tell what you did to me.’ I blamed myself and thought I was gay. I didn’t think I could tell anyone. He’d been my hero.”
David didn’t tell of his abuse, even when a 1997 documentary unmasked Bennell.
He said: “Mum confronted me after the programme and I told her nothing happened.
“She said, ‘Thank God, I’m not sure I’d have been able to cope.’ I promised myself I wouldn’t disclose while she was alive. I have to live with the fact almost all of Bennell’s victims were abused after me. There may be over 100 I could have stopped.”
When Margaret died of cancer in 2013 David went to police without even telling his wife Teresa. He said: “Telling officers was emotional but it was when I got back to my car it hit me. I sobbed.”
He then confided in his family but was dismayed to get a letter saying it was not in the public interest to prosecute.
His complaint sparked a case that changed guidance on historic child sex crimes.
A panel suggested prosecutors reconsider and Bennell was charged in 2014, pleading guilty the day of his Chester crown court trial in May 2015.
He got two years and the football abuse scandal erupted the next year .
Stars speaking out on their ordeals included ex-Crewe Alexandra player Andy Woodward.
David was given this certificate from Bennell at a Butlins soccer coaching scheme
Other players, including Manchester City youth star Gary Cliffe, had read about David’s case and told police their stories. Bennell was convicted of abusing 12 victims last February.
Gary, 48, got in touch with David to hail him as an “inspiration”.
David, who works for amateur side AFC Fylde, contacted police after last year’s trial and was finally told of the confession.
When he demanded answers, officers confirmed a decision was made not to contact the boys.
David was told: “Those who were ‘admitted’ to had not been revisited after that interview… whether or not to do so was an individual senior investigating officer decision.”
The interview transcript was stored but an officer probing David’s case “did not appreciate its relevance”.
Cheshire Police accepted “this material was in its possession and these boys could and should have been contacted in 2013”.
David, training as a counsellor to help other abuse victims, said: “I fear there are a lot of people who have been abused by Bennell who will not get justice. And I can’t help but wonder if he could have got a 30-year sentence much earlier.
“Instead, he was free while people like me lived with the hell of what he did to us.”
Paedophile ring linked to pro-Putin party is exposed as Russian police raid homes of two ex-MPs now held over string of rape and child abuse claims
- Russian police have arrested two former MPs suspected of being paedophiles
- The pair, Vitaly Kurskov and Igor Poplevko, are accused of 78 sexual offences
- They are accused of rape, sexual violence and taking indecent images of minors
- Both men were former members of the pro Vladimir Putin United Russia Party
A sinister paedophile ring involving political figures in Russia‘s main pro-Vladimir Putin party has been exposed, say law enforcement.
Two well connected ex-MPs have been detained and accused of 78 counts of rape, sexual violence and making pornography involving male and female minors.
Ten underage victims were identified aged eight to 17, say investigators, but there are claims that the scale of the ring has been covered up to hide other political figures.
An unnamed woman aged 20 has been jailed already for supplying her own nephews to the ex-politicians who were named as Vitaly Kurskov, 54, a former regional fuel and power minister, and his ex-MP crony Igor Poplevko, 56, both of the United Russia Party.
These two boys were aged eight and 12. Two schoolgirls aged 15 revealed they were plied with alcohol before being sexually abused by the pair.
Their trial is expected to begin soon.
Kurskov is a former chairman of the board of directors of Karl Marx Ship Building Factory in Astrakhan.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6584205/Paedophile-ring-linked-pro-Putin-party-exposed.html
Kit Carson, ex-football coach accused of abuse, dies in traffic collision
Seventy-five-year-old due to stand trial accused of sexual abuse of 11 boys over 30 years
Jan 8 2019
A youth football coach and scout credited with helping launch the careers of several professional players has died in a car crash on the first day of his trial for sexual offences against 11 boys.
Kit Carson, 75, had been due to stand trial at Peterborough crown court in Cambridgeshire on 12 counts of indecent assault and one of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. The offences were alleged to have happened between 1978, when Carson was 35, and 2009.
Carson’s trial was due to begin on Monday morning but the prosecution asked for proceedings to be adjourned for 24 hours.
On Tuesday, Jeremy Benson, prosecuting, told the court Carson had died on Monday morning at 9.44am – 16 minutes before the case was listed to begin.
Benson said no other vehicle was involved in the incident and an investigation was being carried out. The prosecutor said Carson’s wife, Pauline, identified her husband’s body on Monday afternoon. The case was formally discontinued.
Police said the crash took place at Bottisham, near Cambridge, which is about 40 miles from the court building.
Carson, whose full name was Michael Sean Carson, was arrested in Cambridge in January 2017 and charged in March 2018.
One theory police were investigating to explain why he was so far from court was that he was confused over the start date of his trial.
A Cambridgeshire police spokesman said: “Police have identified a man who died following a single-vehicle crash on the A1303 at Bottisham yesterday morning (7 January).
“Michael Carson, 75, of Cambridge, was driving his red Mazda 3 at about 9.45am when it left the road and crashed into a tree. Emergency services attempted to save Mr Carson’s life but he was declared dead at the scene a short time later.
“No other vehicle or person was involved in the collision. Mr Carson was due to stand trial at Peterborough crown court, beginning yesterday, on multiple sexual assault charges. The victims have been informed and efforts are being made to contact all the witnesses.
“Anyone who saw the collision or has dash cam footage should call 101, quoting incident 100 of 7 January.”
Carson was the academy director at Peterborough United football club from 1993 until 2001 and a number of players he coached there went on to have careers in the Premier League.
The majority of the alleged indecent assault offences are said to have taken place between 1992 and 2000.
Before working at Peterborough, Carson was at Norwich City from 1983 until 1993, and had connections with other junior teams. On his LinkedIn page, he described himself as a football consultant and scout for a Finnish club. Carson left Peterborough to become head of talent development at Cambridge United in 2001 and remained there until 2005.
The first two alleged indecent assaults are said to have taken place between September 1978 and September 1980.
According to the particulars of the offences, the first alleged indecent assault happened at a hotel in the north of England. A further eight allegedly took place in or around Peterborough.
The incitement offence allegedly happened between February 2008 and February 2009 in Cambridge.
Carson had denied the offences.
Bail conditions had included Carson being barred from coaching children in the UK or travelling abroad to coach young people, and from involvement in scouting under-18s.
Gerald King: Ex-Celtic Boys’ chairman spared jail after being found guilty of child sex abuse
Jan 7 2019
A FORMER Celtic Boys’ Club chairman convicted of sexually abusing four boys and a girl while he was employed as a teacher has been spared jail.
Gerald King, 66, taught and coached football at a primary school in the north of Glasgow during the 1980s.
One man, now 43, told how King exposed himself to him when he was getting changed before a football game and told prosecutor Adele Macdonald: “I was really embarrassed and uncomfortable”.
He told the jury: “I felt as though it was something I couldn’t escape from.”
King’s conviction last month came only weeks after Celtic Boys’ Club founder Jim Torbett was jailed for a second time for abusing three boys.
A former manager of the boys’ club, Frank Cairney, 83, was found guilty the following week at Hamilton Sheriff Court of abusing teenagers between 1965 and 1986.
After his trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court, King was convicted of five charges of using lewd and libidinous practises towards the five victims between August 1984 and April 1989.
He was also found guilty of taking indecent pictures of children in February 1987.
Today, shamed King – who was also a coach at Celtic Boys’ Club – was given a three-year probation order.
He will be supervised throughout his time on the order and must carry out 240 hours unpaid work. King will also be on the sex offenders’ register for five years.
King’s victims were between nine and 13-years-old at the time.
In evidence, he admitted taking two pictures, one of four boys in a shower with no clothes on which was later printed in the school magazine with ‘censored’ over their private parts.
He also said he took a second picture of one of the boys with no clothes on, but claimed both were entirely innocent.
Sick King denied all of the charges he faced.
Former school chaplain to face trial over sex allegations
A top private school’s former chaplain will stand trial facing allegations he sexually abused one of his teenage pupils.
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Gary Dobbie is accused of assaulting the young boy on several occasions while he was a teacher at Christ’s Hospital School in West Sussex.
The 67-year-old, who was a head of house at one point and lived in the school grounds, denies three charges of indecent assault between 1986 and 1991.
Now living in Albi, France, after having previously lived in Hereford, he is set to stand trial in April, Sussex Police said.
Prosecutors decided not to proceed with allegations made against him by another of the school’s former pupils, a police spokesman said.
Before his arrest, Dobbie was teaching at Shrewsbury School.
The Queen is a patron of the site, now based in Horsham.
Argentine bishop promoted by Pope Francis at Vatican accused of abusing seminarians
Vatican Bishop Under Investigation for Sex Abuse
Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta, a compatriot of Pope Francis, is suspended from his financial post
VATICAN CITY—An Argentine bishop who holds a high Vatican post is under investigation for possible sex abuse, presenting a new challenge to Pope Francis as he struggles to respond to the Catholic Church’s clerical-abuse crisis.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/vatican-bishop-under-investigation-for-sex-abuse-11546629114
Argentine bishop at Holy See under investigation: Vatican
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — The Vatican has confirmed that an Argentine bishop, who resigned suddenly in 2017 for stated health reasons and then landed a top administrative job at the Holy See, is under preliminary investigation after priests accused him of sexual abuse and other misconduct.
The case could become yet another problem for Pope Francis, who is already battling to gain trust from the Catholic flock over his handling of sex abuse and sexual misconduct, stemming in particular from the scandal of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.
In a statement to The Associated Press, Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti stressed that the allegations against Argentine Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta only emerged in recent months, nearly a year after Francis created the new position for him as “assessor” of the Holy See’s office of financial administration.
At the time of his resignation, Zanchetta had only asked Francis to let him leave the northern Argentine diocese of Oran because he had difficult relations with its priests and was “unable to govern the clergy,” Gisotti said. Pending the preliminary investigation into allegations of sexual abuse underway in Argentina, the 54-year-old Zanchetta will abstain from work at the Vatican, he said.
Francis’ standing would take another hit if he personally intervened to help out a bishop from his native Argentina — finding a job for him during a Vatican hiring hold-down — and the man later turned out to have credible allegations of misconduct against him.
Zanchetta’s hasty departure from Oran on July 29, 2017 was mired in mystery. He didn’t celebrate a farewell Mass, as might be expected, and he issued a cryptic statement saying he had been suffering a “health problem” for some time, had just returned from the Vatican where he presented his resignation to Francis, and needed to leave immediately for treatment.
A statement issued the same day from his vicar general said Zanchetta had already left Oran, a deeply conservative and poor diocese near Argentina’s northern border with Bolivia that Zanchetta had run since Francis made him a bishop in 2013 in one of his first Argentine episcopal appointments. Zanchetta, the vicar said at the time, would be staying in Corrientes — several hundred kilometers (miles) away — as a guest of the archbishop until Francis accepted his resignation.
Often such procedures can take months, but the Vatican announced Francis had accepted it three days later, on Aug. 1.
Zanchetta then disappeared from view until Dec. 19, 2017, when the Vatican announced that he had been named assessor of APSA, the office that manages the Vatican’s vast real estate and other financial holdings. The appointment immediately raised eyebrows, but Zanchetta appeared nevertheless to have settled in well at APSA, and Gisotti said Francis appointed him because he had an established capacity for administrative management.
It wasn’t immediately clear what Zanchetta’s health problems were at the time of his resignation, but by all indications there were grave problems with his leadership and divisions within the diocesan clergy.
“The reason for his resignation is linked to his difficulty in handling relations with the diocesan clergy, some of which were very tense,” Gisotti said. “At the time of his resignation there were accusations against him of authoritarianism, but there were no accusations of sexual abuse against him.”
Zanchetta spent a period of time in Spain before joining APSA.
The allegations were leveled internally in recent months, Gisotti said, and last week the provincial newspaper in Salta, El Tribuno, reported that three priests had brought accusations against him to the Vatican’s ambassador, or nuncio, in Buenos Aires. The newspaper said the priests had lodged accusations of abuse of power, economic abuse and sexual abuse inside the seminary.
It wasn’t immediately clear how Zanchetta responded to the accusations.
The current bishop of Oran, which is in Salta province, is still gathering evidence and testimony and will forward it to the Vatican, Gisotti said. If the allegations are deemed credible, the case will be forwarded to Francis’ special commission for bishops — an ad hoc group of canon lawyers who have been examining allegations of misconduct against bishops.
The issue of sexual abuse within seminaries has risen to the forefront in the scandal over McCarrick, the retired archbishop of Washington. Francis removed McCarrick as a cardinal in July after a U.S. church investigation determined that an allegation that he fondled an altar boy in the 1970s was credible. After the allegation became public, several former seminarians came forward to report they had been abused or harassed by McCarrick and pressured to sleep with him.
Francis became implicated in the McCarrick scandal after a former Vatican ambassador accused him of knowing of McCarrick’s penchant for seminarians, and rehabilitating him anyway from sanctions imposed by Pope Benedict XVI. Francis hasn’t responded.
Zanchetta had opened his own seminary in Oran in 2016 with six seminarians. According to El Tribuno, the St. John XXIII seminary is due to close soon.
The diocese hasn’t responded to questions about Zanchetta’s departure or the status of the investigation against him. It has, however, issued a statement responding to media reports that the priests who lodged complaints against Zanchetta had suffered retaliation. The new bishop of Oran said the priests had been transferred to respond to the pastoral needs of the faithful.
“Knowing the gravity of all types of abuse, the bishop is available to anyone who would like to present a complaint to begin the corresponding procedure for canonical justice, while recalling the right of all victims of abuse to seek ordinary justice,” via civil authorities, the statement said.
Peers brand Inquiry’s Child Sexual Abuse investigation into Lord Janner ‘an affront to Justice’
They questioned why the Inquiry was to have a dedicated investigative strand into their late parliamentary colleague
21 Dec 2018
Peers have condemned the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse’s continued investigation into allegations against the late Lord Janner as an “affront to justice.”
Lord Janner, who died three years ago, was accused of child sex abuse offences but was never convicted of a crime.
The ex-MP, who was also President of the Board of Deputies from 1976 to 1984, died as the Inquiry was investigating claims against him, but a series of judges had ruled he was not fit to stand criminal trial.
In a debate in the House of Lords on Thursday, Lord Dale Campbell-Savours said the Inquiry continuing a dedicated investigative strand into Lord Janner, when he was not able to answer any claims against him, was an “affront to natural justice.”
During the debate, the Conservative Peer Lord Finkelstein said it was “very odd one” that the Inquiry would have a dedicated strand investigating Lord Janner.
Lord David Huntserved as a whip and junior minister under Margaret Thatcher, who made him Secretary of State for Wales in 1990. Member of the Privy Council (1990) and vice-president of the Holocaust Educational Trust.[4]
Lord David Hunt also expressed concern.
Lord Campbell-Savours
My noble friend Lord Winston drew our attention to false memory. He will probably know about the British False Memory Society; I hope that it can pick up his comments in our debate and perhaps make direct contact with him.
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=2018-12-20a.1973.0&s=sexual+abuse#g1996.1
Other peers who spoke up were Lord Lexden, Lord Winston, Lord Faulks.
Background on the peers defending Janner
Dale Campbell-Savours MP
Dale Campbell-Savours MP maintained that he had evidence in the form of a letter and a tape that demonstrated BBC nobbling. Campbell-Savours sent a copy of the tape to Michael Havers, the Attorney General and accused Conservative Central Office of interfering with potential witnesses.
In Dec 1986 Hamilton became PPS to Sir David Mitchell. Mitchell was a Hampshire MP between 1964-97 and was a Minister in Thatcher’s Gov’t. His is the father of Andrew Mitchell, who was Chief Whip in Cameron’s Gov’t between 2010-12 and at the centre of Plebgate. Andrew Mitchell’s wife is a Top Doctor.
Hamilton became a Whip in 1990. In June 1990 he was recruited by Derek Laud to work for Strategy Group International for which Hamilton received a fee from Michael Brown.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/oct/21/pressandpublishing.ukcrime
Alerted by Andrew Rosthorn, Dale Campbell-Savours MP put down notice of an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons asking Owen Oyston to state whether Oyston Ltd, registered in the Isle of Man and controlled from Hong Kong by Patrick Diamond had any connection with Oyston Estates Agency Ltd.
He also put down a question ‘to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, if all investigations into the tax affairs of Oyston Estates Agency Ltd. and related companies are complete.’9 JulyRosthorn’s inquiries at Advertee Ltd., an advertising firm recently bought by Oyston from the directors of a bankrupt publishing firm, revealed that ex-policeman Peter Martin was apparently running the firm, with offices in Manchester and Preston. Martin said he was a former fraud squad policeman and ran the Model Team International agency in Manchester. Martin ‘boasted that he was getting £50k per annum as Oyston’s “toe rag”.’ Martin talked of getting calls to take models at night to Oyston in London. Models at the agency had complained to the Advertee staff that they had paid for a ‘course that never materialised and have not been paid.’
Oyston and Campbell-Savours MP met in Cumbria, after which Oyston promised a ‘world-wide investigation’ to find who was behind the two ‘Oyston companies’.
https://www.lobster-magazine.co.uk/articles/lob34-03.htm
May I ask the Minister a simple question? She used the phrase,
“demonstrably in the public interest”.
What was demonstrably in the public interest in the naming of Sir Cliff Richard for an offence he did not commit, and Leon Brittan, Ted Heath and Paul Gambaccini? What was demonstrably in the public interest in those cases?
‘Justice stretched to breaking point’ in Lord Janner case
December 21, 2018
Lord Campbell-Savours denounces the process of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse as ‘an affront to natural justice’
Lord Finkelstein, who sits as a Conservative peer, said he had known Lord Janner and “I know and love his family”.
December 21, 2018
https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/justice-stretched-breaking-point-in-lord-janner-case/
David Hunt
Welsh Office were concealing the crimes of Dafydd and the paedophiles, under Secretaries of State Peter Walker and then David Hunt, who both excelled in refusing to investigate suspicious deaths and serious offences
Bristol was a hot-spot for paedophiles’ friends, what with Dr DGE Wood’s family of Top Doctors being based there and Wood himself being an alumnus of Bristol University, along with Lord David Hunt, who is a Bristol law graduate and who spent a few years post-graduation involved in Tory politics in the West Country
Readers will remember the paedophile gang which operated in the north east with links to Dafydd’s gang in north Wales, who were protected by politicians, civil servants, Top Docs etc. Readers might need reminding that Lord David Hunt, who spent so many years concealing the crimes of Dafydd et al, is a Bristol University alumnus. As is D.G.E. Wood.
Nigel Evans began his political career as a Councillor on West Glamorgan Council, 1985-91. He’ll have known about the abuse of kids in that area, as well as the activities of George Thomas and Ron Davies. Evans was elected as the MP for Ribble Valley in 1992. He was appointed as the PPS to the Secretary of State for Employment David Hunt in 1993 and remained Hunt’s PPS when he was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1994. Prior to that, Hunt had spent many enjoyable years in as a Minister in the Welsh Office and then as Secretary of State for Wales concealing the crimes of Dafydd and the paedophiles (see post ‘The Cradle Of Filth’). David Hunt’s talents were called on again in 1995 when he was installed as Secretary of State for Wales for just a few days, when a particularly fancy bit of footwork was needed to oversee the ‘retirement’ of Dafydd and the ‘closure’ of the North Wales Hospital….
The Secretary of State at the time was David Hunt, who served Dafydd et al so loyally in the late 80s/early 90s at the Welsh Office that Hunt was brought back as acting Secretary of State for Wales for just a few days in the summer of 1995, to lie about the North Wales Hospital having closed down. David Hunt was appointed acting Welsh Secretary 13 days before Bing Spear died. Spear was the corrupt mandarin who was the Chief Inspector of the Home Office Drugs Branch who so ably assisted Dafydd (see post ‘Little Things Hitting Each Other’). Sir Peter Morrison was found dead four days after Spear died. Peter Morrison’s sister Dame Mary was Woman-of-the-Bedchamber to Carlo’s mum. Hunt was up and off again four days before Bing died to twiddle his thumbs for a few days until he took up the position of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 20 July 1995, exactly one week after Morrison was found dead. See post ‘Criminals Are Getting Away With It’. William Hague became Secretary of State for Wales on the day that Hunt scarpered from the Welsh Office.
Blair’s mate Lord Robert Winston – “another safe pair of hands”
Lord Winston aka Robert Maurice Lipson Winston, is a fan of Arsenal Football Club.[6] He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a member of the Garrick Club, the MCC, and the Athenaeum Club in London.[5]
Dr Sally Baker on Lord Winston – high profile fertility expert:
Robert Winston is a Fellow of the RSA and a member of the Garrick, the MCC and the Athenaeum. Savile was a member of the Athenaeum and Dafydd’s umbrella’s Sir Ronnie Waterhouse and Sir William Mars-Jones were members of the Garrick.
The UK’s most high profile fertility expert, Lord Robert Winston, was a friend and colleague of Geoffrey Chamberlain…
Lord Bob is media friendly but Lord Bob knew about the trafficking gang that was being facilitated by Prof Geoffrey Chamberlain et al at St George’s and the rest of the wrongdoing by Chamberlain et al
…some of what I knew about about Lord Bob’s colleagues, including the sex with research assistants in the lab during working hours, the constant sexual harassment of other staff, the research fraud and the colluding with Dafydd and associated trafficking gangs…
http://www.drsallybaker.com/tag/lord-robert-winston/
Lord Edward Faulkes with Queen Elizabeth
Lord Faulkes – I declare an interest as being instructed on behalf of the estate of Lord Janner.
I was briefly instructed on behalf of the estate of the late Greville Janner in a civil claim—all the claims have now been withdrawn. Secondly, I gave a statement and evidence to IICSA.
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=2018-12-20a.1973.0&s=speaker%3A25008#g1987.0
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=2016-11-21a.1771.2
Faulks at IICSA – Faulks was involved with the preparation for the first Bry Alyn litigation
The Trustees of the Birmingham Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church
Miss Elizabeth-Anne Gumbel QC & Mr Justin Levinson (instructed by Clifton Ingram) for the Claimant
Mr Edward Faulks QC & Mr Nicholas Fewtrell (instructed by Hill Dickinson) for the Defendants
Hearing dates: 16—20 March 2009
Revealed: Three of Britain’s biggest childcare charities including Barnardo’s are at heart of police probes into claims of historic child abuse
18 Dec 2018
Three of Britain’s biggest childcare charities are at the centre of police investigations into allegations of child abuse, the Mail can reveal.
Detectives are probing claims that children were abused while in the care of Barnardo’s, Quarriers, and the Aberlour Child Care Trust.
Barnardo’s is the UK’s largest childcare charity, but has faced a series of allegations that children in its homes were beaten and raped.
Police Scotland last night revealed that it was investigating claims of historic abuse relating to all of the organisations.
The three organisations have come under scrutiny by the ongoing Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI), which has heard a catalogue of abuse claims from survivors formerly in their care.
The developments come after 17 people, including nuns, were either arrested or reported to prosecutors as part of a separate investigation into the Daughters of St Vincent de Paul, the Catholic order which ran the now-defunct Smyllum Park orphanage in Lanark.
A source close to the latest police inquiry involving Barnardo’s, Quarriers and the Aberlour Child Care Trust said ‘there are live, ongoing investigations into persons associated’ with all three institutions.
It is understood the people under investigation are either ex-employees or former helpers and volunteers at childcare institutions.
Detective Chief Inspector Laura Carnochan, of the National Child Abuse Investigation Unit at Police Scotland, said: ‘Investigating child abuse offences is highly complex and every care is taken to ensure that enquiries are proportionate, appropriate and that victims’ needs are central to our investigations.
‘If you or anyone you know has been a victim of abuse or wishes to report abuse you should feel confident in reporting to Police Scotland. We will listen and we will take action regardless of when or where the abuse occurred.’
The SCAI, which is investigating allegations of institutional child abuse in living memory, heard an allegation last month that a boy of 12 was raped by a Barnardo’s home carer after a ‘grooming’ campaign that left him ‘petrified’.
Killian Steele, 54, claimed the charity had issued ‘reprimands’ to the man who had abused him after suspicions were raised – but let him stay on.
He said: ‘Barnardo’s chose to protect him over me.
‘This national organisation whose main purpose was to safeguard… disadvantaged children actually ignored allegations of sexual abuse.’
James Peoples, QC, senior counsel to the inquiry, said the SCAI had found the prosecution did not go ahead because of a lack of corroboration.
The SCAI has also heard a litany of appalling physical and sexual abuse claims at Quarriers Village in Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, including allegations of a paedophile ring.
Survivors have alleged abuse in the care of Aberlour, including sexual abuse, while there have also been claims that children were locked in a cupboard known as ‘the cooler’ for days at a time as a form of discipline meted out by Aberlour carers.
The inquiry was told in October that more than 360 people have made complaints of physical and sexual abuse at orphanages run by Quarriers, Barnardo’s and the Aberlour Child Care Trust.
Police Scotland has revealed that it has so far examined 270,000 historical files in connection with the SCAI.
Stuart Gale, QC, representing Former Boys And Girls Abused of Quarriers Homes, has told the SCAI that until the 1980s, ‘a regime of violence and beatings existed without proper restraint’.
He said many victims had not complained at the time due to ‘fear of repercussion’.
During opening statements earlier this year, Quarriers and Aberlour apologised to those who suffered abuse while in their care.
Kate Dowdalls, QC, read a statement on behalf of Quarriers, saying she was ‘instructed first to reiterate the unreserved apology that was offered to survivors of abuse on May 31, 2017, at the outset of the hearings during phase one of this inquiry’.
She added: ‘Quarriers acknowledges children were subjected to physical, sexual and emotional abuse whilst in their care. It is acknowledged that abuse occurred across generations.
‘Quarriers acknowledges there were shortcomings in its historical policies and practices which did not prevent abuse occurring.’
Steven Love, QC, for Aberlour, offered an ‘unreserved apology’ to abuse survivors and said it welcomed the opportunity to ‘investigate the flaws’ in its historical practices.
Gordon Jackson, QC, representing Barnardo’s, said it was ‘committed to learning from the past’ to keep children safe and had adopted an ‘open and supportive stance’ towards the inquiry.
It has accepted that children had been abused while in its care, something it said was a ‘matter of deep regret’.
Previously, the SCAI has looked at establishments run by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul, and now-defunct children’s homes run by the Sisters of Nazareth – which is also the subject of a separate police investigation.
The SCAI’s first interim report, published in October, found children were abused, beaten and humiliated at Smyllum Park and Bellevue House in Rutherglen, also in Lanarkshire.
Following 20 days of evidence from survivors, SCAI chairman Lady Smith concluded: ‘I find that children were abused in both Bellevue and Smyllum.
‘The abuse which took place was physical, emotional and sexual.’
Aberlour Orphanage, the Princess Margaret Nursery and Aberlour’s Children Home in Keith will all be scrutinised as part of the inquiry.
1907 – 1953 the royal visits
With the Royal Residence of Balmoral relatively close by, Aberlour orphanage received a number of Royal visits. In 1907 Edward VII visits the orphanage followed by Edward VIII and Queen Mary in 1922. Years later, in 1953 Princess Margaret opens the Princess Margaret Residential Nursery School, an extension of the orphanage at the Dowans.
1969 the Aberlour Trust
Aberlour moves its headquarters to Stirling, and the role of warden is replaced by the Aberlour Trust Director and the governing body is constituted.
In 2003, Aberlour Child Care Trust took on a convicted child abuser Charles McKenna as a volunteer to mentor children.
McKenna was allowed to mentor an eight-year-old boy.
The police alerted Aberlour that McKenna had been a key member of a child sex abuse ring at St Ninian’s School in Gartmore, Stirlingshire.
http://aangirfan.blogspot.com/2013/07/aberlour-child-abuse-common-purpose.html
Whistleblower who revealed ‘sadistic’ sex offender worked at orphanage says bosses were ‘hell-bent’ on keeping it quiet
- Woman, using name Catherine, exposed abuse at Aberlour Orphanage in Moray
- Housefather Eric Lee was jailed in early 1960s for abusing children aged 8 to 12
- But after reporting him to bosses she claims they wanted to cover it up
A woman who blew the whistle on a sex offender working at an orphanage yesterday said its bosses were ‘hell-bent’ on keeping the scandal quiet.
The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI) heard that managers at Aberlour Orphanage in Moray were determined to prevent governors finding out about Eric Lee’s prolific abuse.
The ‘sadistic’ housefather was jailed in the early 1960s for sexually abusing ten children – and was only brought to justice after a staff member overheard one of the victims talking about their ordeal.
A 77-year-old witness, using the name Catherine, said the eight-year-old boy told her ‘I’m not alone’ when he disclosed the abuse.
Lee later admitted a string of sex offences against children aged eight to 12.
The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI) heard that managers at Aberlour Orphanage in Moray (pictured) were determined to prevent governors finding out about Eric Lee’s prolific abuse
The SCAI hearing in Edinburgh heard there had been ‘sadistic elements’ to Lee’s abuse.
Catherine, who was around 14 when she began working at Aberlour in 1956, told the inquiry she overheard a boy talking about having been sexually abused by Lee, who was a housefather and scoutmaster.
She reported it to her boss who was ‘completely distraught’.
But she was subsequently ‘kept very much in the dark about what happened’ and was ‘told not to talk about it’.
Catherine said: ‘They [bosses] were hell-bent on keeping everything quiet so it did not get out to the Press and the board of governors.’ Life at the home, she added ‘went on as before’.
Lee was arrested in August 1963 and convicted at the High Court in Aberdeen on September 13, 1963.
But the inquiry heard a letter was not sent from the home to local authority children’s officers until early October 1963 – stating that a housefather had been jailed for ‘indecent interference’ with boys.
The witness said Press coverage at the time had been relatively limited.
James Peoples, QC, senior counsel to the inquiry, said the sexual abuse had been ‘on a pretty grand scale’.
Later Romy Langeland, chief executive of Aberlour between 2001 and 2006, told the inquiry that during her time in charge there had been ‘absolute dedication’ to ‘child welfare’.
Yesterday, the Mail revealed that three of Britain’s biggest childcare charities, including Aberlour Child Care Trust, are at the centre of police investigations into allegations of child abuse. The other two are Barnardo’s and Quarriers.
Police Scotland has confirmed it is investigating claims of historic abuse relating to the three organisations.
The charities have come under scrutiny at the SCAI, which has heard a catalogue of claims from survivors formerly in their care.
A spokesman for Aberlour said: ‘We are cooperating with the SCAI.’
Barnardo’s Scotland said: ‘Barnardo’s is aware of one on-going investigation. As with all inquiries we are assisting the police in an open and transparent way.’
A Quarriers spokesman said: ‘We at Quarriers reiterate our full and unequivocal apology to anyone who suffered abuse while in our care.’
The inquiry, before Lady Smith, continues.
Frank Cairney branded ‘evil paedophile’ by victim who says he was abused in Celtic Park dressing room
Cairney, 83, was today convicted of sexually abusing a string of youngsters
14 dec 2018
FRANK Cairney has been branded an “evil paedophile” by one of his victims who says he was abused by the beast in a dressing room at Celtic Park.
Cairney, 83, was today convicted of sexually abusing a string of youngsters
The former coach was found guilty of abusing eight boys while running St Columba’s Boys Guild in Viewpark, Lanarkshire, and the under-16s team at Celtic Boys Club.
Cairney denied nine charges of historic sexual abuse between 1965 and 1986, branding the allegations “ludicrous”.
But a jury took under two hours to convict him of all charges at Hamilton Sheriff Court.
Late Celtic hero John Doyle ‘reported abuse claims about Frank Cairney’
After the verdict, one abuse survivor said: “Finally justice has caught up with Frank Cairney who as everyone now knows is an evil paedophile.
“He used his high standing at Celtic FC though his work with the boys clubs to gain access to innocent young boys like myself and abuse them in the most horrible way.
“Some of this abuse was carried out within the Celtic Park dressing room as well as in his car. I’m glad Cairney will now pay for his crimes and this brings a small amount of closure to myself and other victims.”
The Scottish Sun understands the abuse relates to Frank Cairney forcing boys to strip naked in the dressing rooms of Celtic Park before whipping them with heavy, wet towels leaving their bodies marked.
It’s also understood he submerged naked boys in ice cold metal baths while he stood leering over them.
Cairney joined Celtic Boys Club in 1971 after he was approached to run the side by Hoops legend Jock Stein.
But he used the role to prey on and molest young players, including incidents in a church hall and at Celtic’s Barrowfield training ground.
Wirral in It Together @Wirral_In_It
<GUILTY>
The 3RD most powerful man in the Vatican is a paedophile.
Reporting this news has been BANNED in “democracy loving” Australia, where reporting this FACT would breach a legal injunction and bring charges against the outlet printing the TRUTH.
Australia: Pell censorship shows there’s more than one way to gag the press
ONE of the biggest news stories in the world yesterday wasn’t reported to the very people who probably most needed to hear it.
Australian Cardinal George Pell – often called the third most powerful man in the Vatican – was found guilty of sexual misconduct on charges that reportedly stemmed from the abuse of two choir boys in the 1990s.
This conviction makes Pell the highest-ranking Vatican official to ever be found guilty of such a crime. Pretty major news, many would agree. But Australian media has been banned from reporting any of the details of the trial, including Pell’s identity and the nature of the charges.
All media organisations are required by law to adhere to the suppression order issued by the state of Victoria courts. If violated, it could lead to a contempt of court conviction.
Not only does it muzzle the press, but a major complaint is that they simply do not work.
The media is no longer constrained by printing presses and gag orders. In the online world we live in, it is nigh on impossible to stop people accessing almost anything, let alone one of the biggest news stories in the world.
Over the last 24 hours, Google searches for George Pell skyrocketed in Australia.
George Pell attending court with the prolific paedophile he protected for decades and lived with during the 1970s, Gerald Ridsdale.Risdale was secretly running an unsophisticated, but terrifyingly effective paedophile ring. Victims, police and the media, were outraged. Not only had Pell shared a house with Ridsdale in 1973, he had chosen to walk side byside with him into court in 1993, when Ridsdale pleaded guilty to 30 counts of indecent assault against nine boys, aged 12 to 16, between 1974 and 1980, for which he received his first, 12 month sentence.https://rapevictimsofthecatholicchurch.wordpress.com/2016/02/27/the-girls-the-paedophile-and-cardinal-pell/
Catholic Church’s third most senior cleric Cardinal George Pell – known as the ‘Vatican’s treasurer’ – is found GUILTY of sexually abusing two choir boys inside a cathedral
- Cardinal George Pell has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two choir boys
- Pell, an Australian cleric, is the Catholic Church’s third most senior clergyman
- The 77-year-old is the most senior Catholic to be charged with sexual offences
- He is on leave from his position in the Vatican and will appeal the convictions
- An Australian court order prevents publication of the verdicts in his homeland
The third most powerful man in the Catholic Church has been found guilty of sexually abusing two boys in the late 1990s.
Cardinal George Pell was unanimously convicted by an Australian jury on Tuesday of sexually abusing two choir boys in the country while serving as Archbishop of Melbourne.
The 77-year-old, who is often referred to as the Vatican’s treasurer, was reportedly found guilty of four counts of indecent assault and one count of rape after three days of deliberations.
Pell became the highest Vatican official ever to stand trial for sex abuse as he took the stand for the case, which was conducted under a gag order preventing him from being named in Australia.
Pope Francis on Wednesday announced the Cardinal would be removed from his cabinet following the announcement of the verdict.
The Vatican made no mention of the accusations against Pell in explaining his departures, and said for now he would not be replaced from the ‘C-9 group’.
The Cardinal, who was granted a leave of absence from his role last year as the trial got underway, reportedly abused the boys while they were singing in the choir at St. Patrick’s cathedral in a room within the confines of the church.
Sources also claimed the abuse took place after Pell introduced a compensation scheme for clerical sexual abuse victims known in Australia as the ‘Melbourne Response’, which he established in 1996.
The trial, dubbed the ‘Cathedral trial’ by The Daily Beast, which first reported the conviction, was declared a mistrial earlier this year after a hung jury, but was immediately rescheduled.
Tuesday’s verdict in the County Court of Victoria was a retrial of the original case – and resulted in his conviction.
A second trial into Pell’s alleged abuse known as ‘the swimmers trial’ is due to get underway early next year.
That trial is expected to hear evidence that Pell ‘sexually offended’ two men when they were boys playing games in a swimming pool in Ballarat, Victoria in the 1970s.
A court in Victoria heard in March that Pell, who has denied all of the allegations, would stay in the pool after swimming laps and play with children.
Pell had repeatedly and vehemently denied the accusations against him and Pope Francis had granted him a leave of absence to return to Australia to defend himself.
The judge who heard Pell’s case has continued a gag order on details of the cardinal’s trial and guilty verdicts being published in his homeland.
That order, which was applied for by prosecutors, was granted to ‘prevent a real and substantial risk of prejudice to the proper administration of justice.’
Pell has surrendered his passport as part of his bail conditions and is not permitted to leave Australia.
The cardinal was named the Vatican’s Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy in 2014, making him the third highest-ranking cleric in Rome.
Before being called to the Vatican, Pell served as Archbishop of Sydney from 2001 to 2014 and was Archbishop of Melbourne from 1996 to 2001.
He was ordained in 1966 and made a cardinal in 2003.
Victorian police charged Pell with the sexual assault offences in June last year when he was in Rome.
Pell, who was represented by attorney Robert Richter, QC, stated at a press conference at the time he would return to Australia to answer the charges and he was ‘looking forward, finally, to having my day in court’.
‘I’m innocent of those charges,’ he said at the time. ‘They are false.’
Cardinal Pell found guilty of sex abuse by Melbourne court
Dec 13, 2018
In a decision that will undoubtedly create shockwaves around the globe, Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Church official to stand trial for sexual abuse, was found guilty on Tuesday by a Melbourne Court.
In one of the most closely watched trials in modern Catholic Church history, after nearly four full days of deliberations, a jury rendered unanimous guilty verdicts on five charges related to the abuse of two choirboys in 1996.
The trial, which began on November 7, has been subject to a media blackout at the request of the prosecution, and follows a first trial in September ended after a jury failed to reach consensus.
Pell, who is 77 years old, is currently on a leave of absence from his post as the Vatican’s Secretary for the Economy.
In June 2017, Pell was charged by Australian police with “historical sexual assault offences,” forcing him to leave Rome and return home vowing to “clear his name.”
This past May, after a four-week committal hearing, an Australian magistrate struck down some of the more serious charges against Pell but ruled he stand trial on five charges related to sexual abuse of minors. The allegations, however, are from two separate periods, the 1970s and the 1990s, hence Judge Sue Pullen’s decision in May to mandate two different trials.
The focus of the first trial centered on the alleged sexual assault of two choirboys at Melbourne’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral during the late 1990s.
During the four weeks of testimony, the jury of twelve heard from the former Master of Ceremonies of the cathedral, its former organist, and other choirboys during the same period of the alleged incident.
Much of the testimony centered on whether or not it would have been possible for Pell to have been alone with the members of the choir and whether it would have been physically possible for Pell to engage in such actions while wearing his mass vestments.
Jury deliberations for the case began late last week, and continued through Tuesday.
Pell has been a key point of reference in English-speaking Catholicism for at least the last two decades, and he was appointed by Pope Francis to his “C9” council of cardinal advisers from around the world in 2013. On Wednesday, the Vatican announced that at the end of October, Pope Francis had removed Pell, along with two other cardinals, from his council of advisers.
He served as the Archbishop of Melbourne from 1996 to 2001, then as the Archbishop of Sydney from 2001 until his appointment to his Vatican position in 2014.
Following the May ruling, Vatican spokesman Greg Burke released a statement saying that “The Holy See has taken note of the decision issued by judicial authorities in Australia” regarding Pell.
“Last year, the Holy Father granted Cardinal Pell a leave of absence so he could defend himself from the accusations. The leave of absence is still in place,” Burke said.
Despite the Vatican’s position in May, Pell’s term of office ends in August and it’s unclear what happens next.
Vatican spokesman Greg Burke told reporters on Wednesday that “The Holy See has the utmost respect for the Australian courts.”
“We are aware there is a suppression order in place and we respect that order,” he said.
Earlier this year, the Australian Catholic Church unveiled its official response to Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the nation’s highest form of inquiry.
The Royal Commission revealed last year that 7 percent of Catholic priests were accused of sexually abusing children in Australia over the past several decades, and in response, the Church accepted 98 percent of its 80 recommendations, deciding only against the recommendation that the Church eliminate the seal of the confessional.
The Pell verdict and the Church’s response to the Royal Commission comes at a time in which the global Catholic Church is struggling to combat the issue of clerical sexual abuse.
In August, Francis penned a letter to the “People of God” in which he apologized for widespread cover-up and failures, and in February, he has called the presidents of every bishops’ conference around the world for a global summit on the issue.
During the release of the Australian Church’s response to the Royal Commission, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Mark Coleridge, vowed systematic reform throughout the country.
“Our response in Australia gives local shape to the action required to address such failure and the need for cultural change,” he wrote.
A sentencing date for Pell has been set for February 2019. Judge Peter Kidd said Pell will be taken into custody on that date, however an appeal by his defense team is likely.
Media Man@TheWarRoomNZ
#Australian rags unable to report on cardinal George Pell due to court suppression order
Pope removes two cardinals linked to sex abuse allegations from his inner circle
12 Dec 2018
wo leading cardinals allegedly linked to sexual abuse have been dismissed from Pope Francis’ inner circle.
Australian Cardinal George Pell and Chilean Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz have been removed from the so-called C9 Council of Cardinals, an advisory body set up by Francis, the Vatican said on Wednesday.
Cardinal Pell, appointed head of the Vatican’s economic secretariat by the pope in 2014, has taken a leave of absence to fight allegations of historic sexual misconduct in Australia.
He is still officially in charge of Vatican finances, a position considered one of the most powerful in the Catholic hierarchy.
Francisco Errazuriz Ossa has been accused of covering up allegations against abusive priests in Chile.
Congolese Laurent Monsengwo, 79, who retired as archbishop of Kinshasa in November, is also leaving the advisory council.
Vatican spokesman Greg Burke announced the changes on Wednesday, saying Francis had written to the three prelates individually in October, “thanking them for the work they have done for the past five years
Queen’s former driver admits to sexually abusing two young boys in the 1970s – including one in his Buckingham Palace quarters – but dies before he can be charged
- Driver Alwyn Stockdale sexually abused a boy in his Buckingham Palace quarters
- He was a chauffeur to the Queen and also abused a young boy at relative’s home
- Stockdale, aged 81, was retired and died of natural causes in hospital last week
- The ex-driver was due to be charged with indecently assaulting one of the boys
- 10 Dec 2018
A chauffeur to the Queen sexually abused a boy in his Buckingham Palace quarters and another young boy at a relative’s home, but died before he could be charged.
Alwyn Stockdale, 81, admitted attacking a ten-year-old boy and a boy aged under 14 in the 1970s.
Stockdale, who was retired, died of natural causes in hospital last week, but was due to be charged with indecently assaulting one of the boys and with three offences of gross indecency on the second youngster, according to The Sun.
The newspaper says prosecutors had told police to charge Stockdale with the offences.
The alleged victim, a man now in his 50s, told police he had been assaulted when he was ten, with detectives allegedly taking 19 months to track Stockdale down.
Stockdale is said to have lived in Royal Household quarters at Buckingham Palace Mews at the time and later lived in a cottage on the Windsor estate.
He attacked one of the boys at the West Yorkshire home of a relative, who was also a royal servant, but who was unaware of the alleged crime.
A source said: ‘The victims are understandably upset that Stockdale will not face justice. They’ve lived with what he did all their adult lives.’
‘There are questions over why it took so long for police to identify and get round to questioning Stockdale.
Stockdale is believed to have lived in Royal Household quarters at Buckingham Palace Mews while serving as a chauffeur to the Queen
‘Given his age, it was a race against time to bring him to justice.
‘But like Jimmy Savile and the MP Cyril Smith, he died before that could happen.’
The Metropolitan Police said it is aware of the report, but was unable to comment at that time.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment.
A source said: “Everyone knew Stockdale as ‘Olly’ and it shouldn’t have been too hard to identify his real name from either the Palace or someone who worked with him at the time.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7948725/buckingham-palace-pervert-nickname-olly/
Queen’s former driver attacked boy, 10, at Buckingham Palace but died before charges could be brought
Alwyn Stockdale assaulted the lad in the Royal Household quarters at Buckingham Palace Mews
Retired Stockdale, 81, admitted the attacks, which took place in the 1970s.
But the paedophile died in hospital last week after prosecutors told police to charge him with crimes dating back to the 1970s.
It took 19 months for Met officers to trace Stockdale after a man in his 50s revealed the pervert assaulted him when he was ten.
At the time Stockdale lived in Royal Household quarters at Buckingham Palace
It is understood that when interviewed Stockdale, who later lived in a cottage on the Windsor estate, confessed to abusing the boy and another lad under 14.
He was to be charged with indecently assaulting one boy and three offences of gross indecency relating to the second.
However, Stockdale died of natural causes before being notified of the prosecution
One of the boys was attacked at the West Yorkshire home of a relative who also worked as a royal servant. The family member was unaware of the crime.
The other is thought to have been abused at Stockdale’s Palace quarters.
A source said: “The victims are understandably upset that Stockdale will not face justice. They’ve lived with what he did all their adult lives.’
“There are questions over why it took so long for police to identify and get round to questioning Stockdale.
“Given his age, it was a race against time to bring him to justice.
“But like Jimmy Savile and the MP Cyril Smith, he died before that could happen.’’
Buckingham Palace refused to comment.
Royal chauffeur died before child abuse charges could be brought
10 dec 2018
A retired chauffeur for the Royal Family was to be charged with sexual offences against young boys before he died, the Crown Prosecution Service has said.
Alwyn Stockdale, who was 81, was suspected of abusing a boy aged 10 or under and a boy aged nine or under.
The alleged offences took place between 1972 and 1975.
Mr Stockdale, who worked for the Royal Family between 1972 and 1992, died of natural causes in hospital last week.
The CPS, which received a file on the case in August, had decided on 30 November that Mr Stockdale should be prosecuted over four allegations – two charges relating to each boy – but he had not been formally charged.
It is alleged he attacked the nine-year-old at his quarters in the Royal Mews, on Buckingham Palace Road.
The other boy was allegedly abused in West Yorkshire at the home of a relative of the boy.
A CPS spokesperson said: “Following a Metropolitan Police investigation into allegations of non-recent sexual abuse, the CPS authorised four charges against a suspect aged in his 80s.
“The suspect has since died and therefore no prosecution can take place.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-46508544#
related?
CHE – Alwin Stockdale
Cumbria & The Borders CHE: SHRG Group – later a Gay Community Group
Founded in 1973 by Richard Webster, and later ran by Alwin Stockdale until early 1990s.
We are looking for information about the group, and also any publicity material including the monthly newsletters it produced. Monthly meeting at the Old Town Hall, Carlisle
Last week I went down to London to visit two amazing archives housing great collections of documents of LGBT History – the Hall-Carpenter Archives in LSE Library, and the Lesbian and Gay Newsmedia Archive.
One of the most exciting discovery, were the vast of monthly newsletters produced by the Cumbria and The Borders CHE (Campaign for Homosexual Equality):SHRG (Scottish Homosexual Rights Group) Group between 1974 and 1990.
They were all produced by one man Alwin Stockdale, the convenor of the group. Along with this were some correspondence between the local group and the CHE HQ in London as well as minutes of AGM of the group. The group was set up in 1973 by Richard Webster and was the first local group for lesbian and gay people.
http://www.celebratecumbria.co.uk/appeal-for-information/
Another chauffeur for the queen
The Queen, her chauffeur and the prostitute
25 May 2009
https://www.smh.com.au/world/the-queen-her-chauffeur-and-the-prostitute-20090525-bjrl.html
RNC 40th Anniversary Rally
The RNC (Registration Numbers Club) held their annual rally at Temple Newsam in Leeds on Sunday 16th July 2017. It was raining the day before so there was some concern that the event may be a wash-out. Some owners, especially those with vintage or classic vehicles can be a little reluctant to venture out into bad weather, especially when the event is located on grassy terrain that could quickly turn to mud.
As it turned out, all fears evaporated on the day, which was hot and sunny: a great way to start the club’s 40th anniversary rally. The turnout was excellent, with nearly 100 cars on display with many superb registrations. In fact, this was one of the best attended rallies we have seen in recent years.
The event’s special guest, Councillor Jane Dowson, The Lord Mayor of Leeds, spoke to many of the club members and went round admiring the cars and registrations display. Councillor Dowson also presented the awards for each category (results below). The mayoral car bears the impressive registration U 1 and, coincidentally club member Gareth Hudson was there with the reverse registration, 1 U.
And the award results were:
2017
1st – Alwyn Stockdale – AO 2 (Volvo P1800
http://www.registrationnumbersclub.org.uk/Rally_17.htm
Class L – classic car with interesting number
1st – Alwyn Stockdale – AO 2 (Volvo P1800)
https://www.regtransfers.co.uk/content/40th-anniversary/
“The victims are understandably upset that Stockdale will not face justice. They’ve lived with what he did all their adult lives. There are questions over why it took so long for police to identify and get round to questioning Stockdale. Given his age, it was a race against time to bring him to justice.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/queens-pedophile-driver-dies-before-facing-justice?ref=scroll
GOSFORTH 10 MILE ROAD RACE, JUNE 10th 2009 RESULTS
http://gosforthvillage.net/G10%20race%20results.html
2010
http://www.cumberlandac.org.uk/results_archive/2010/2010OpenChampionship.pdf
2012
http://www.registrationnumbersclub.org.uk/Rally_12.htm
Men charged with sexual offences against children in the 1970s
5 Dec 2018
One lived and worked in Chelmsford
Two men have been charged with sexual offences against children in the 1970s.
The alleged offences involved four boys under the age of 16 and were reported to have been committed between 1972 and 1979.
Kenneth Francis, 71, of Akasaka in Tokyo, has been charged with 13 counts of indecent assault and four counts of committing an act of gross indecency.
Francis, a retired teacher, lived and worked in the Chelmsford area at the time.
The second man, Malcolm Archer, 66, a musician, of High Street, Odiham in Hampshire, has been summonsed to appear at court to face one charge of indecent assault and one charge of committing an act of gross indecency.
Both men are due to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on December 12.
Police investigation began in April 2017 and enquiries remain ongoing.
https://www.essexlive.news/news/essex-news/men-charged-sexual-offences-against-2292900
Former Jersey church choirmaster charged with sexual offences against children
7 December 2018
A former Jersey church choirmaster has been charged with sexual offences against children.
Kenneth Francis, has been charged with 13 counts of indecent assault and four counts of committing acts of gross indecency.
The alleged offences are said to have involved four boys under the age of 16 during the 1970’s while Mr Francis was living in the Chelmsford area.
The 71 year old was the Director of Music at the Town Church but left Jersey and moved to Tokyo in April 2017 when the church became aware of the alleged assaults.
Mr Francis is due to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on December 12.
24 Sept 1978 Great Waltham Parish Church Chelmsford, Essex
Kenneth Francis
In between his stints at Bristol and Wells, Malcolm Archer held a similar post to the Winchester one at Clifton College in Bristol
Malcolm Archer (Music staff 1990-1996)
Church musician Malcolm Archer to face historical sex offence charges
5 Dec 2018
A leading church musician and composer is to be charged with historical sex offences.
Malcolm Archer, 66, has been summonsed to face a count of indecent assault and one of committing an act of gross indecency.
Mr Archer was suspended as director of chapel music at Winchester College late in 2017 and has since left the school.
Essex Police said the alleged offences involved one boy in the late 1970s in the Chelmsford area.
Mr Archer, from Odiham in Hampshire, is a former director of music at St Paul’s Cathedral and directed the music at state occasions including the Queen’s 80th birthday service.
In a statement, Winchester College said the alleged offences were unconnected with the college and are claimed to have occurred many years before Mr Archer’s employment.
“As soon as the school was made aware of the allegations, it treated them with the utmost seriousness, in full co-operation with the relevant authorities, and in accordance with the standards of a stringent safeguarding culture,” a spokeswoman said.
A retired teacher Kenneth Francis, 71, of Akasaka in Tokyo, has also been charged with 13 counts of indecent assault and four counts of committing an act of gross indecency.
The alleged offences involved four boys under the age of 16 and were reported to have been committed between 1972 and 1979.
Both men are due to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on 12 December.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-46452924
Banished organist rises again
13 May 2004
Today I can reveal Archer, 52, has been chosen for the most senior position outside the clergy that the Church has to offer – director of music at St Paul’s Cathedral.
What makes his appointment all the more intriguing is that the cleric who forced him out of his job as organist of Bristol Cathedral remains an influential – and controversial – figure in the Church. For Archer’s detractor is none other than Dr Wesley Carr, the Dean of Westminster and the man who officiated at Princess Diana’s funeral.
In 1990, Dr Carr was dean of Bristol Cathedral when Mr Archer was obliged to resign amid confusing circumstances.
Subsequently, Dr Carr sent a letter to the deans of all English cathedrals advising them that the organist should not be hired. Last night, one eminent churchman, a former dean of Guildford in Surrey, told me: ‘I remember it. I threw it in the wastepaper basket.’
Inside the Church, Dr Carr rejoices in the nickname of ‘the sacking dean’.
Shortly after Diana’s death, he was at the centre of a furious row that threatened to tear Westminster Abbey apart after he sacked the choirmaster who arranged the music for the funeral.
He was branded a bully after firing all the Abbey’s tour guides aged over 75. And he was criticised for sanctioning the sale of chairs used at Diana’s funeral.
Despite losing his job at Bristol, Malcolm Archer, a father of two, continued in the music world, moving to Clifton College, the boys’ school.
He has been organist and master of choristers at Wells Cathedral, Somerset, for eight years.
Last night, the man who headhunted him, St Paul’s Dean John Moses, described him as an outstanding candidate. Asked about Mr Archer’s departure from Bristol, he said: ‘I should point out that lots of things are said but he (Archer) found employment directly afterwards.’
In a further twist, some are wondering if the appointment has helped settle another old score. During the 1980s, Dr Carr and Dr Moses worked together at Chelmsford Cathedral, Essex.
‘They didn’t get on at all,’ I am told. Dr Moses diplomatically tells me: ‘We were colleagues, and you get on better with some colleagues than others.’
Dr Archer’s wife, Alison, said: ‘I am aware that there was some dispute between my husband and Wesley Carr, but I don’t know the details. It was before my time. We’ve only been married for ten years.’ Dr Carr was unavailable for comment.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/columnists/article-302659/Banished-organist-rises-again.html
Barrister Blogger Matthew Scott’s father worked at Clinton College and Winchester
Martin Scott, who died aged 76, was for 17 years Second Master of Winchester College.
a Royal Marine Commando
His first job schoolmastering was at Clifton College, where he taught from 1950 to 1962, making lifelong friends among both his colleagues and his pupils. It was here, too, that he met his wife Mary, the elder sister of one of his first pupils.
In 1962 he moved to Winchester, where, as Second Master, he was in charge of the 70 scholars in College
Scott’s features still gaze down on the present generation of scholars in Chamber Court in the shape of a strikingly lifelike stone gargoyle for which he sat as model; it is one of only two created for the college in the last 600 years.
http://www.winchestercollege.org/UserFiles/College-%20Colour%20feature.pdf
After stepping down as Second Master, he continued to teach at Winchester for several years before retiring in 1986 to a farmhouse on the North Yorkshire Moors.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1408658/Martin-Scott.html
Winchester College knew in 1982 about allegations of sadomasochistic abuse at the hands of John Smyth
Barrister Blogger, Matthew Scott’s father, Martin Scott, continued to teach at Winchester until 1986.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1408658/Martin-Scott.html
Promoted out of Chelmsford to become Dean at Bristol in 1987, in 1989 Carr engineered the sacking of the organist and master of choristers Malcolm Archer, even taking the trouble to type out Archer’s letter of resignation for him, whilst insisting on absolute secrecy (a Carr hallmark, and one of the reasons he has avoided exposure for so long). This sacking of a decent man and consummate musician caused such a furore that shops refused to supply the cathedral. Thoughtfully, Carr provided a confidential negative reference to all choral institutions likely to employ him. Wells, the next door diocese, eventually took Archer on, much to their profit where he has done excellent work ever since. Wells’ verdict on Carr’s malicious reference? – there was no case to answer.
https://companycheck.co.uk/director/905013836/MR-MALCOLM-DAVID-ARCHER/companies
Clifton College
THREE headteachers of £33,000-a-year private school failed to act over pervert teacher now jailed for videoing 130 children with secret cameras even though he was found tied to chair half-naked several times
- Jonathan Thomson-Glover was a teacher for 31 years at Clifton College
- He was jailed last year after admitting filming 130 children over 16 years
- New report reveals three headteachers ignored parents’ complaints
- Parents complained as early as 1998 about ‘unsuitable rewards’ including beer, pizza and computer games nights held at German teacher’s home
A court heard he hid cameras at different places around the school and was found with 2,500 hours of video and 1,400 indecent images on 330 tapes.
In July he had six months added to Thomson-Glover’s sentence after he admitted a string of further sex offences against children while he was teaching in Winchester.
He pleaded guilty to three counts of gross indecency involving a boy under 14 and one count of inciting a boy under 14 to commit a grossly indecent act.
In summer 1999, a cleaner and a young student reported that the housemaster had been found taped to a chair at the college half-naked.
A few months later, he was found taped to a chair again in just his underwear by a teacher who told headmaster Mr Munro, it was reported.
In September 2000, then head teacher Mr Spurr launched an enquiry after reports Thomson-Glover was again tied to a chair as a prank but told him “whatever happened don’t do it again”.
In another incident, a deputy head of pastoral care raised concerns about Thomson-Glover’s activities to head teacher Mr Moore, but was told the matter was ‘dealt with’.
Clifton College head quits after 10 years in post
he headmaster of Bristol’s Clifton College is to step down months after a former teacher at the school was jailed for secretly filming pupils.
Mark Moore, headmaster of the college since 2005, said he felt it was time to “explore other opportunities”.
The college said Mr Moore had successfully raised academic standards, producing the best exam results in recent college history.
Deputy head Tim Greene will cover the post until a new head is appointed.
Chairman of Clifton College Council, Richard Morgan, said: “We are very grateful to him for all that he has achieved during his time at the college.
“When he arrived in 2005 he was determined to raise academic standards and has successfully achieved this goal… whilst continuing our excellence in music, drama and sport.”
An email has been sent to parents about his departure, highlighting the college’s sporting and academic achievements under his leadership and praising his “energy and determination”.
In August, Jonathan Thomson-Glover, 53, of Wadebridge, was jailed for three years and nine months and banned from working with children.
Thomson-Glover taught German and was also a housemaster. He admitted 36 counts of making, taking and possessing indecent images of children.
Following the conviction, the college was also criticised by the Independent Schools Inspectorate for having child protection policies that did not reflect latest statutory guidelines.
Mr Moore leaves at the end of autumn term and a new head is expected to be in post in January 2017.
Chris Jefferies had clean teaching record
A 65-year-old man, understood to be landscape architect Jo Yeates’ landlord, is arrested on suspicion of her murder.
Chris Jefferies is being detained for questioning at a police station within the Avon and Somerset force area.
Mark Moore, the head of Clifton College, the school where Mr Jefferies once taught, gave his reaction to the news.
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-12094539/chris-jefferies-had-clean-teaching-record
Chris Jefferies bought Jo Yeates flat from paedophile colleague
December 31, 2010
Jo Yeates murder suspect Chris Jefferies bought the flat the architect lived in from a paedophile colleague who abused a young boy, it has emerged.
Chris Jeffries brought Jo Yeates flat from paedophile colleague
Fellow Clifton College teacher Stephen Johnston used to live below Jefferies in Flat 1 of the building on 44 Canynge Road.
Bachelor French teacher Johnston sexually abused a pupil between 1991 to 1994 in the same apartment murdered Jo, 25, would later share with her 27-year-old boyfriend, Greg Reardon.
Vile Johnston, now 57, was jailed for seven years in March 2008 after being found guilty of six sex offences.
When he was arrested, police found hundreds of pictures of young boys’ naked bottoms from the school he taught at.
The French teacher’s victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court at the time how Johnston had lured him to his home with promises of alcohol and cannabis.
But the child and other young boys were shown pornographic videos and, by the time he had turned 13, his relationship with Johnston had become sexual.
Johnston and the child’s relationship ended three years later when the youngster reached 16-years-old and left school.
The French teacher then moved to London after being made redundant from the school.
The relationship only came to light when the boy, who is now a 32-years-old, finally contacted police in 2006.
In court the man, who chose to become a teacher, told how his relationship with his parents broke down and how he has an inability to trust anyone, including his wife.
Jailing Johnston at the time, judge David Ticehurst told him: ”You have destroyed a young man’s childhood and have caused enormous damage to his life. You have been convicted of very serious offences, which represent a serious breach of trust.
”Parents and pupils can expect teachers to act properly, not to abuse those in their care, which you singularly failed to do.
”You have let down the teaching profession, you have let down yourself, and you are a thorough disgrace.”
Johnston was banned from working with children for life and is currently serving time in Dartmoor Prison, Devon.
Murder suspect Chris Jefferies bought the flat from Johnston in 1999 when the paedophile moved to live with his mother in Sturminster Newton, Dorset.
There is no suggestion Jefferies was involved in any of the crimes.
https://stories.swns.com/news/chris-jefferies-bought-jo-yeates-flat-from-paedophile-colleague-12774/
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Teacher ‘hid boy’s trunks in bag’
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A teacher took more than 350 photos of boys’ bottoms in his flat and kept a pair of trunks sealed in a bag for more than 12 years, a court heard.Stephen Johnston, 56, initially, denied there was a sexual motive behind taking the intimate pics but later admitted there was, Bristol Crown Court heard. His attacks on a boy allegedly occurred when he worked in Bristol in the 1990s. Mr Johnston, from Sturminster Newton, Dorset, denies two serious sex assaults and five indecent assaults. The court heard the former French teacher, who was working at a Bristol school, took the pictures of the youngsters because he liked their “personalities”.
However, under cross examination, Mr Johnston, admitted lying and said the numerous shots of their “crotches and backsides were no accident and were motivated by his physical attraction to them”. “I would suppose I did find them sexually attractive, but I never planned to have sex with them and never had sex with them,” Mr Johnston, who is alleged to have carried out the attacks between 1991 and 1994, told the jury. He told the court he had taken the vulnerable youngster “under his wing because he was being bullied at school and was lonely”. He admitted inviting him around to his flat for private French lessons and then purely for social visits, but did not tell his bosses about the meetings. The court heard Mr Johnston had taken the huge collection of pictures when the boys were in his flat, on school trips abroad and in the swimming pool. Pornographic films He also admitted watching pornographic films with the boy but denied it was part of a “grooming process”. But the court heard he could not explain why he had kept the photos and a pair of the boy’s trunks sealed in a bag. The alleged victim, now aged 29, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had visited his flat with another pupil. The court heard Mr Johnston allegedly showed the boy – who was under 16 at the time – a pornographic film and then proceeded to carry out a sex act on him. The court heard Mr Johnston had sex with the teenager on “at least 10 occasions”. The case continues. |
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I never planned to have sex with them and never had sex with them 
Former house master at £30,000-a-year Clifton College who was jailed for secretly filming pupils is given another prison term for abusing two 12-year-old boys from a different school
- Jonathan Thomson-Glover recorded girl and boy pupils over 16 year period
- Jailed last year after admitting charges relating to photos of 130 children
- Now emerged he sexually abused two male pupils, aged 12, at other school
- Thomson-Glove handed an additional six months to his prison sentence
Video tapes, CDs and DVDs and belonging to former teacher Jonathan Thomson-Glover
Last August he was jailed for three years and nine months after a court heard he set up secret cameras to spy on pupils, who he allowed to smoke, drink and have sex at his private quarters.
Today at Truro Crown Court the former house master admitted sexually abusing pupils from another prep school in Winchester, Hampshire.
The court heard Thomson-Glover, from Wadebridge, Cornwall, abused two 12-year- old boys between 1987 and 1992 from the school in Winchester while at a holiday home in Cornwall.
In a number of cases, parents who complained were told they should find another school for their child.
Thomson-Glover pleaded guilty to 36 counts of making, taking and possessing indecent images of children between 1987 and 1992.
2016 Death of Canon Hugh Thomson-Glover a retired Priest who lived at Culmstock.…to his wife Geraldine and all the family.
Clifton College gets funding from MOD
The images were taken at a number of locations including a property in Wadebridge, Cornwall, as well as at Clifton College.
Jonathan Hugh THOMSON GLOVER
TRELAWNEY COURT MANAGEMENT (ROCK) LIMITED (03711652)
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/03711652/officers
Jersey People’s Choir created as part of BBC initiative
02 Feb 2012
A new group called the Jersey Peoples Choir is being set up in the island.
The first rehearsal is at the Town Church in St Helier on Thursday at 18:00 GMT and the choir is aimed at people inspired by the recent BBC TV programme about a group of military wives who formed a choir.
The Choir’s first project is to sing a piece of music specially commissioned for Easter by the BBC.
It is part of the BBC People’s Passion and the new choral work will be performed by choirs across the country at Easter 2012.
The choirmaster of the Town Church, Kenneth Francis, told BBC Radio Jersey’s Chris Stone anyone could join the choir and he was really looking forward to it.
Malcolm Archer (born 1952) is an English organist, conductor and composer. He combines this work with a recital career. Archer was formerly Organist and Director of Music at St Paul’s Cathedral [1] and Director of Chapel Music at Winchester College.
Malcolm Archer was educated at King Edward VII School, Lytham before studying at the Royal College of Music (as an RCO scholar). He was later organ scholar at Jesus College, Cambridge. His organ teachers include Ralph Downes, Gillian Weir, and Nicolas Kynaston and he studied composition with Herbert Sumsion and Alan Ridout.[1]
Appointments
Malcolm Archer’s first posts were at Norwich Cathedral and Bristol Cathedral.
Wells Cathedral
Archer was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers at Wells Cathedral in 1996 where he directed and trained the Cathedral choir for its daily services in the Cathedral, as well as being the Musical Director for Wells Cathedral Oratorio Society. In April, 2000 he and choir members participated in a North American Tour which included concerts in Ottawa, Ontario; Albany, New York; Richmond, Virginia; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Washington, DC; Lancaster, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; St. Paul, Minnesota; Chattanooga, Tennessee and Augusta, Georgia. He has made several recordings with the choir to critical acclaim.
St Paul’s Cathedral
Archer took over as organist and Director of Music at St Paul’s from John Scott in 2004.
Winchester College
In August 2007 he took up a position as Director of Chapel Music and Organist at Winchester College, where he was in charge of the Winchester College Chapel Choir and Quiristers as well as teaching composition and the organ. He retired from Winchester College in 2018. [2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Archer
Malcolm Archer is one of the world’s leading church musicians, and has enjoyed a distinguished career in cathedral music, which has taken him to posts at Norwich, Bristol, Wells Cathedrals and then Director of Music at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. He is now Director of Chapel Music at Winchester College, where he is responsible for the College’s ancient choral foundation; conducting the Chapel Choir and teaching the organ. During his time at St. Paul’s Cathedral he directed the choir for several State services, including the Tsunami Memorial Service, the London Bombings Service and the 80th Birthday Service for HM The Queen, for which he was invited by Buckingham Palace to compose a special anthem, performed live on BBC.1. His many broadcasts and recordings from Wells and St. Paul’s have received critical acclaim, and his CD of Christmas music from St. Paul’s was voted Editor’s number one choice in The Daily Telegraph. His own setting of ‘Be thou my Vision’ features on the debut album of the girl group ‘Celeste’ for Decca.
Malcolm is much in demand as a choir trainer and choral and orchestral conductor, and he has directed concerts, workshops, courses and summer schools in various parts of the globe, as well as working with several leading orchestras. He is also the Musical Director of the Jean Langlais Festival in France
As an organ recitalist he has played in nine European countries, New Zealand the USA and Canada, and his many CDs include repertoire as diverse as J.S. Bach and Olivier Messiaen, as well as his own music.
As a composer, Malcolm receives regular commissions from both sides of the Atlantic, and he has many published works. Recently he has composed works for the Southern Cathedrals Festival, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Festival of the Sons of the Clergy, an anthem for the enthronement service of the Bishop of Winchester, and a special anthem commissioned to mark the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta in 2015. He has also jointly edited two books for Oxford University Press: Advent for Choirs and Epiphany to All Saints for Choirs. His compositions are widely performed, recorded and broadcast and are greatly enjoyed for their approachable nature and singability.
He has been an adjudicator for the BBC Radio 2 Young Chorister of the year competition, (he has, over the years had twelve of his own choristers in the final) and for four years was a judge for the BBC Songs of Praise School Choirs competition, including chairing the judging panel for two of those competitions. He is also a frequent contributor to that programme as both interviewee and musical arranger. He has recently been a judge for the British Composer Awards.
Malcolm has served as council member of the Royal College of Organists, and he is a member of the council of the Guild of Church Musicians, from whom he was recently awarded the Fellowship for his services to church music over many years. In 2009, he was awarded the FRSCM (Fellow of the Royal School of Church Music) for his work in three cathedrals, and as a composer of church music.
https://web.archive.org/web/20160304123510/http://www.malcolmarcher.com/biography.html
Wells Cathedral Chorister Trust
Patron Malcolm Archer
https://www.wcct.co.uk/patrons/
Patron of the North and Midlands School of Music
President: Malcolm Archer
SEOs: Dr Colin Parsons MBE, Bill Thomas
General Secretary: Paul Melville
Academic Registrar: Dr Kevin Morgan
Bursar: Derek Matthews
Patrons:Dame Dr Evelyn Glennie CH DBE, Revd Canon Beaumont Brandie MBE, Prof Dr Ian Tracey, Dr Carol Williams, Dr Kemp English, Scott Farrell, Donald MacKenzie, Elizabeth Stratford, Andrew Whelan, Peter Wrigh
https://web.archive.org/web/20181208135042/http://www.nmsm.org.uk/about_patrons.php
Gulid of Church Musicians – Honorary Fellow
Malcolm Archer
https://www.churchmusicians.org/honorary-fellow-members
Aug 12 2001
Malcolm Archer Montreal Boys’ Choir Chorus School
Is it ever too late to learn the piano?
/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-jerseyeveningpost-mna.s3.amazonaws.com/public/ZFDX2HTRKFANHAAA76BBY6QENY.jpg)
Music teacher Kenneth Francis says that teaching children and adults is very different. The biggest obstacle for adults it accepting that they will make mistakes.
Rare private press Choral LP from 1970 , In tip top condition. Organist Richard Hollingdale, Director of Music Kenneth Francis, Alto Stephen Barlow and Jonathan Seers
Boys Choir of Widford Lodge Prep School – Songs For Advent & Xmas (1970 Private)
https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2015/08/27/1484507/
http://www.jerseyfestivalchoir.org.uk/2014-christmas.html
https://jerseyeveningpost.com/community/2014/01/26/the-search-is-on-for-new-voices/
Two vile scout leaders who sexually abused young boys in the same troop in the 1970s are jailed within a week
- Philip Levi, 73, was handed an 11-year term for ‘predatory and persistent’ abuse
- A judge said parents had hoped he would be a ‘role model’ for their children
- Yesterday Paul Santon of the same Harrow scout group was jailed for 20 month
Two former scout leaders have been jailed within a week for sexually abusing youngsters in the same group.
Philip Levi, 73, was handed an 11-year term last week for ‘predatory and persistent’ abuses against children at his troop in Harrow.
Yesterday 68-year-old Paul Santon, who had worked at the same north-west London scout group in the 1970s, was jailed after admitting two indecent assaults.
The abuses in the 1970s and 1980s have only now come to light, the Metropolitan Police said.
Paul Santon, pictured outside Harrow Crown Court yesterday, was jailed for 20 months after he admitted two indecent assaults dating back to when he was a scout leader in the 1970sYesterday Santon, of St Albans, Hertfordshire, pleaded guilty at Harrow Crown Court to two assaults on a child under 16.
He was jailed for 20 months for the historic sex abuse.
Santon, of Cotlandswick, St Albans, Hertfordshire, sexually abused the child in Harrow in 1972 and 1978 when he was a Scout Master.
Former scout master Philip Levi, 73, of Vinery Court, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, pleaded guilty to multiple indecency offences involving children. He was jailed for 11 years and three months.
December 8, 2018
A former scout group leader – now living in Cambridgeshire – pleaded guilty to non-recent sexual abuse dating back to the 1970s and 1980s.
Philip Levi, 73, of Vinery Court, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing of 15 counts of indecent assault on a child aged under 16, and two counts of indecency towards a child aged under 16.
On Friday at Harrow Crown Court he was sentenced to a total of 11 years and three months’ imprisonment.
The abuse took place in Harrow between 1972 and 1984 when Levi was a scout master.
Officers from the Met’s Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command began an investigation after a male victim came forward in November 2016 to report being sexually abused by Levi as a child.
During the course of the investigation, further victims were identified who also reported being abused by him. Levi was arrested on December 5, 2017 and later charged.
DC Alyson Suddick, of the Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command, said:” Philip Levi abused his position within the scouting organisation to prey on young boys under his care, subjecting them to systematic sexual abuse at a time in their lives when they should have been carefree and enjoying the many benefits of being a Scout.
“We are grateful to the victims for having the courage to come forward and assist police in this investigation.
“All suffered severe psychological trauma as a result of their experience and I would like to commend each and every one of them for their dignity throughout. I sincerely hope that the outcome of this case and the sentences imposed bring them a measure of comfort.
“Outcomes of this nature prove that men like Levi will not evade justice no matter how much time has passed. We would like to urge any other victims of Levi to come forward with information. All allegations will be treated with sensitivity and in the strictest of confidence.”
The judge commented that parents had put their boys into his trust assuming he would be a role model. Instead he chose to systematically abuse them.
He described Levi as a predatory and persistent offender.
In court to listen to Levi’s guilty plea were some of his victims who shook their heads in disgust as his depravity were described.
Levi had invited boys to his home where he carried out the abuse.
In statements read out to the court, Levi’s victims described feelings of shame and embarrassment. Some have gone on to develop issues with alcohol and found it hard to have loving relationships.
In 1985 the court heard that Levi had admitted indecent assault on a 12-year-old boy and received a fine. Levi had invited the boy back to a caravan where the offence took place.
Justin Bearman., prosecuting, told the court: ‘The offences represent clearly a gross breach of trust.
https://www.huntspost.co.uk/news/scout-master-cambs-harrow-sex-offender-jailed-1-5811704
Levi lived in Guernsey and Sark for 15 years after the offences took place.
In 2005 Levi was stopped at Luton Airport in connection with another offence which was later dropped.
Officers searching his laptop found 484 indecent images of children, including 59 of the worst kind, and he was put on sexual harm prevention order.
https://guernseypress.com/news/2018/12/08/former-local-resident-jailed-in-uk-for-abuse/
LASHAM GLIDING SOCIETY
Lasham Gliding Society is home to the UKs largest Gliding Club. It is the heart of gliding in the UK and for many years it was home to one of the most active paedophiles- Mr Philip Levi.
Mr Philip John Levi, worked for the Civil Aviation Authority.
He ran the Scout Gliding Centre, and owned an aircraft G-FHAS which was a Schiebe Falke motorglider. In this he gave flights to scouts. He was also involved as a Scout Master at THE FOURTH HARROW AIRSCOUTS ( hence registration G-FHAS)
Despite numerous complaints by Scouts and concerns expressed by members within the club the club manager allowed Mr Levi to have one of the old buildings to convert into a bunkroom for the Scouts to sleep in.
Again despite objections that something was going on he was also allowed a mobile home. In this caravan young boys were abused, raped, tied up, and tortured. They were also taken back to his HARROW home – 5 Lourne Court.
Mr Levi had connections with paedophiles in Holland including at AEROCLUB SALLAND near Zwolle. He also took boys to DUNSTABLE to another paedophile called Derek Sears who was the Chief Flying Instructor there.
He was also known to visit Fred and Rose West in Gloucester.
LEVI was convicted of child abuse at LASHAM, but even after this he was allowed to CONTINUE ABUSING BOYS.
He set up AEROCLUB ENSTONE and brought an aircraft registration- G-OACE ( hence Aero Club Enstone). More children were abused at THE ENSTONE EAGLES GLIDING CLUB in a mobile home he had there. He abused boys with another man who was a full time glider and aircraft repairer at SHENNINGTON GLIDING CLUB.
He was also involved with OXFORDSHIRE SPORT FLYING and went on trips to France with them taking young boys with him. Again he was arrested.
He then got involved with THE AIR TRAINING CORPS (space Cadets) which is part of the Royal Air Force. Suspicions were aroused when he started inviting cadets back to his house and he was asked to leave them.
He then went to STAVERTON AIRPORT and was involved with the running of GLOUCESTER AND CHELTENHAM FLYING SCHOOL.
Here yet more boys were abused. Again people at the time complained to the airport and NOTHING WAS DONE.
Mr Levi,, then moved the GUERNSEY, and yet more complaints were made.
He NOW RESIDES NEAR CRANFIELD AIRPORT and is CHAIRMAN of the Cranfield Branch of the ROYAL AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY!!!
Douglas Slade ordered to pay five Filipinos £127,000 over abuse
7 DEC 2018
A paedophile has been ordered to pay £127,000 to five Filipinos in a “landmark” case, after a judge decided he had sexually abused them.
Douglas Slade has not been convicted of those offences and denies wrongdoing.
The men’s lawyer said the “unprecedented” High Court case “provided a sense of vindication for the victims”.
Slade, 77, who moved to the Philippines in 1985, was jailed for 24 years in 2016 for abusing five boys in the UK.
The judge in that case said Slade, who was extradited to the UK the previous year, was “wholly unrepentant” over the offences, committed between 1965 and 1980.
Slade was a founder member of the Paedophile Information Exchange and actively campaigned for sex between children and paedophiles to be legalised in the 1970s and 1980s.
He used to run a helpline for child sex abusers from his parents’ home in Bristol.
Slade lived in the Philippines for 30 years and, despite several investigations, there was no successful prosecution against him there.
It is the first case where foreign victims have successfully claimed compensation against a British abuser, despite a failed attempt to prosecute him abroad, lawyer Alan Collins – representing the five Filipinos – said.
The four young men and one teenage boy at the centre of this case sued Slade for “personal injuries arising out of sexual abuse” and gave evidence from Manila. The youngest was 10 at the time the abuse is alleged to have started.
‘Lying and deception’
They lived in poverty and were allegedly groomed by Slade, who is said to have offered them money and chocolate after buying a house near a school.
The payments the five will receive from Slade range from £20,000 to £35,000.
Mr Collins, of law firm Hugh James, said: “This landmark case is unprecedented for a High Court in London, showing how the legal system in England and Wales delivers justice for victims of sexual abuse whether they live in England or overseas.
“The judgement has finally provided a sense of vindication for the victims after Slade avoided justice for so many years through his lying and deception and I’m sure this case will set a precedent for others in a similar situation to seek justice.”
Judge Mark Gargan published his ruling on Friday after analysing evidence at a recent High Court case in London.
Slade had denied abusing the five, saying their allegations were a fabrication.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-46483227
Catholic Church has a lot to answer for’: Philip Wilson’s conviction overturned
6 Dec 2018
Former Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson’s conviction for failing to report child sex allegations about Hunter priest Jim Fletcher to police has been overturned after a judge rejected substantial elements of the case against the archbishop, and questioned the accuracy of a key witness’ evidence.
Archbishop Wilson remained impassive as Newcastle District Court Judge Roy Ellis quashed the conviction on Thursday.
The archbishop watched the decision via an audio video link from his sister’s Central Coast home after he chose to start a 12-month jail sentence in August, served as six months’ home detention, despite lodging an immediate appeal against his conviction.
Judge Ellis found the Crown had not proven the case against the archbishop beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge told the court Archbishop Wilson could not be convicted of a crime because the “Catholic Church has a lot to answer for in terms of its historical self-protective approach” to children alleging child sexual abuse by priests.
Mr Creigh sobbed in court after the decision was overturned and later hugged a second Fletcher victim who gave evidence against the archbishop.
Pat Feenan, the mother of another of Fletcher’s victims, was also in tears outside the court when she said she did not want to see Philip Wilson reinstated as the bishop of Adelaide.
She said she was not surprised that the archbishop did not appear in court but “he should have”.
“I’m feeling upset. I’m not surprised. I thought it was going to go that way,” Mrs Feenan said.
She became emotional when she told the media Archbishop Wilson’s conviction was overturned on the 14th anniversary of Jim Fletcher’s conviction in 2006 for multiple serious child sex crimes against her son Daniel.
“It’s the anniversary today. Fourteen years today since James Fletcher was found guilty of abusing my son Daniel. That is significant, and here we are still,” she said.
Survivor advocate and Fletcher victim Peter Gogarty said he was really disappointed because “this has been going on for quite some number of years”.
“At a deeper level than that I’m really distressed and very, very sorry for the good people who have taken on the might and the money of the Catholic Church and have just had to sit through a judgment that calls into question the reliability of their memories,” Mr Gogarty said.
Former Celtic Boys Club boss found guilty of sex abuse
5 December 2018
King coached football at a primary school in the north of Glasgow during the 1980s
A former Celtic Boys Club chairman has been convicted of sexually abusing four boys and a girl in the 1980s.
Gerald King, 66, was coaching football at a primary school in the north of Glasgow when he carried out the crimes.
King was convicted of five charges of using lewd and libidinous practises towards the five victims between August 1984 and April 1989.
The case comes just weeks after Celtic Boys Club founder Jim Torbett was jailed for abusing three boys.
After his trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court, King was told by sheriff Johanna Johnston QC: “You have been convicted of serious sexual offences against pupils when you were in a position of trust as a teacher and football coach.”
One victim, now a 43-year-old man, told how King exposed himself to him when he was getting changed before a football game.
He told prosecutor Adele Macdonald: “I was really embarrassed and uncomfortable”.
He told the jury: “I felt as though it was something I couldn’t escape from. ”
Indecent pictures
He was also found guilty of taking indecent pictures of children in February 1987.
King’s victims were between nine and 13 years old at the time.
In evidence he admitted taking two pictures, one of four boys in a shower with no clothes on which was later printed in the school magazine with ‘censored’ over their private parts.
He also said he took a second picture of one of the boys with no clothes on, but claimed both were entirely innocent.
King had denied the charges.
Another victim, now 41, described King stripping off in front of him before a football game.
Miss Macdonald asked: “How did you feel when you were standing there and he was in front of you in the same room naked?”
He answered: “Embarrassed.”
Deferred sentence
Sheriff Johnston deferred sentence until next year and continued King’s bail.
Defence counsel Gavin Anderson will give defence mitigation then.
King had worked at Torbett’s company, the Trophy Centre, but previously denied being close to him.
During his trial, Torbett named King as one of the coaches at the boys club.
Torbett was first put behind bars for two years in 1998 for abusing three former players.
Torbett was said to have been sacked from the club in 1974 when allegations surfaced against him, but was later welcomed back in 1980 until 1996.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-46460307
Essex Police probe uncovers link between Shoebury ‘sex ring’ and paedophile gang behind Jason Swift killing
4 December 2018
POLICE have uncovered a link between the ’Shoebury Sex Ring’ and the paedophile gang which killed schoolboy Jason Swift in the 1980s.
A witness alerted police to the link without even realising it.
Last month, sex crime officers in Rayleigh concluded months of interviews with the man, who was contacted last year after police found his name on a 1990 list of boys linked to the Shoebury ring.
The man’s allegations are corroborated on many key details by a stack of paperwork from a 1989/90 investigation into the ring, the contents of which have never been placed in the public domain.
During his interviews, the man told officers that one of the Shoebury ringleaders often referred to a mystery man called ’Lennie Smith’.
Unbeknownst to the witness, Smith was one of the paedophile gang known as the Dirty Dozen, whose members raped and killed three children – Jason Swift, Mark Tildesley and Barry Lewis.
Smith was linked to all three killings but never prosecuted because in each case all the witnesses against him were fellow paedophiles, deemed unreliable by the CPS.
But he was convicted of other serious child sex offences. He died in prison in 2006.
The new Shoebury witness mentioned Smith’s name to police repeatedly, including in a videotaped interview in November – but had no idea who he was.
He told officers how Brian Tanner – who was convicted in 1990 of running the Shoebury ring – would threaten boys if they argued or tried to escape, saying words to the effect of, “If you keep this up, I’ll take you to Lennie Smith.”
But the boys were baffled by the threats, as none of them had ever met Smith or knew why they were supposed to be frightened of him.
By the time of Smith’s late 1980s tabloid infamy, the new Shoebury witness was already an adult. He told police his abuse began in the late 1970s, continuing into the mid-1980s.
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Lennie Smith lived in Westcliff, not far from Brian Tanner, who died in 2006.
Smith worked in a Southend amusement arcade, which he used to entice and abuse children, then sell them as rent boys. He was convicted for gross indecency. Then, in the early 1980s he moved to Birmingham, then Hackney’s Kingsmead estate.
It was at his Kingsmead flat that he was first questioned over Jason Swift. After police visited, he attempted suicide and then fled – to Southend.
Retired detective David Bright, who worked the Jason Swift case, said police had known Smith had links to Southend, as did his pal Sidney Cooke, a fairground worker convicted over Jason’s death.
After running away from home and falling into the clutches of the gang, Jason, 14, even sent his mother a postcard from Southend, saying he was working there at the fair.
Mr Bright said: “Cooke used to work in fairgrounds so he went all over the coast and used to visit Southend seaside fairground and Chalkwell. He used to buy his sweets and candyfloss-making stuff down here. It wasn’t just him in Southend. You would have the others like Lennie Smith, Robert Oliver. Wherever there was a likelihood of getting their prey, they would go.”
http://www.stratford-today.co.uk/article.cfm?id=137127
Epstein pedophile scandal: Prince Andrew at risk once more as new court case begins
Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein reaches last-minute settlement ahead of jury selection for civil trial, avoiding testimony from his sex assault victims
- Jeffrey Epstein ‘surrendered’ and agreed to an undisclosed financial settlement with attorney Bradley Edwards on Tuesday
- Edwards sued the financier for ‘malicious prosecution’ after Epstein claimed the lawyer’s previous case involving three victims financed a Ponzi scheme
- In a statement read by his lawyer in court, Epstein apologized and admitted to making ‘totally false allegations’
- The settlement means none of the women will be able to testify against Epstein, who is accused of pimping out 80 underage girls to his friends from 1995 – 2005
- Edwards is also suing the US government in a second case on behalf of the three victims seeking to invalidate Epstein’s non-prosecution agreement
- In 2008 he struck a plea deal where he pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution
- He served 13 months of his 18-month sentence at a local Palm beach jail
Billionaire convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein reached a last-minute settlement on Tuesday just as jury selection was expected to begin for his trial in Palm Beach, Florida.
The 65-year-old hedge fund manager ‘surrendered’ and agreed to an undisclosed financial settlement with attorney Bradley Edwards, who represents several of Epstein’s alleged victims.
Edwards had sued the financier alleging malicious prosecution and defamation after the billionaire filed a lawsuit attacking Edwards and his methods.
Epstein admitted today to making ‘totally false allegations.’
The settlement also means none of the women will be able to testify against Epstein, who is accused of pimping out 80 underage girls to his friends from 1995 – 2005.
Edwards’ lawyer Jack Scarola told the court the climbdown was ‘not a compromise but a surrender’ by the ‘serial sex offender.’
‘For the sake of Epstein’s victims, Bradley Edwards would not and did not compromise his claims. He did not settle for anything less than a complete surrender by Jeffrey Epstein,’ Scarola said.
‘While the financial terms of the settlement are required to remain confidential, there are important components that are not confidential.’
He revealed Edwards remains committed to continue with his challenge to Epstein’s sweetheart ‘non prosecution agreement’ that allowed him to escape a possible life sentence and serve just 13 months in a Florida state facility.
He added: ‘That will be followed through to conclusion….to set aside the non-prosecution agreement for Jeffrey Epstein and his named and unnamed co-defendants fully responsible for the crime that they have committed.’
Epstein was not in court on Tuesday but his attorney Scott Link read out his apology in which he admitted to lying.
‘While Mr Edwards was representing clients against me, I filed a lawsuit against him in which I made allegations about him that the evidence conclusively proves were absolutely false,’ he said.
The truth was that his aggressive investigation and litigation style was highly effective and therefore troublesome to me.
‘The lawsuit I filed was my unreasonable attempt to damage his business reputation and cause Mr Edwards to stop pursuing cases against me. It did not work.
‘Despite my efforts, he continued to do an excellent job for his clients and through his relentless pursuit, held me responsible. I am now admitting that I was wrong and that the things I said to try to harm Mr Edwards’ reputation as a trial lawyer were false..
‘I sincerely apologize for the false and hurtful allegations I made and hope for some forgiveness or my acknowledgement of wrongdoing.’
More than 60 girls have claimed they were turned into sex slaves by Epstein when they were teenagers and Edwards previously won $5.5million for some victims.
In this case, which has dragged on since 2009, Edwards was suing the financier for ‘malicious prosecution’ as the result of a long-running battle between the two men.
Epstein had tried to sue the lawyer claiming the civil cases involving three victims financed an unlawful Ponzi scheme run by Scott Rothstein, a partner at Edwards’ former law firm.
Rothstein was convicted of financial fraud and got 50 years, but denied Edwards had been involved in the scheme.
Epstein then dropped his case, but Edwards then sued over his reputation.
As many as 60 other girls have come forward to claim they were recruited by Epstein into having sex with his coterie of friends and acquaintances while they were aged between 14 and 17. Many were from disadvantaged homes or had troubled childhoods.
Despite what began as a full-blown FBI investigation into Epstein’s alleged prostitution ring of young girls, he was eventually offered a ‘sweetheart’ deal in 2007 instead of facing a possible life sentence.
Victims were outraged at the court’s treatment of the billionaire, who counted Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, and Prince Andrew among his rich and powerful friends.
He pleaded guilty to two prostitution charges in a Florida state court following an agreement that effectively kicked out a 53-page federal indictment.
The hedge-fund tycoon was sentenced to 18 months and served just 13 in Palm Beach County stockade, not a state prison. He was reportedly allowed out for up to 12 hours a day to visit his office and meet clients.
The ‘non prosecution’ deal with the state also meant he, his named co-conspirators and his unnamed co-conspirators were given immunity from federal prosecution.
The deal was also sealed from the public and the victims, meaning no one would ever learn the entirety of Epstein’s crimes.
It was revealed last week that the deal was brokered by President Trump’s Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta when he was US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.
In the second case mentioned by Scarola today, his client Edwards is suing the US government on behalf of three victims in the sex investigation
He alleges it violated the Crime Victims’ Right Act, which states victims should be kept informed of possible hearings and ‘reasonably heard’ over pleas and sentencing.
Edwards wrote in a court filing that if the victims knew about the non-prosecution agreement ‘they would have taken steps to object’, according to the New York Times.
Epstein could be stripped of his criminal prosecution immunity if the case succeeds, possibly leading to a federal trial for the sex crimes.
Scarola had said earlier this week that the purpose of the second case is to ‘invalidate Epstein’s non-prosecution agreement.’
‘If the case is successful and with the agreement canceled, Epstein’s immunity from federal criminal prosecution will be revoked,’ he said.
‘That means he, plus his named co-conspirators and his unnamed co-conspirators will face the possibility of federal prosecution.
‘In a subsequent criminal trial it is very likely that many of the victims will be called to give evidence and heard their stories heard.’
Accuser of ‘VIP paedophile ring’ named
3 Dec 2018
A man who claimed he was the victim of an alleged VIP paedophile ring can now be named as Carl Beech.
A judge at Newcastle Crown Court has lifted an order barring publication of his name.
He had previously been known by the pseudonym Nick.
Mr Beech, who is 50, has been charged with 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of fraud. He is due to stand trial next May.
He made allegations against the ex-chief of the defence staff, Lord Bramall, and politicians Sir Edward Heath, Lord Brittan and Harvey Proctor.
His claims led to a £2.5m inquiry by Scotland Yard – Operation Midland.
No action resulted from his allegations and the inquiry was closed.
Mr Beech was charged after Northumbria Police passed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service in September 2017.
He appeared at court via video link. He will stand trial on 7 May next year. No pleas have been entered.
Mr Beech, a 50-year-old former NHS manager and father of one, had been shrouded in secrecy since he first came forward four years ago claiming he had been sexually abused by a group of high profile figures and leading politicians when he was a child in the 1970s and 1980s.
Mr Beech is a former governor of two schools. Born in Wrexham, his mother is a retired Church of England vicar.
After leaving school he qualified as a nurse before moving into NHS management, becoming the head of patient advice, liaison services and complaints at a large trust. He is also a fellow of the Institute of Health Management.
He married a fellow nurse in 1992 and they have one son, but the marriage broke down a number of years ago.
In 2014 Scotland Yard launched a major criminal investigation, Operation Midland, after Mr Beech came forward and told detectives he had been the victim of historic abuse.
It is alleged he falsely told police he been raped and abused for nine years by a VIP gang which included the Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath, the former Home Secretary Leon Brittan, the former head of the army, Lord Bramall, the former Tory MP, Harvey Proctor and former Labour MP Greville Janner.
As well as alleging child rape, Mr Beech told police officers at least three youngsters had been murdered at the hands of the VIP paedophile ring. But Scotland Yard’s £2.5 million inquiry was closed in 2016 without any arrests being made.
A review by a retired High Court judge into the Scotland Yard investigation highlighted more than 40 mistakes by the force.
In September 2017, Northumbria Police, which had spent ten months investigating the case, passed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service which in turn charged Mr Beech with 12 counts of perverting the course of justice.
He was also charged with fraud in relation to an allegation that he profited from his allegations by making a claim to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). Mr Beech is accused of fraudulently receiving £22,000 in compensation for abuse which never took place.
Mr Beech appeared at Newcastle Crown Court accused of 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of fraud. He spoke only once to answer “I am” when asked whether he was Carl Beech.
The case has now been listed for a six to eight week trial to begin at Newcastle on May 7th next year.
The Recorder of Newcastle, Judge Paul Sloan QC, lifted an order that had previously been in place banning the identity of Mr Beech. At a previous pre-trial hearing before Judge Paul Sloan, his barrister Raymond Tully said: “We anticipate the matter will be fully contested.”
His case will be back before the court on February 11th next year for one of a number of further pre-trial hearings scheduled before May.
Nick correctly described the interior of a military premises in southern England, where he claimed abuse had taken place. The details he provided were not publicly available, and the premises itself is not open to the public, making it likely he had at some stage been there, police concluded.
@ciabaudo
Bramall, Proctor, Emmerson, Hemming … Funny how Establishment figures are ‘cleared’ without ever having stood trial, denying their accusers their day in court.
@ciabaudo
‘still happily accepted at the Army and Navy Club …’ So who were famous members of A&Navy Club? Peter Hayman Lord Robertson of Dunblane Lord Bramall Hayman was also in Traveller’s Club with Lord Bramall, Henniker and Anthony Blunt.
The allegations that Nick has made that readers will be more familiar with have been against powerful establishment figures. A former Prime Minister, a former Home Secretary, a former Head of MI5, a former Head of MI6, a former High Commissioner in Canada, a former Chief of the Defence Staff, a former Master-General of the Ordnance, and Harvey Proctor a former MP – among others.
I’ve been informed that despite Harvey Proctor having mentioned Leslie Goddard in his own statement, the Op Midland witness Nick has never made an allegation that Leslie Goddard abused him. This information comes from a reliable source and I accept it as true
Yet another man that Nick has made allegations against is Jimmy Savile.
This five minute extract from a documentary called Crimes That Shook Britain: Jimmy Savile which was first broadcast on the Sky Crime and Investigation Channel on 17th August 2014, contains an interview with Nick about his abuse by Jimmy Savile. The full programme can be viewed HERE.
Nick’s allegations against Savile are very unusual. I’m not aware of any other genuine allegation against him which suggests that he was a sadist or that he ever abused within a group.
I should explain that in this documentary ‘Nick’ is referred to as ‘Stephen’
Stephen was only seven years old when he began to be abused at home.
Epstein pedophile scandal: Prince Andrew at risk once more as new court case begins
3 Dec, 2018
Victims of the American billionaire sex offender, Epstein, are to tell a Florida courtroom their stories of sexual abuse, Tuesday.
One witness, who may be called to the stand at Palm Beach County Court, is Virginia Roberts who claims that was she was both forced to have sex with Epstein and that she was “loaned out” to perform sex acts on his friends.
Roberts alleges that those friends include Prince Andrew, Duke of York, a claim the Royal has consistently denied.
The photograph shows the Prince with his arm around Roberts’ waist. It was taken at a London residence in March 2001, at which time Roberts would have been 17.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson stated: “It is emphatically denied The Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts.”
The civil trial against Epstein was preceded by an explosive report in the Miami Herald that alleges that the billionaire’s powerful lawyers managed to pressure prosecutors, stopping him from receiving a significant jail time.
Epstein was jailed for 13 months in 2008 for soliciting girls for underage prostitution.
Then serving as the US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Alexander Acosta, negotiated a plea agreement for Epstein, sealing a 53-page FBI indictment against him and avoiding any federal criminal charges being brought against him.
Acosta is now Trump’s Secretary of Labor.
Prince Andrew was photographed with the convicted sex offender, Epstein, following his release, leading to the Royal losing his role as a UK trade envoy.
The Epstein scandal has reached into the heart of the American establishment. Politicians from both parties, alongside men from the Hollywood and business elite, are listed on the flight logs of Epstein’s private jet, dubbed the ‘Lolita Express.’
The plane would take regular journeys to Epstein’s private Caribbean island, on the flight log included illustrious names, including ex-US President Bill Clinton and disgraced actor Kevin Spacey.
https://www.rt.com/uk/445451-jeffrey-epstein-prince-andrew
Kevin Spacey with Bono and Trudeau
Kavre Court to decide soon on Peter Dalglish’s case
December 2, 2018
A government lawyer has informed Kathmandu Tribune that the alleged pedophile Peter Dalglish’s case will soon come to an end.
The lawyer didn’t say when the final verdict will happen but he said it won’t take a long time now.
Mr. Dalglish faces imprisonment for pedophilia.
https://kathmandutribune.com/kavre-court-to-decide-soon-on-peter-dalglishs-case/
He was over 50.
They were little girls.
Their stories were almost identical.
The evidence was substantial.
………………………
Adam Klasfeld Verified account @KlasfeldReports
As you read this bombshell Miami Herald investigation – and read every word – keep in mind that Trump’s labor secretary Alexander Acosta, accused here of covering up Trump’s former pal Epstein’s crimes, runs an agency that monitors human trafficking.
Miami Herald Verified account @MiamiHerald
The evidence police collected to support the victims’ stories was impressive. “We had victims who didn’t know each other, never met each other and they all basically told the same story.”
Epstein could have spent life in prison, but he only served a little more than a year in jail. Why? A secret deal was struck — an extraordinary plea arrangement — with help from future Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta.
How a future Trump Cabinet member gave a serial sex abuser the deal of a lifetime
On a muggy October morning in 2007, Miami’s top federal prosecutor, Alexander Acosta, had a breakfast appointment with a former colleague, Washington, D.C., attorney Jay Lefkowitz.
It was an unusual meeting for the then-38-year-old prosecutor, a rising Republican star who had served in several White House posts before being named U.S. attorney in Miami by President George W. Bush.
Instead of meeting at the prosecutor’s Miami headquarters, the two men — both with professional roots in the prestigious Washington law firm of Kirkland & Ellis — convened at the Marriott in West Palm Beach, about 70 miles away. For Lefkowitz, 44, a U.S. special envoy to North Korea and corporate lawyer, the meeting was critical.
His client, Palm Beach multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein, 54, was accused of assembling a large, cult-like network of underage girls — with the help of young female recruiters — to coerce into having sex acts behind the walls of his opulent waterfront mansion as often as three times a day, the Town of Palm Beach police found.
The eccentric hedge fund manager, whose friends included former President Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Prince Andrew, was also suspected of trafficking minor girls, often from overseas, for sex parties at his other homes in Manhattan, New Mexico and the Caribbean, FBI and court records show.
Facing a 53-page federal indictment, Epstein could have ended up in federal prison for the rest of his life.But on the morning of the breakfast meeting, a deal was struck — an extraordinary plea agreement that would conceal the full extent of Epstein’s crimes and the number of people involved.
Not only would Epstein serve just 13 months in the county jail, but the deal — called a non-prosecution agreement— essentially shut down an ongoing FBI probe into whether there were more victims and other powerful people who took part in Epstein’s sex crimes, according to a Miami Herald examination of thousands of emails, court documents and FBI records.
The pact required Epstein to plead guilty to two prostitution charges in state court. Epstein and four of his accomplices named in the agreement received immunity from all federal criminal charges. But even more unusual, the deal included wording that granted immunity to “any potential co-conspirators’’ who were also involved in Epstein’s crimes. These accomplices or participants were not identified in the agreement, leaving it open to interpretation whether it possibly referred to other influential people who were having sex with underage girls at Epstein’s various homes or on his plane.
As part of the arrangement, Acosta agreed, despite a federal law to the contrary, that the deal would be kept from the victims. As a result, the non-prosecution agreement was sealed until after it was approved by the judge, thereby averting any chance that the girls — or anyone else — might show up in court and try to derail it.
This is the story of how Epstein, bolstered by unlimited funds and represented by a powerhouse legal team, was able to manipulate the criminal justice system, and how his accusers, still traumatized by their pasts, believe they were betrayed by the very prosecutors who pledged to protect them.
“I don’t think anyone has been told the truth about what Jeffrey Epstein did,’’ said one of Epstein’s victims, Michelle Licata, now 30. “He ruined my life and a lot of girls’ lives. People need to know what he did and why he wasn’t prosecuted so it never happens again.”
Now President Trump’s secretary of labor, Acosta, 49, oversees a massive federal agency that provides oversight of the country’s labor laws, including human trafficking. He also has been on a list of possible replacements for former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who resigned under pressure earlier this month.
Acosta did not respond to numerous requests for an interview or answer queries through email.
But court records reveal details of the negotiations and the role that Acosta would play in arranging the deal, which scuttled the federal probe into a possible international sex trafficking operation. Among other things, Acosta allowed Epstein’s lawyers unusual freedoms in dictating the terms of the non-prosecution agreement.
“The damage that happened in this case is unconscionable,” said Bradley Edwards, a former state prosecutor who represents some of Epstein’s victims. “How in the world, do you, the U.S. attorney, engage in a negotiation with a criminal defendant, basically allowing that criminal defendant to write up the agreement?”
As a result, neither the victims — nor even the judge — would know how many girls Epstein allegedly sexually abused between 2001 and 2005, when his underage sex activities were first uncovered by police. Police referred the case to the FBI a year later, when they began to suspect that their investigation was being undermined by the Palm Beach State Attorney’s Office.
Not a ‘he said, she said’
“This was not a ‘he said, she said’ situation. This was 50-something ‘shes’ and one ‘he’ — and the ‘shes’ all basically told the same story,’’ said retired Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter, who supervised the police probe.
More than a decade later, at a time when Olympic gymnasts and Hollywood actresses have become a catalyst for a cultural reckoning about sexual abuse, Epstein’s victims have all but been forgotten.
The women — now in their late 20s and early 30s — are still fighting for an elusive justice that even the passage of time has not made right.
Like other victims of sexual abuse, they believe they’ve been silenced by a criminal justice system that stubbornly fails to hold Epstein and other wealthy and powerful men accountable.
“Jeffrey preyed on girls who were in a bad way, girls who were basically homeless. He went after girls who he thought no one would listen to and he was right,’’ said Courtney Wild, who was 14 when she met Epstein.
Over the past year, the Miami Herald examined a decade’s worth of court documents, lawsuits, witness depositions and newly released FBI documents. Key people involved in the investigation — most of whom have never spoken before — were also interviewed. The Herald also obtained new records, including the full unredacted copy of the Palm Beach police investigation and witness statements that had been kept under seal.
The Herald learned that, as part of the plea deal, Epstein provided what the government called “valuable consideration” for unspecified information he supplied to federal investigators. While the documents obtained by the Herald don’t detail what the information was, Epstein’s sex crime case happened just as the country’s subprime mortgage market collapsed, ushering in the 2008 global financial crisis.
Records show that Epstein was a key federal witness in the criminal prosecution of two prominent executives with Bear Stearns, the global investment brokerage that failed in 2008, who were accused of corporate securities fraud. Epstein was one of the largest investors in the hedge fund managed by the executives, who were later acquitted. It is not known what role, if any, the case played in Epstein’s plea negotiations.
The Herald also identified about 80 women who say they were molested or otherwise sexually abused by Epstein from 2001 to 2006. About 60 of them were located — now scattered around the country and abroad. Eight of them agreed to be interviewed, on or off the record. Four of them were willing to speak on video.
The women are now mothers, wives, nurses, bartenders, Realtors, hairdressers and teachers. One is a Hollywood actress. Several have grappled with trauma, depression and addiction. Some have served time in prison.
A few did not survive. One young woman was found dead last year in a rundown motel in West Palm Beach. She overdosed on heroin and left behind a young son.
As part of Epstein’s agreement, he was required to register as a sex offender, and pay restitution to the three dozen victims identified by the FBI. In many cases, the confidential financial settlements came only after Epstein’s attorneys exposed every dark corner of their lives in a scorched-earth effort to portray the girls as gold diggers.
“You beat yourself up mentally and physically,’’ said Jena-Lisa Jones, 30, who said Epstein molested her when she was 14. “You can’t ever stop your thoughts. A word can trigger something. For me, it is the word ‘pure’ because he called me ‘pure’ in that room and then I remember what he did to me in that room.’’
Now, more than a decade later, two unrelated civil lawsuits — one set for trial on Dec. 4 — could reveal more about Epstein’s crimes. The Dec. 4 case, in Palm Beach County state court, involves Epstein and Edwards, whom Epstein had accused of legal misdeeds in representing several victims. The case is noteworthy because it will mark the first time that Epstein’s victims will have their day in court, and several of them are scheduled to testify.
A second lawsuit, known as the federal Crime Victims’ Rights suit, is still pending in South Florida after a decade of legal jousting. It seeks to invalidate the non-prosecution agreement in hopes of sending Epstein to federal prison. Wild, who has never spoken publicly until now, is Jane Doe No. 1 in “Jane Doe No. 1 and Jane Doe No. 2 vs. the United States of America,” a federal lawsuit that alleges Epstein’s federal non-prosecution agreement was illegal.
Federal prosecutors, including Acosta, not only broke the law, the women contend in court documents, but they conspired with Epstein and his lawyers to circumvent public scrutiny and deceive his victims in violation of the Crime Victims’ Rights Act. The law assigns victims a series of rights, including the right of notice of any court proceedings and the opportunity to appear at sentencing.
“As soon as that deal was signed, they silenced my voice and the voices of all of Jeffrey Epstein’s other victims,’’ said Wild, now 31. “This case is about justice, not just for us, but for other victims who aren’t Olympic stars or Hollywood stars.’’
In court papers, federal prosecutors have argued that they did not violate the Crime Victims’ Rights Act because no federal charges were ever filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, an argument that was later dismissed by the judge.
Despite substantial physical evidence and multiple witnesses backing up the girls’ stories, the secret deal allowed Epstein to enter guilty pleas to two felony prostitution charges. Epstein admitted to committing only one offense against one underage girl, who was labeled a prostitute, even though she was 14, which is well under the age of consent — 18 in Florida.
“She was taken advantage of twice — first by Epstein, and then by the criminal justice system that labeled a 14-year-old girl as a prostitute,’’ said Spencer Kuvin, the lawyer who represented the girl.
“It’s just outrageous how they minimized his crimes and devalued his victims by calling them prostitutes,’’ said Yasmin Vafa, a human rights attorney and executive director of Rights4Girls, which is working to end the sexual exploitation of girls and young women.
“There is no such thing as a child prostitute. Under federal law, it’s called child sex trafficking — whether Epstein pimped them out to others or not. It’s still a commercial sex act — and he could have been jailed for the rest of his life under federal law,” she said.
It would be easy to dismiss the Epstein case as another example of how there are two systems of justice in America, one for the rich and one for the poor. But a thorough analysis of the case tells a far more troubling story.
A close look at the trove of letters and emails contained in court records provides a window into the plea negotiations, revealing an unusual level of collaboration between federal prosecutors and Epstein’s legal team that even government lawyers, in recent court documents, admitted was unorthodox.
Acosta, in 2011, would explain that he was unduly pressured by Epstein’s heavy-hitting lawyers — Lefkowitz, Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz, Jack Goldberger, Roy Black, former U.S. Attorney Guy Lewis, Gerald Lefcourt, and Kenneth Starr, the former Whitewater special prosecutor who investigated Bill Clinton’s sexual liaisons with Monica Lewinsky.
‘Avoid the press’ plan
That included keeping the deal from Epstein’s victims, emails show.
“Thank you for the commitment you made to me during our Oct. 12 meeting,’’ Lefkowitz wrote in a letter to Acosta after their breakfast meeting in West Palm Beach. He added that he was hopeful that Acosta would abide by a promise to keep the deal confidential.
“You … assured me that your office would not … contact any of the identified individuals, potential witnesses or potential civil claimants and the respective counsel in this matter,’’ Lefkowitz wrote.
In email after email, Acosta and the lead federal prosecutor, A. Marie Villafaña, acquiesced to Epstein’s legal team’s demands, which often focused on ways to limit the scandal by shutting out his victims and the media, including suggesting that the charges be filed in Miami, instead of Palm Beach, where Epstein’s victims lived.
“On an ‘avoid the press’ note … I can file the charge in district court in Miami which will hopefully cut the press coverage significantly. Do you want to check that out?’’ Villafaña wrote to Lefkowitz in a September 2007 email.
Federal prosecutors identified 36 underage victims, but none of those victims appeared at his sentencing on June 30, 2008, in state court in Palm Beach County. Most of them heard about it on the news — and even then they didn’t understand what had happened to the federal probe that they’d been assured was ongoing.
Edwards filed an emergency motion in federal court to block the non-prosecution agreement, but by the time the agreement was unsealed — over a year later — Epstein had already served his sentence and been released from jail.
“The conspiracy between the government and Epstein was really ‘let’s figure out a way to make the whole thing go away as quietly as possible,’ ’’ said Edwards, who represents Wild and Jane Doe No. 2, who declined to comment for this story.
“In never consulting with the victims, and keeping it secret, it showed that someone with money can buy his way out of anything.’’
It was far from the last time Epstein would receive VIP handling. Unlike other convicted sex offenders, Epstein didn’t face the kind of rough justice that child sex offenders do in Florida state prisons. Instead of being sent to state prison, Epstein was housed in a private wing of the Palm Beach County jail. And rather than having him sit in a cell most of the day, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office allowed Epstein work release privileges, which enabled him to leave the jail six days a week, for 12 hours a day, to go to a comfortable office that Epstein had set up in West Palm Beach. This was granted despite explicit sheriff’s department rules stating that sex offenders don’t qualify for work release.
The sheriff, Ric Bradshaw, would not answer questions, submitted by the Miami Herald, about Epstein’s work release.
Neither Epstein nor his lead attorney, Jack Goldberger, responded to multiple requests for comment for this story. During depositions taken as part of two dozen lawsuits filed against him by his victims, Epstein has invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, in one instance doing so more than 200 times.
In the past, his lawyers have said that the girls lied about their ages, that their stories were exaggerated or untrue and that they were unreliable witnesses prone to drug use.
In 2011, Epstein petitioned to have his sex offender status reduced in New York, where he has a home and is required to register every 90 days. In New York, he is classified as a level 3 offender — the highest safety risk because of his likelihood to re-offend.
A prosecutor under New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance argued on Epstein’s behalf, telling New York Supreme Court Judge Ruth Pickholtz that the Florida case never led to an indictment and that his underage victims failed to cooperate in the case. Pickholtz, however, denied the petition, expressing astonishment that a New York prosecutor would make such a request on behalf of a serial sex offender accused of molesting so many girls.
“I have to tell you, I’m a little overwhelmed because I have never seen a prosecutor’s office do anything like this. I have done so many [sex offender registration hearings] much less troubling than this one where the [prosecutor] would never make a downward argument like this,’’ she said.
The house on El Brillo
The women who went to Jeffrey Epstein’s mansion as girls tend to divide their lives into two parts: life before Jeffrey and life after Jeffrey.
Before she met Epstein, Courtney Wild was captain of the cheerleading squad, first trumpet in the band and an A-student at Lake Worth Middle School.
After she met Epstein, she was a stripper, a drug addict and an inmate at Gadsden Correctional Institution in Florida’s Panhandle.
Wild still had braces on her teeth when she was introduced to him in 2002 at the age of 14.
She was fair, petite and slender, blonde and blue-eyed. Wild, who later helped recruit other girls, said Epstein preferred girls who were white, appeared prepubescent and those who were easy to manipulate into going further each time.
“By the time I was 16, I had probably brought him 70 to 80 girls who were all 14 and 15 years old. He was involved in my life for years,” said Wild, who was released from prison in October after serving three years on drug charges.
The girls — mostly 13 to 16 — were lured to his pink waterfront mansion by Wild and other girls, who went to malls, house parties and other places where girls congregated, and told recruits that they could earn $200 to $300 to give a man — Epstein — a massage, according to an unredacted copy of the Palm Beach police investigation obtained by the Herald.
The lead Palm Beach police detective on the case, Joseph Recarey, said Epstein’s operation worked like a sexual pyramid scheme.
“The common interview with a girl went like this: ‘I was brought there by so and so. I didn’t feel comfortable with what happened, but I got paid well, so I was told if I didn’t feel comfortable, I could bring someone else and still get paid,’ ’’ Recarey said.
During the massage sessions, Recarey said Epstein would molest the girls, paying them premiums for engaging in oral sex and intercourse, and offering them a further bounty to find him more girls.
Recarey, in his first interview about the case, said the evidence the department collected to support the girls’ stories was overwhelming, including phone call records, copies of written phone messages from the girls found in Epstein’s trash and Epstein’s flight logs, which showed his private plane in Palm Beach on the days the girls were scheduled to give him massages.
Epstein could be a generous benefactor, Recarey said, buying his favored girls gifts. He might rent a car for a young girl to make it more convenient for her to stop by and cater to him. Once, he sent a bucket of roses to the local high school after one of his girls starred in a stage production. The floral-delivery instructions and a report card for one of the girls were discovered in a search of his mansion and trash. Police also obtained receipts for the rental cars and gifts, Recarey said.
Epstein counseled the girls about their schooling, and told them he would help them get into college, modeling school, fashion design or acting. At least two of Epstein’s victims told police that they were in love with him, according to the police report.
The police report shows how uncannily consistent the girls’ stories were — right down to their detailed descriptions of Epstein’s genitalia.
“We had victims who didn’t know each other, never met each other and they all basically independently told the same story,’’ said Reiter, the retired Palm Beach police chief.
Reiter, also speaking for the first time, said detectives were astonished by the sheer volume of young girls coming and going from his house, the frequency — sometimes several in the same day — and the young ages of the girls.
“It started out to give a man a back rub, but in many cases it turned into something far worse than that, elevated to a serious crime, in some cases sexual batteries,’’ he said.
Most of the girls said they arrived by car or taxi, and entered the side door, where they were led into a kitchen by a female staff assistant named Sarah Kellen, the report said. A chef might prepare them a meal or offer them cereal. The girls — most from local schools — would then ascend a staircase off the kitchen, up to a large master bedroom and bath.
They were met by Epstein, clad in a towel. He would select a lotion from an array lined up on a table, then lie facedown on a massage table, instruct the girl to strip partially or fully, and direct them to massage his feet and backside. Then he would turn over and have them massage his chest, often instructing them to pinch his nipples, while he masturbated, according to the police report.
At times, if emboldened, he would try to penetrate them with his fingers or use a vibrator on them. He would go as far as the girls were willing to let him, including intercourse, according to police documents. Sometimes he would instruct a young woman he described as his Yugoslavian sex slave, Nadia Marcinkova, who was over 18, to join in, the girls told Recarey. Epstein often took photographs of the girls having sex and displayed them around the house, the detective said.
Once sexually gratified, Epstein would take a shower in his massive bathroom, which the girls described as having a large shower and a hot pink and mint green sofa.
Kellen (now Vickers) and Marcinkova, through their attorneys, declined to comment for this story.
Never enough
One girl told police that she was approached by an Epstein recruiter when she was 16, and was working at the Wellington mall. Over the course of more than a year, she went to Epstein’s house hundreds of times, she said. The girl tearfully told Recarey that she often had sex with Marcinkova — who employed strap-on dildos and other toys — while Epstein watched and choreographed her moves to please himself, according to the police report. Often times, she said, she was so sore after the encounters that she could barely walk, the police report said.
But she said she was firm about not wanting to have intercourse with Epstein. One day, however, the girl said that Epstein, unable to control himself, held her down on a massage table and penetrated her, the police report said. The girl, who was 16 or 17 at the time, said that Epstein apologized and paid her $1,000, the police report said.
Most of the girls came from disadvantaged families, single-parent homes or foster care. Some had experienced troubles that belied their ages: They had parents and friends who committed suicide; mothers abused by husbands and boyfriends; fathers who molested and beat them. One girl had watched her stepfather strangle her 8-year-old stepbrother, according to court records obtained by the Herald.
Many of the girls were one step away from homelessness.
“We were stupid, poor children,’’ said one woman, who did not want to be named because she never told anyone about Epstein. At the time, she recalled that she was 14 and a high school freshman.
“We just wanted money for school clothes, for shoes. I remember wearing shoes too tight for three years in a row. We had no family and no guidance, and we were told that we were going to just have to sit in a room topless and he was going to just look at us. It sounded so simple, and was going to be easy money for just sitting there.”
The woman, who went to Epstein’s home multiple times, said Epstein didn’t like her because her breasts were too big. The last time she went, she said, one girl came out crying and they were instructed to leave the house and had to pay for their own cab home.
Some girls told police they were coached by their peer recruiters to lie to Epstein about their ages and say they were 18. Epstein’s legal team would later claim that even if the girls were under 18, there was no way he could have known. However, under Florida law, ignorance of a sex partner’s age is not a defense for having sex with a minor.
Wild, who worked for Epstein until she was 21, said he was well aware of their tender ages — because he demanded they be young.
“He told me he wanted them as young as I could find them,’’ she said, explaining that as she grew older and had less access to young girls, Epstein got increasingly angry with her inability to find him the young girls he desired.
“If I had a girl to bring him at breakfast, lunch and dinner, then that’s how many times I would go a day. He wanted as many girls as I could get him. It was never enough.’’
The pyramid crumbles
Epstein’s scheme first began to unravel in March 2005, when the parents of a 14-year-old girl told Palm Beach police that she had been molested by Epstein at his mansion. The girl reluctantly confessed that she had been brought there by two other girls, and those girls pointed to two more girls who had been there.
By the time detectives tracked down one victim, there were two and three more to find. Soon there were dozens.
“We didn’t know where the victims would ever end,” Reiter said.
Eventually, the girls told them about still other girls and young women they had seen at Epstein’s house, many of whom didn’t speak English, Recarey said. That led Recarey to suspect that Epstein’s exploits weren’t just confined to Palm Beach. Police obtained the flight logs for his private plane, and found female names and initials among the list of people who flew on the aircraft — including the names of some famous and powerful people who had also been passengers, Recarey said.
A newly released FBI report, posted on the bureau’s website as a result of the Herald’s Freedom of Information Act request, shows that at the time the non-prosecution deal was executed, the FBI was interviewing witnesses and victims “from across the United States.” The probe stretched from Florida to New York and New Mexico, records show.
Indeed, one lawsuit, still pending in New York, alleges that Epstein used an international modeling agency to recruit girls as young as 13 from Europe, Ecuador and Brazil. The girls lived in a New York building owned by Epstein, who paid for their visas, according to the sworn statement of Maritza Vasquez, the one-time bookkeeper for Mc2, the modeling agency.
Mike Fisten, a former Miami-Dade police sergeant who was also a homicide investigator and a member of the FBI Organized Crime Task Force, said the FBI had enough evidence to put Epstein away for a long time but was overruled by Acosta. Some of the agents involved in the case were disappointed by Acosta’s bowing to pressure from Epstein’s lawyers, he said.
“The day that a sitting U.S. attorney is afraid of a lawyer or afraid of a defendant is a very sad day in this country,’’ said Fisten, now a private investigator for Edwards.
Suit/countersuit
Now, a complex web of litigation could reveal more about Epstein’s crimes. A lawsuit, set for trial Dec. 4 in Palm Beach County, involves the notorious convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein, in whose law firm Edwards once worked.
In 2009, Epstein sued Edwards, alleging that Edwards was involved with Rothstein and was using the girls’ civil lawsuits to perpetuate Rothstein’s massive Ponzi operation. But Rothstein said Edwards didn’t know about the scheme, and Epstein dropped the lawsuit.
Edwards countersued for malicious prosecution, arguing that Epstein sued him to retaliate for his aggressive representation of Epstein’s victims.
Several women who went to Epstein’s home as underage girls are scheduled to testify against him for the first time.
Florida state Sen. Lauren Book, a child sex abuse survivor who has lobbied for tough sex offender laws, said Epstein’s case should serve as a tipping point for criminal cases involving sex crimes against children.
“Where is the righteous indignation for these women? Where are the protectors? Who is banging down the doors of the secretary of labor, or the judge or the sheriff’s office in Palm Beach County, demanding justice and demanding the right to be heard?’’ Book asked.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Villafaña, in court papers, said that prosecutors used their “best efforts’’ to comply with the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, but exercised their “prosecutorial discretion’’ when they chose not to notify the victims. The reasoning went like this: The non-prosecution deal had a restitution clause that provided the girls a chance to seek compensation from Epstein. Had the deal fallen through, necessitating a trial, Epstein’s lawyers might have used the prior restitution clause to undermine the girls’ credibility as witnesses, by claiming they had exaggerated Epstein’s behavior in hopes of cashing in.
Acosta has never fully explained why he felt it was in the best interests of the underage girls — and their parents — for him to keep the agreement sealed. Or why the FBI investigation was closed even as, recently released documents show, the case was yielding more victims and evidence of a possible sex-trafficking conspiracy beyond Palm Beach.
Upon his nomination by Trump as labor secretary in 2017, Acosta was questioned about the Epstein case during a Senate confirmation hearing.
“At the end of the day, based on the evidence, professionals within a prosecutor’s office decided that a plea that guarantees someone goes to jail, that guarantees he register [as a sex offender] generally and guarantees other outcomes, is a good thing,’’ Acosta said of his decision to not prosecute Epstein federally.
California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, in opposing Acosta for labor secretary, noted that “his handling of a case involving sex trafficking of underage girls when he was a U.S. attorney suggests he won’t put the interests of workers and everyday people ahead of the powerful and well-connected.’’
Marci Hamilton, a University of Pennsylvania law professor who is one of the nation’s leading advocates for reforming laws involving sex crimes against children, said what Acosta and other prosecutors did is similar to what the Catholic Church did to protect pedophile priests.
“The real crime with the Catholic priests was the way they covered it up and shielded the priests,’’ Hamilton said. “The orchestration of power by men only is protected as long as everybody agrees to keep it secret. This is a story the world needs to hear.’’
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article220097825.html
Rapist teacher fails in bid to reduce sentence
Manipulative James Andrew Husband, 68, used his position at Christ’s Hospital School, Horsham, to groom the teenager for sex.
She was already vulnerable when he came to know her, a court heard, but acted in “gross breach of trust” to abuse her.
The crimes came to light many years later and in July this year, Husband was jailed for 17 years for rape and five indecent assaults. The married father, most recently of Wigginton Road, York, had denied the offences, claiming sex with the girl was consensual.
Yesterday he appealed against his sentence, but was told by three senior judges that 17 years was fully deserved.
Lord Justice Lindblom told the court the girl had taken Husband’s attention as “kindness”, but ultimately came to hate what he was doing. The abuse left her with lifelong “severe psychological harm”, as she has struggled to cope with her ordeal. She did not get the university place she wanted and has been unable to form meaningful relationships with men.
In her statement to Hove Crown Court in July, the victim, now an adult, described Husband’s conduct as “devious and manipulative”.
Dismissing his appeal against the sentence, Lord Justice Lindblom said the offending had involved a “significant degree of planning”.
“This was offending against a vulnerable child, involving a serious breach of trust,” he told London’s Court of Appeal.
“He had apparently shown no insight into his offending and expressed no remorse.We accept that it was a severe sentence to pass on a man of his age and of previous good character. But we are not persuaded that it was arguably manifestly excessive.”
The appeal was dismissed.
During his trial at Hove the court heard Husband told the girl: “It’s OK, I’ve had a vasectomy,” before raping her.
Husband was the fifth Christ’s Hospital School teacher to be convicted of sexually abusing students.
Over the five cases, the sexual abuse at the school spanned more than 30 years and involved 22 victims.
Judge Christine Henson, who placed Husband on the sex offenders register for life, said the victim had given “harrowing” evidence during the trial.
The judge told him: “You put yourself in the position of her mentor in order to make her feel special and dependent on you so you could do what you wanted sexually with her. She viewed you as a father figure, thus rendering the abuse of trust particularly acute.”
In her victim impact statement read to the court, the woman said: “The grooming process was devious and malignant. By making me feel special for the first time in my life I became dependent on him for my own feeling of self worth.”
She said Husband moulded her into his “plaything” and “puppet” so “he could do what he wanted to me”.
https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/17259103.rapist-teacher-fails-in-bid-to-reduce-sentence/
Andrew @REBELTROOP
19 Nov 2018
“NICK” will stand trial March 5th 2019 in Newcastle
Defence barrister Raymond Tully said “we anticipate the matter will be fully contested”
Hearing on 3rd December will conclude whether he can be publicly named
Madeleine McCann investigation receives more funding AGAIN
13 Nov 2018
Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have received a further £150,000 in government funding.
Madeleine was three when she was last seen while on holiday with her parents in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007.
The Metropolitan Police launched its inquiry in 2011 after a Portuguese investigation failed to make headway.
A total of £11.75m has been spent on Operation Grange to date. The new funding is for the six-month period until 31 March next year.
Detectives have been applying to the Home Office every six months for a grant to continue their work.
Dame Alun Roberts@ciabaudo
When it comes to child protection in Islington, Labour’s attitude is hypocrisy personified: Why no soul-searching as to what Margaret Hodge, Jeremy Corbyn and Keith Vaz knew about abuse on their Islington watch?
Islington child abuse survivors’ network reacts angrily to claims of ‘no organised abuse’ in Sandy Marks report
13 Nov 2018
An organisation acting for victims and survivors of abuse in Islington children’s homes has responded bitterly to a barrister’s conclusion that there was no evidence “organised” wrongdoing had taken place.
Two workers and eight survivors from Islington Survivors Network (ISN) were interviewed as part of the eight-month independent review by Sarah Morgan QC.
The agreed remit of Ms Morgan’s investigation had been to establish if former mayor Sandy Marks was involved in pro-paedophile groups in 1979 and 1980, as the Gazette reported last year, and whether or not it had an impact on her role overseeing children’s services as chair of the social services committee years later. In the end, her conclusions vindicated the Gazette’s investigation, but said Ms Marks did not appear to have been swayed professionally by her earlier affiliations.
The barrister also considered whether, in light of her work, there should be a re-opening of the 1995 White Report into the horrific abuse suffered by children in the council’s “care” between the 1970s and 1990s – or a fresh inquiry into allegations of organised abuse during that time.
Finally Ms Morgan concluded that neither was necessary, stating: “I did not see evidence of organised abuse.”
Instead, she said, she had found children were left vulnerable to abuse because of inadequate care.
It comes as a blow to Dr Liz Davies, the co-ordinator of ISN and the original whistleblower who helped expose the scandal in 1992 – when Ms Marks had political oversight of children’s homes through her social services role.
The social worker was incredulous after reading the report last week, saying she had supplied Ms Morgan with a 26-page dossier of evidence, including a substantial section on organised abuse.
She said: “Not a jot of my evidence is in the inquiry report. It’s so disrespectful and risks being professionally discrediting.”
Between May and November this year the number of people in touch with ISN, which is now two years old, leapt from 100 to 150, reporting abuse across 42 homes, foster placements and care facilities.
ISN, represented by solicitors’ firm Leigh Day, is working with Islington Council to establish a compensation scheme.
Dr Davies said there was greater urgency to the project now, as three people ISN was in touch with have died.
She said: “In the ’90s I saw the tip of the iceberg. Now, I have heard things from survivors and witnesses that not only validate what I’ve done but increase my knowledge of the extensiveness of the networks and the power of the perpetrators.
“If this report was limited, it should have been limited, without annihilating the work I have done over the last 27 years.”
Graduate research student Charlotte Russell, who also supports ISN and gave evidence to Ms Morgan, said: “The problem is this report is a floating island. The finding that Sandy Marks was a member of a pro-paedophile group is presented as completely dislocated from the fact that Islington was the centre of pro-paedophile groups and PIE [pro-paedophile group the Paedophile Information Exchange].
“Fragmented inquiries like this don’t get to the overarching questions of how PIE operated in Islington.”
In her report, Ms Morgan expressed misgivings about the parameters of her own review and who to interview for it.
A national government-sponsored review, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), is currently under way and Ms Morgan said those survivors who came forward to speak to her might have been better redirected to that resource.
She added that some did not appear to fully understand the purpose of the review, or its narrow scope. In response ISN has said it did explain the review’s terms of reference to survivors.
Islington Council and Sarah Morgan QC have been contacted for comment.
“Disappointed”: ISN survivors on the review
Eight people who endured horrific abuse as children under Islington’s care were interviewed in the town hall for Sarah Morgan’s report.
They did not have allegations to make about Sandy Marks, but wanted to explain their experiences to her as they believed it would help.
A survivor who took part said: “It was a traumatic interview. It was difficult even to come into the building and I was a wreck when I came out.
“I was standing in the street in the soaking wet, bawling my eyes out. I had to call ISN straight after for support.”
One survivor queried the lack of follow-up calls to those distressed by the interview process, and asked why survivors had not been given a chance to speak informally, unrecorded – an offer extended to two staff at the council.
Several more tried to reach Ms Morgan to give their views; one was turned away due to their experience falling outside of the time frame, while another could not reach her in time as there was no phone number for the public to call.
Another survivor, who was hesitant about being interviewed, had agreed to speak but at the appointed time never received a call.
He said: “I was nervous about talking because it would drag up stuff, but I was happy to poke at an ant’s nest if it would help.
“I made sure I got up in time. It was hard work waiting for the phone call, and I sat there looking at the phone for about two hours.
“The next day she said she was sorry, but it just seemed that if it was that unimportant I shouldn’t really be talking.”
A different individual who was interviewed said they were disillusioned with the report’s findings: “The bottom line is it [organised abuse] has been denied for all these years and they’re going to keep it down now, because culpability has been admitted.”
Another said: “It brought back a lot of memories that have affected me since. I really thought we would finally be given a chance to speak and be listened to.
“I’m disappointed.”
The process of speaking to Ms Morgan, one survivor reflected, had made them feel “like a child again, being questioned”.
She said: “It’s never over for us. We are still living it day in, day out. We are walking wounded.
“I’m just flabbergasted that she has come to this conclusion and not really looked at all the facts on the table. It’s really dispiriting. They used to call us liars as individuals; now they’re calling us liars as a group.”
“The service is broken”
On Wednesday evening last week, hours after Ms Morgan’s review was published, technical issues on Islington Council’s website meant scores of people – including survivors – struggled or failed to access it.
One ISN survivor wrote a poem about the ensuing frustration, reprinted here with their permission. It read:
The link Takes you to a notice Saying there is a problem With the service The service is broken
http://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/isn-response-sandy-marks-review-1-5777226
Cardinal Vincent Nichols with Pope Francis
Archbishop apologises over handling of abuse claims against Tolkien son
Church paid settlement to avoid disclosing knowledge of indecency in 1968, hearing told
12 Nov 2018
England’s most senior Catholic clergyman ordered lawyers not to disclose a complaint of child abuse made against JRR Tolkien’s son, an inquiry has heard.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, who faces criticism over his handling of allegations against Father John Tolkien, apologised in a letter to the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse on Monday. Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster, was due to give evidence on Tuesday over his handling of the affair but pulled out due to illness.
The Catholic church knew that Tolkien, the eldest son of the acclaimed author of Lord of the Rings, posed a risk to children after a note was made in 1968 that he had told boy scouts to strip naked, yet he was allowed to continue working for decades, the hearing was told.
When more of Tolkien’s alleged victims contacted the church with civil claims in the early 2000s, after charges against him were dropped owing to ill health, Nichols, then the archbishop of Birmingham, told a lawyer acting on behalf of the diocese that he would “prefer not to disclose” the earlier complaint.
In reference to the Catholic church’s record of the 1968 incident, the hearing heard that a lawyer acting for the diocese wrote to Nichols in 2003: “You have said that the archdiocese would prefer not to disclose this document even if it means settling the action.”
Rather than revealing knowledge of the incident, the church settled with one victim, Christopher Carrie, who said he was abused by Tolkien at age 11 in the 1950s, by paying him £15,000 in 2003, the inquiry at Pocock Street tribunal hearing centre in London was told on Monday.
The inquiry heard that at least four other people made abuse allegations against Tolkien. It is understood that several civil claims over abuse committed by Tolkien have been settled by the church.
The Birmingham diocese, which Nichols ran from 2000 to 2009, was also criticised by a lawyer during the hearing for issuing press releases at the time of the settlement asking people to pray for Tolkien.
Richard Scorer, of Slater and Gordon, representing alleged victims of Tolkien, told the hearing: “It wasn’t settled because Archbishop Nichols wanted to ‘do the right thing’ by a victim of abuse. If you study the file, we suggest it is very plain that Mr Carrie’s claim, and those of other victims of John Tolkien, were settled for one reason and one reason alone – because in the absence of a settlement, the archdiocese would have been obliged to disclose that they had received a complaint, or possibly complaints in the plural, of sexual indecency by Father Tolkien in 1968.”
The first of five days of hearings focusing on child abuse in the archdiocese of Birmingham – – the largest in England, stretching from Stoke-on-Trent to south of Oxford – – was told that as many as five people accused Tolkien of abuse.
Tolkien denied the allegations. He was investigated by police shortly before his death, aged 85, in 2003 but despite having sufficient evidence for a realistic prosecution, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped the case because Tolkien was suffering from dementia. After the case was dropped, Carrie made a civil claim against the church.
When, as an adult in 1993, Carrie had discovered that the priest was working in Oxfordshire, he had reported the allegations to the then archbishop of Birmingham, Maurice Couve de Murville. Jacqueline Carey, the counsel to the inquiry, told the hearing that in October 1993 Couve de Murville wrote to Carrie claiming to have investigated the complaint “as far as possible” but adding that “35 years makes it difficult to establish precisely what happened”.
He said he had interviewed Tolkien, then 76, who was “not in good health”, adding: “It may be of help for you to know that he is now going to retire and cease the active practice of his ministry.” He said Tolkien’s retirement was “perhaps … the answer you seek” but said the church would assist if Carrie wanted to report the matter to police.
In 2000 Carrie wrote to Nichols asking him to investigate the matter. In 2002 another complainant came forward to allege they had been abused by Tolkien, writing to Nichols: “Well I know for sure Mr Carrie is telling the truth because I too was abused myself. I know Father Tolkien is 84 years old and suffering from dementia but it is wrong for him to keep saying he never did these things – he did.”
Nichols advised the complainant to report it to the police. Police investigated Tolkien but the CPS decided after a medical assessment it was not in the public interest to proceed, the hearing was told.
Richard Horwell QC, representing the archdiocese of Birmingham, read out an apology written to the inquiry from Nichols saying: “Often in the past we failed to respond promptly and vigorously to the cries and accounts of victims. We followed our instincts in trusting those fellow priests who were in fact criminals. We put too much in our sense of duty to shield other Catholics from these horrors, putting what we saw to be the good of church before a search for the truth of what happened.”
Inquiry into child sexual abuse allegations against Greville Janner ‘pushed back to 2020’
8 Nov 2018
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) has set aside three weeks in February 2020 to examine public bodies’ historical handling of the multiple allegations against the late Labour MP and peer.
That will enable up to 33 men to give their accounts of alleged abuse by Janner.
He was accused of 22 sexual offences against boys between 1963 and 1988 but died shortly before Christmas 2015, aged 87.
Three chances to put the politician on trial for child abuse were missed because of mistakes by the police or prosecutors, a retired High Court judge ruled in the weeks after his death.
Sir Richard Henriques said in January 2016 that the former Leicester MP should have been charged with offences against boys in 1991, 2002 and 2007.
A fourth Leicestershire Police inquiry – Operation Enamel – would have led to charges had the Labour politician not become severely ill with dementia and been deemed unfit to stand trial in late 2015.
Jim Torbett victims’ lawyer has ‘evidence’ Celtic knew about child abuse before the 90s
Patrick McGuire who is representing 10 former Celtic Boys’ Club players has questioned Celtic’s claims.
9 NOV 2018
A lawyer representing victims of pervert Celtic Boys’ Club Jim Torbett says he has evidence officials knew about the abuse before the 90s.
Patrick McGuire, whose Glasgow firm are representing 10 former Celtic Boys’ Club players, questioned Celtic FC’s claims about when they learned of the allegations.
He said: “When was it that Celtic Football Club knew, or ought to have known, about what was going on and when should that club have taken action? Was it in the 90s? I have evidence to the contrary.”
Torbett was jailed for six years on Monday for sexually abusing three boys over an eight-year period.
He was previously jailed for abusing boys in 1998.
The 71-year-old was said to have been booted out of the boys’ club in 1974 by then Celtic boss Jock Stein.
But he was allowed back after Stein left in 1980.
They expressed “deep regret” over Torbett’s crimes but have repeatedly insisted the club is a separate entity from the boys’ club.
But McGuire added: “We are asking Celtic, in their own right, for their own past wrongs, to do the right thing.”
An abuse victim’s sister said the club were trying to dodge responsibility over Torbett.
Andrew Gray gave a statement to police about his ordeal at the hands of Torbett but tragically died last year in a swimming pool accident in Australia, aged 41.
Andrew Gray who was abused by Jim Torbett when he played for Celtic Boys’ Club
His sibling Michelle, 43, said: “We have yet to receive as much as a message of condolence in respect of Andrew’s death, never mind the abuse he suffered. To say that they were two separate clubs is nonsense.
“If that was the case, then why did Andrew play at Parkhead and have the contact that he did with the board and the first team players?”
The club said they had taken steps to develop a new code of conduct and procedures to protect young people.
Bercow Uses Personal Veto to Block Vaz Investigation
We applied under the Freedom of Information Act to get papers relating to Mr Vaz’s trips abroad.
Clerks raised concerns – denied by the Leicester MP – that Mr Vaz had not abided by all the rules for trips. We wanted to know if those concerns ever become formal complaints.
If they did, did the liaison committee, which controls this process, do anything about it? This is clearly an area where, one could argue, the Freedom of Information Act should bite.
If the administration of MPs’ expenses is not covered by privilege, why should the administration of committee trips be? MPs are involved – but they oversaw expenses too. Could knowing which travel agent booked tickets for MPs be a route to power for a would-be tyrant? What is the threat to free speech?
Some months ago, Mr Bercow personally made the argument that this paperwork was all covered by privilege. But I looked forward to a tribunal when this could be tested.
A personal veto
Normally, this sort of determination can be referred to the Information Commissioner and then to the tribunals and courts to judge whether that finding is fair. My judgment is, if they did that, I had a reasonable chance of winning.
I suspect Mr Bercow agreed. That would explain why he has now used an unusual personal power to block any appeals.
This week, I was notified he has issued a “certificate” under section 34(3) of the Freedom of Information Act. This is, in effect, a personal release veto.
These sorts of vetos are supposed to be used sparingly – an emergency reserve power to guard sacred spaces if courts get it wrong.
That is because their use means I have no rights of appeal. The Information Commissioner’s view is that, since the certificate is genuine, that is the the end of the matter. Any appeal to the tribunals will automatically be discarded. I can ask a judge to review his decision, but it would entail looking at a decision taken by a parliamentary officer. That would hit privilege from another direction.
The net result is that the Speaker, who denies bullying, has made an order to hide information about the behaviour of his close personal friend, Keith Vaz, a man who also denies bullying – supposedly to protect MPs’ freedom of speech.
And then he has gone out of his way to use a personal veto to make sure no-one could even consider reviewing that questionable decision.
You can understand why staff are so suspicious about whether MPs will ever let themselves be judged by outsiders when it comes to bullying and harassment.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-46112355
Harriet Harman – Legal Officer for NCCl – NCCL supported PIE (Paedophile Information Exchange) with close friend Margaret Hodge
‘If Sandy Marks did hold those views, I was not aware of them’. I see no paedophiles, said Margaret Hodge
Dame Alun Roberts @ciabaudo
‘If Sandy Marks did hold those views, I was not aware of them’. I see no paedophiles, said Margaret Hodge as she raised her telescope to her blind eye!
Gazette was correct about ex-mayor’s pro-paedophile past, top lawyer concludes
07 November 2018
A top barrister has confirmed former Islington councillor Sandy Marks’ past links to a pro-paedophile campaign group.
An independent review by Sarah Morgan QC, published on Wednesday, vindicates the Gazette’s revelations about Sandy Marks’ past links to radical campaign group Fallen Angels – whose publication 18 months ago triggered the lawyer’s probe.
It also confirms Ms Marks and then-colleagues at Islington would have been aware of allegations about the abuse of children in the care system before the horrific scandal emerged in 1992.
But it stops short of suggesting an inquiry into the abuse be re-opened, and asserts that Ms Marks’ involvement with campaign group Fallen Angels had “no impact” on her later oversight of children’s services.
Ms Morgan’s 127-page paper comes at the end of a review spanning eight months and involving thousands of pages of documents, as well as interviews with victims and survivors, with Ms Marks herself, and with the Gazette staff who originally worked on the story in May 2017.
It will make disappointing reading for the Islington Survivors Network (ISN), which is led by former social worker Dr Liz Davies – the original whistleblower into physical and sexual abuse taking place across Islington’s children’s homes in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
The group hoped it would recommend the 1995 White Report into the scandal be reopened, as they believe it failed to uncover evidence of organised abuse rather than simply the poor management and negligence it did find.
In the report, Ms Morgan says Ms Marks’ work as chair of the social services committee, which covered children’s services, was likely not affected by her past involvement with Fallen Angels, a radical pro-paedophile activist group.
But she admits it doesn’t “sit easily” that “someone could be associated with an organisation so malign and yet, in the years following that association, it had no detectable impact on her conduct of a role in a public office which included the oversight of the welfare of children in care”.
This IGA newsletter lists Sandy Marks as a contact person for Fallen AngelsFallen Angels, a small, clandestine organisation centred on N19, had campaigned for the release of five men on trial for involvement with the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE).
Ms Morgan wrote: “Fallen Angels, the organisation, and those who spoke for it, of whom I am satisfied Sandy Marks was one, expressed support for […] an abolition of age of consent laws, and for what was described as the right to sexual self-determination for all, irrespective of gender and age.”
The report concluded that despite her previous claims to the contrary, Ms Marks had been associated with the Fallen Angels at the time of a conference hosted by the International Gay Association (IGA) in Spain in April 1980.
At the conference the Angels had distributed two papers. In her appraisal of them, Ms Morgan said: “I find it impossible to understand how the warped and distorted thinking evidenced by the writing had ever found a place in mainstream debate.”
A picture of Sandy Marks in the IGA conference newsletter in April 1980It also found Ms Marks had “more likely than not” been present at a meeting of another group, Conspiracy Against Public Morals (CAPM), in September 1979, in which campaign tactics on behalf of the PIE defendands were discussed.
In deciding whether Ms Marks’ involvement with the Fallen Angels influenced her role on Islington Council between 1982 and 2001, Ms Morgan noted: “I did not find evidence that Ms Marks appeared to be exercising control and direction in relation to children and their placement in care.”
As both chair and member of the social services committee, Ms Marks was at meetings where decisions were taken to send certain children to different homes.
But Ms Morgan “did not see any meeting at which those making the decision amended or overrode the care plan to substitute a different or other home.”
She added that Ms Marks’ involvement in two staffing committees didn’t extend to direct recruitment; she had no sole decision-making power or ability to dispense cash as chair of the capital-wide London Borough Children’s Regional Planning Committee; and that she found in two decades’ worth of meeting minutes “a good deal about Sandy Marks’ conduct that was positive and demonstrated what appeared to me to be a legitimate concern for child welfare”.
In conclusion, she says: “I did not find anything which suggested to me that Ms Marks was carrying out duties on any committee or sub-committee or any combination in a way which was affected by [her] involvement in Fallen Angels.”
Ms Morgan also considered whether Ms Marks’ past could have affected the White Report, or the 13 internal investigations that preceded it.
After interviewing one of its two authors, Kate Hart, she finds it “unlikely” Ms Marks was involved in commissioning the White Report or identifying its terms of reference.
She notes, though, that the other author, Ian White, has since died, and that, astonishingly, “it had not been possible to find the papers from Ian White and Kate Hart’s working in on the White Inquiry and so they were not available to me”.
Regarding the investigations into organised abuse that took place prior to the White Report, “from the extensive documents [Ms Morgan saw], Sandy Marks had no involvement with or connection to any of the investigatory meetings held, nor was she included on any circulation list of any to the minutes of those meetings, nor was she included in any of the correspondence”.
Ms Hart told Ms Morgan that knowledge of Ms Marks’ past “would have had an impact on their inquiry and some of their recommendations”, particularly around the personnel processes that allowed Ms Marks to become a councillor so soon after her involvement with Fallen Angels.
And, she added, “she and Ian White would have raised the question of whether someone with that past association was a fit and proper person to hold a position as an elected member of the council”.
But the possible differences in the White Report’s methodology weren’t sufficient to recommend reopening it, Ms Morgan concluded.
Islington Council’s response
We accept all the report’s conclusions and expectations,” said council leader Richard Watts, “and have sent a copy of the report to the Independent Inquiry on Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), and will continue our enduring commitment to help survivors with specialist psychological support and housing.
“We have apologised before for the council’s failure to protect vulnerable children in its care in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and today we repeat that apology. Today’s report again sets out starkly the failings in Islington’s children’s homes up to the early 1990s, which were utterly horrifying. As acknowledged in today’s report, the council today is a very different organisation. Protecting children from harm is our top priority.
“We are also committed to supporting survivors of child abuse and have put in place a package of support for survivors, which includes access to psychological support and counselling, personal advice on issues such as housing, access to benefits and individual support.”
Survivors of abuse in Islington who would like to access help and support could contact survivorsupport@islington.gov.uk, he added.
How Sandy Marks responded to the allegations
Sandy Marks was confronted by the Gazette with allegations about her past links to pro-paedophile groups in May 2017.
Initially she said she did not remember the period in question. But when shown a key piece of evidence, a grainy black-and-white photograph unearthed in minutes from the IGA conference in 1980, she accepted it showed her as a young woman.
She said: “I could pretend it’s not me – terrible haircut. But that’s a picture of me.”
The next day she said the Fallen Angels were “something stupid” she had been involved in, and she had not understood their message at the time.
On the eve of publication she changed her story again, denying the allegations, saying the photo wasn’t her, and that the ‘Sandy Marks’ listed as a contact for the Angels at the conference could be someone else.
When interviewed by Sarah Morgan QC in March 2018, she said she could not recall involvement with Fallen Angels.
But Ms Morgan pointed out the contact details listed against Ms Marks’ name include her own work address with Islington Community Housing in Hornsey Rise.
The photograph later proved a crucial area of dispute; a lengthy character reference submitted for Ms Marks asserted the woman in the photo had had professional styling, “which would have been beyond her means”.
These claims were dismissed by Ms Morgan, who concluded “on the balance of probabilities” Ms Marks had indeed been at the conference with the Angels.
Before the report was published a final submission from Ms Marks, dated September 25, was received, in which she said she had suffered “enormous distress and personal loss at these baseless accusations.”
Tomorrow’s front page: an independent lawyer finds Sandy Marks WAS involved in pro-paedophile campaign groups less than two years before she was elected as an Islington councillor, as we revealed 18 months ago
Cassandra Cogno @CassandraCogno
The address given for paedophiles & paedophile activists to write to at the IGA 1980 conference was the same address as that listed for Islington Community Housing (according to Kelly’s Postal Directory for 1980) where a Sandy Marks worked so does Veness mean this ICH?@KoosCouvee
Celtic Boys Club founder Jim Torbett guilty of abusing boys
5 Nov 2018
Celtic Boys Club founder Jim Torbett has been jailed for six years after being convicted of sexually abusing three boys over an eight-year period.
Torbett, 71, was found guilty after a trial at the High Court in Glasgow. He had denied the charges.
Two victims had been in his under-14s football teams, while the third was abused by Torbett at the age of five.
Lord Beckett told Torbett: “Yours is some of the most corrupting behaviour I have ever heard of in these courts.”
He added: “Your depraved conduct towards innocent children has blighted their lives.”
The judge told Torbett that Celtic Boys Club had given opportunities to hundreds of aspiring young footballers.
But he added: “You used the club as a front for child sexual abuse.”
There were tears in the public gallery as the verdict was announced, and emotional scenes in the foyer of the court as those affected by the case embraced each other.
Jurors had heard that Torbett, of Kelvindale, Glasgow, targeted the schoolboys between August 1986 and August 1994.
His victims included youth players Kenny Campbell and Andrew Gray, who had waived their right to anonymity.
Mr Gray died last year, but statements he gave to police before his death were read out during the trial.
The third victim said he had been abused as a five-year-old when he visited the Trophy Centre in Glasgow, which was owned by Torbett.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-46098908
A paedophile ring ‘may have been operating out of Quarriers Village children’s home’ says former resident
David Whelan who was abused there as a child believes he was being groomed to be passed on.
2 NOV 2018
A man who was sexually abused at a children’s home in the 1970s has spoken of his belief a paedophile ring may have been operating inside the facility.
David Whelan, who waived his right to anonymity, said he believed he was being groomed to be “passed on” while he was at Quarriers Village children’s home in Renfrewshire.
The witness, who stayed at the facility between 1969 and 1974, was abused at the home. He was 11-years-old when he went to the orphanage.
Speaking at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry in Edinburgh on Friday, he said: “I believe I was being groomed to be passed on.
“At the time, you try and understand what was going on here, try to read what’s going on here.
“I’m as clear as daylight – I was going to be passed on.
“I just wonder if there was a paedophile ring operating out of Quarriers, with some former residents.”
The late-19th century development consisted of dozens of orphan homes which were run by “house mothers” and “house fathers”.
In 2002, John Porteus was convicted of sexually abusing David while in his care.
The offences took place in the village on a number of occasions.
David also spoke of physical and emotional abuse he suffered at the hands of others.
This involved him being beaten with a “military parade” baton, a belt and being told he was unwanted by his parents.
Other alleged abusers cannot be named for legal reasons.
It was heard punishment also included hair-pulling and being made to stand outside in a shed, sometimes until dawn.
David spoke of strict rules and carers who would lash out with violence, often leaving him “petrified”.
He said: “This was supposed to be a care home. From start to finish it was like being in a military establishment.
“They used derogatory language just to demean you, to belittle you.
“We weren’t soldiers – we were children.
“There was no affection. It was like from a Victorian era, where the child was seen and not heard.”
The witness described physical abuse as being “normalised” and went unchallenged by those in higher authority at the orphanage.
He added: “Bruises heal, but what happens with the psychological stuff is it stays with you.
“It was beyond the bounds of what was reasonable.
“It was brutality and cruelty.”
The inquiry is tasked with examining historical allegations of the abuse of children in care and began taking statements from witnesses in the spring of 2016.
Its current stage is hearing from representatives and former residents of establishments run by providers Quarriers, Aberlour and Barnardo’s.
Quarriers has apologised to residents who were abused while in its care.
The inquiry before Lady Smith continues on Tuesday.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/paedophile-ring-may-been-operating-13525568
Anthony Daly@anthonydaly01
Given the passage of time and the fact that it could in no way jeopardise national security, I look forward to MI5 confirming what I had been told by Tom Driberg in 1975: that he, Bob Boothby and other users of teenage rent, were protected by the secret service. All untouchable.
Andrew @REBELTROOP
You should contact the inquiry about this
Anthony Daly@anthonydaly01
I did. I provided the inquiry with a detailed submission and copies of my book. And I requested core participant status.
The Chair’s response was: “I do not consider that Mr Daly can be said to have played a “significant” role in these matters or that he has a sufficient interest in the matters to be investigated to justify him core participant status in the Westminster investigation.”
Given that IICSA is to investigate institutional responses to CSA it may wish to enquire into PIE member Richard Bigham, who was found guilty in 1978 of sexually abusing 2 girls. The institutional response by the House of Lords was to welcome him with open arms the following year
aka Herman Spielman – member of an international paedophile ring. Herr Mann was also found guilty at the 1978 trial. He was jailed for 6 years, but Bigham, being the son of a Viscount, was given a suspended sentence and walked free.
Simon Thomas MP
Former MP avoids prison after being found with more than 500 indecent images and videos of children
Some of the videos and images were classified as category A material, the worst kind of sex abuse
A former MP who was found to have saved hundreds of images and videos of child sex abuse has been given a suspended jail sentence.
Police found he had 539 indecent images and 77 indecent videos involving sex abuse of children aged from six to 13, after they seized his iPad and other electronic devices during an early morning raid by police on his home in Aberystwyth, North Wales., Mold Crown Court heard.
Of those, 94 of the photos and 56 of the videos were classed as category A material, the worst kind of sexual abuse, with Thomas’ internet search history showing links to a Russian site known for sharing child sex images.
Thomas served as MP for Ceredigion between 2000 and 2005 before going on to become a Welsh Assembly member for Mid and West Wales in 2011. The 54-year-old resigned in July after the raid.
His lawyer Richard Williams told the court that “lonely hours” of public service spent away from home and the defendant’s “deep-rooted problems” led him into a “trap.
The father of two adult children, admitted three counts of possession of indecent images of children at an earlier hearing.
He was given a 26 week jail sentence, suspended for 24 months and ordered to complete a rehabilitation course involving counselling. He will also be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for seven years.
Passing sentence District Judge Gwyn Jones said: “You have lost your good character, you have caused a significant amount of pain and trauma to your family and, to put it bluntly, a significant fall from grace. The fact that before July you were prominent in public life and in the public eye does not have any relevance to the way this court proposes to deal with you.”
Thomas, a former librarian, had also in the running to become Plaid Cymru leader but dropped out before Leanne Wood won the contest.
Justin Espie, prosecuting, told the court a police search warrant was executed at 6am on July 23 and Thomas’ iPad, iPhone, a Dell laptop, computer hard-drive and USB sticks were seized.
No details were given in court as to how or why police had reason to execute the warrant on Thomas’ home.
The defendant gave officers his passwords for the devices and admitted the offences to police.
Mr Williams, mitigating said: “It has put a huge strain on his marriage, although to her great credit the defendant’s wife has been supportive, as has his mother. “He’s an individual who knows there’s problems that need to be addressed. What he said to me is a lot of his role in public service has been quite lonely, lots of hours spent on his own in accommodation some distance away from home, he got himself into a trap that he found very difficult to escape.
“He’s a person who shows a willingness to seek out assistance in addressing what are clearly deep-rooted problems in his life.”
Thomas was also ordered to pay £85 court costs and a £115 victim surcharge.
Thomas is a former librarian and was a special senior advisor to former deputy first minister Ieuan Wyn Jones after losing his seat at Westminster and before he was elected to the assembly.
He was also a contender to succeed Mr Jones as party leader in 2012, but dropped out of the contest which was won by Leanne Wood.
Parents’ fear over paedo ex-MP living yards from primary school
26 Oct 2018
Simon Thomas, former MP for Ceredigion and member of the Welsh Assembly, was convicted of making over 600 indecent images and footage of children. His address, is close to Ysgol Llywn yr Eos primary school in Penparcau, mid-Wales.
Secret service to testify on ‘political paedophiles’ at child abuse inquiry
31 October 2018
Britain’s spy agencies will reveal its knowledge of alleged Westminster-related child abuse at a public inquiry amid concerns it aided in an establishment cover-up.
MI5, MI6 and GCHQ have given their “full cooperation” with the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, lead counsel Andrew O’Connor QC told a preliminary hearing on Tuesday.
However, it emerged yesterday that some of the evidence the agencies will give may be heard in private due to national security reasons.
The Lost Boys: Fresh probe into alleged paedophile ring
31 Oct 2018
Johannesburg – A top-level police investigation into allegations of a paedophile ring involving senior members of the National Party government is underway, Tafelberg Publishers has said.
The allegations are contained in the book The Lost Boys of Bird Island, written by former police officer Mark Minnie and journalist Chris Steyn.
Tafelberg Publishers, publishers of the book, said the probe comes after several people with knowledge of the alleged paedophile ring provided “valuable information” to the police.
“A number of victims have come forward and have given written statements of alleged sexual abuse related to the allegations in the book.
“Tafelberg approached the South African Police Service (SAPS) on September 6 with new information which had come to light after the publication of the book.
The police then opened an investigation, led by the Western Cape head of the Family Violence Unit Brigadier Sonja Harri.
Tafelberg added that The Foundation for Human Rights is also investigating the matter and have briefed a forensic expert to examine Minnie’s body to determine the circumstances around his death.
“The finding of the forensic expert was inconclusive. The initial report of the investigator commissioned by the Foundation to trace witnesses mentioned in the book has been handed to the SAPS Child Protection Unit,” Tafelberg said.
The publishers explained that news of the police investigation had been kept quiet until now to provide investigators space to do their work.
“During this time Tafelberg and Steyn did not release any new information to the media so as not to compromise the work of the police.
“Both the publisher and author are grateful to the police for being prepared to devote scarce resources to a cold case of over 30 years.The investigation is ongoing,” Tafelberg added.
The Lost Boys of Bird Island contains chilling accounts of alleged sexual abuse of coloured teenagers by a ring including late, ex-South African Defence Force head, Magnus Malan, late businessman Dave Allen and late environmental affairs minister Mark Wiley.
It claims that the boys were flown to Bird Island, outside Port Elizabeth, by military helicopters where they were allegedly sexually assaulted.
In August, the book’s co-author Minnie was found dead on a small holding, outside Port Elizabeth early with a gun shot to his head.
Since then, Tafelberg says Steyn has been subjected to repeated attempts at intimidation.
“Despite this, Steyn has continued investigating and following up on leads. She has co‐operated fully with the police probe from the start.
“The author has been obtaining permission from sources to share their identities with the police, and she has also been convincing people to make statements and give affidavits.”
Pervert vicar who was convicted of sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy then quietly moved to another parish was offered an honour by the Queen
- Reverend Mark Kiddle was given a 15-month suspended sentence in 1985
- The vicar admitted indecently a boy aged 15 at St Andrew’s church, Lincolnshire
- In 1993, Kiddle was promoted by the Queen to be part of her Chapel Royal
The Queen honoured a pervert vicarwho had been convicted of abusing a child by offering him a place in her Chapel Royal, it has been revealed.
Reverend Mark Kiddle was given a 15-month suspended sentence in 1985 after admitting two offences of indecent assault.
His victim claimed he abused him up to twenty times.
But instead of being defrocked for abusing the 15-year-old boy he was instead moved to another parish.
Just eight years later, in 1993, Kiddle was promoted by the Queen to be part of her Chapel Royal.
A public notice in the London Gazette announced: ‘The Queen has been graciously pleased to appoint the Reverend Mark Brydges Kiddle, to be a Deputy Priest in Ordinary to Her Majesty.’
Now, for the first time, the vicar’s victim has spoken out about the culture of ‘protecting and promoting’ convicted child abusers in the church.
Mark Kiddle was handed a suspended sentence for the abuse of a 15-year-old boy but was later given an honour by the Queen
The man, now in his 50s, said: ‘I think the Queen would be disgusted to find out about his past.’
‘The church has protected the guilty and let the innocent be abused. I’m angry that the person who did this to me was just moved to another diocese.
‘He was protected and promoted and I don’t think the church even now acts equitably.’
The abuse happened when Kiddle was vicar at St Andrew’s in Kirton-in-Lindsey in Lincolnshire.
His victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, says he was groomed by Kiddle who molested him ’18-20 times over a two-year period’ including when he was at his most vulnerable, following the death of a close family member.
He said: ‘I suppose when I was younger I was naïve, I thought he was just being kind.
‘He would take me on trips, he would give me alcohol and it got to the stage where I would stay over at the vicarage quite regularly.
‘We always slept in the same room and he would always sleep naked. It was a big old building and he said it was haunted but that ghosts couldn’t see you if you had nothing on.
‘I can’t say exactly when the abuse started. I completely blocked it out. I never told anyone, not even my parents.’
The abuse continued for two years but eventually a parishioner who suspected Kiddle of inappropriate behaviour tipped off police.
He was prosecuted at Grimsby Crown Court and in his defence the then Bishop of Lincoln, Simon Phipps, described Kiddle in court as an ‘extremely diligent, imaginative and energetic priest’.
Kiddle received two 15-month sentences to run concurrently, suspended for two years and was moved to another parish.
He was eventually posted to St Clement’s Church, Eastcheap in the City of London.
The 84-year-old, who is now retired from the church, is understood to have later declined the Queen’s honorary role in the Chapel Royal
His victim has launched legal action against the Church of England over the abuse he suffered.
The abuse happened when Kiddle was vicar at St Andrew’s in Kirton-in-Lindsey (pictured)
His solicitor, Richard Scorer, at Slater and Gordon, said: ‘Kiddle waged a calculated campaign of abuse against a vulnerable young boy and even exploited tragic family circumstances to his own advantage so he could continue to satiate his own sick desires.
‘It is reprehensible that someone who was convicted of such a crime should be allowed to continue working in the church and in a role which presumably gave him unfettered access to other youngsters.’
A spokesman for the Diocese of London said Kiddle was not paid by the Church of England and had a limited at two churches.
He said: ‘From 2002, he was barred from all ministry. Under today’s procedures, anyone convicted of such offence would immediately be removed from their role and barred from ministry.
‘The Church has made significant changes in its approach to safeguarding since the 1980s, but we recognise that more needs to be done to ensure a safe culture, where abuse has no place, and where survivors of abuse can flourish.’
A Palace spokesperson said Kiddle never took up the honorary position and was never active in the Royal household.
Dame Alun Roberts @ciabaudo
I have good reason to believe that there is a further interview tape with Mr Solanki made after the Sunday Express interview with him. In this second audio tape Mr Solanki goes into greater detail about who is in the tape and what that person is doing.
@InquiryCSA is aware of this latter audio tape but as of today they have still not contacted the holder of the top copy of the tape, much to the ‘amazement’ of the holder and his legal team. So what is @InquiryCSA playing at?
Martin Walkerdine @mwalkerdine
The issue with that audio tape it was never done on film as on that audio it could have been anyone saying things
Dame Alun Roberts @ciabaudo
Then let’s have it put in the public domain for the experts to decide.
Tory MP allegedly found with child porn in 1980s faced no charges, police told
Senior Conservative politician allegedly caught with child pornography videos in the 1980s faced no further action, it has been claimed
In 1982 a Customs Office called Maganlal Solanki had seized child pornography films or videotapes sent or brought to the UK by Russell Tricker, a convicted British paedophile living in Amsterdam: one of these allegedly showed a former Tory cabinet minister sexually abusing children. Once again, Brittan was not named, but there were clear hints in the stories that he was the politician in question (in 1982 he was Chief Secretary to the Treasury).
Mr Solanki had unquestionably seized the tapes and films referred to. An official 1982 notice in the London Gazette recorded the seizure and his name was shown as the Customs officer responsible.
http://timtate.co.uk/blog/the-politician-the-paedophiles-the-police-press/
InquiryCSA Verified account @InquiryCSA
We will examine whether the organisation PIE received funding by the Home Office and we will look into their relationship with the organisation now known as ‘Liberty’ and seek to adduce evidence in the public hearing
Cassandra Cogno @CassandraCogno
Gosh, thought this was well established by journalists and researchers in 2014 – it’s hard to take IICSA seriously while it looks past the fact Islington was #PIEcentral
Geelong Grammar payout could hit Catholic Church and other institutions
28 October 2018
How Jimmy Savile ‘fixed it’ so his abuse victims wouldn’t get a penny of £3.6million raised in his name
Speaking on the seventh anniversary of Savile’s death today, one charity boss claims there has been a “serious misdirection
29 OCT 2018
Jimmy Savile’s actions when setting up a charity in his name meant his victims wouldn’t get a penny of the money raised after he was exposed.
The Jimmy Savile Charitable Trust had £3.6million in its account when the abuse scandal broke in 2012, a year after the TV presenter’s death.
But when national child abuse charities offered to take over the fund, they were stunned to be told the money couldn’t be spent on victims.
Instead, it would go towards Savile’s projects.
Speaking today, on the seventh anniversary of the host’s death, one charity boss claimed there was a “serious misdirection of funds”.
Meanwhile, a man who said he was abused by Savile while at Broadmoor, said: “This is the final kick in the teeth for all victims.”
He added that while charities which could be supported by the funds are “very worthy”, they have “nothing to do with the victims”.
The Trust was set up by Savile – who was found dead in his apartment in Leeds, West Yorkshire, on October 29, 2011 – in 1985.
It was founded to “provide funds for the relief of poverty and sickness and other charitable purposes beneficial to the community”.
The money was even beyond the reach of the courts which eventually paid £1.15 million from Savile’s personal fortune to those he abused.
Now, the Trust has been quietly dissolved after transferring its remaining £1 million assets to a grant-making body which supports right-on causes in Savile’s home city of Leeds.
The Leeds Community Foundation sponsors “positive change” through schemes such as local parks, arts projects, free meals for kids, and drop-in centres for asylum seekers.
Jo Summers, former solicitor for the Jimmy Savile Trust, said: “There was no chance of raising further funds. So we thought we might as well donate the money to other good causes – which is what we have done.
“I have not seen any charities apply for money and not get it when the trustees considered it appropriate.
“The Jimmy Savile Charitable Trust was not set up for abuse victims. The trustees are required by law to give the money to the causes it was set up for originally.
“If the object of the charity had been for people who have been abused it would be different – but it wasn’t.”
Meanwhile, the Leeds Community Foundation said the money “has to go to charities, not individuals”.
However, some national child abuse charities who are working to support Savile’s victims have been left disappointed.
NAPAC (National Association for People Abused in Childhood) had offered to take over the Savile Trust’s entire assets when the scandal broke in 2012.
Chief Executive Peter Saunders said: “I am absolutely flabbergasted it has taken all this time only to come to this. I think it is a serious misdirection of funds given Savile’s appalling record.
“I can’t understand why some or most of the money is not being given to supporting charities who support the people whose lives have been ruined by that man.
“I think it is a tragedy that the Savile Trust did not direct it funds to an organisation like NAPAC who are still picking up the pieces.”
Fay Maxted MBE, who runs The Survivors’ Trust, the national umbrella agency for 135 abuse charities, said: “The last thing we want to do is pull down another charity providing good work like the Leeds Community Foundation.
“But the trustees of the Savile Trust should have thought more about the best use of the money.
“It is disappointing the Jimmy Savile Trust has not acknowledged survivors of sexual abuse in any way and missed an opportunity to do something positive with the funds.”
Steven George, 66, born Alyson Pink before a sex change, claims he was abused by the Top Of The Pops presenter while having treatment at Broadmoor in 1969.
He said: “The charities supported by the Leeds Community Foundation are all very worthy causes – but they have nothing to do with the victims.
“Now there is left nothing for those who were destroyed by this monster. It’s disgusting.”
HOPE – Healing Our Past Experiences – has folded after running out of cash trying to help Savile victims in Scarborough, where the presenter had a second home.
Founder Pauline Carruthers, 62, said: “Over the years, we helped thousands. But our workload doubled after the scandal broke.
“We asked the Savile Trust for £5,000 and got £500 which was very disappointing given we are based in Scarborough and were dealing with some of his victims.
“It was a paltry amount given what those he abused have gone through. It is totally wrong that the last of the money is not going to a charity which helps victims.”
A Leeds Community Foundation spokeswoman said: “The money will be invested in helping charities in Leeds that support the original aims of the Jimmy Savile Trust: including the relief of poverty, the relief of sickness and other charitable purposes.
“The money has to go to charities, not individuals. It will go to a range of worthwhile causes across the city.”
Chairwoman Rachel Hannan added: “This was something that we took a long time over.”
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/how-jimmy-savile-fixed-it-13499070
Judge rules on millionaire sex offender Charles Howeson’s release
26 Oct 2018
The former Royal Navy commander, Plymouth charity director and business leader was jailed for ‘isolating’ and ‘groping’ young men
The fall from grace of Plymouth businessman Charles Howeson was complete this morning as judges condemned him to serve his sex abuse sentence.
The former Royal Navy commander, charity director and business leader was jailed in June for “isolating” and “groping” eight young men.
He offended over a decade during the 1980s and 1990s, attacking the men – aged 20 to 33 – in strikingly similar ways.
But the 69-year-old has always insisted that the offences did not happen and the allegations are part of a conspiracy against him in “gossipy” Plymouth.
His case reached court in London today as he appealed against his convictions amid harsh criticisms of the way his trial proceeded.
Howeson claimed the trial was “unfair”, but in a two-hour hearing at the Court of Appeal, three judges upheld the verdicts.
“We are left with no real doubt that the verdicts are safe,” said Lord Justice Hickinbottom.
“On the evidence, we consider the verdicts were unsurprising.”
Appealing today, his barrister Daniel Janner QC claimed that the way the trial judge summed up the case to the jury was unfair to Howeson.
The summing up lasted four days and was a “mish mash muddle” of fact, legal directions and comment by the judge, he argued.
The length of the speech may have led to jurors “switching off” or they may have been “distracted” from the actual issues they had to decide.
Rejecting the appeal, Lord Justice Hickinbottom accepted that the judge’s summing up could have been better, but said the resulting verdicts were not “unsafe”.
‘He engaged in a course of conduct over more than 10 years’
The appeal judge, sitting with Mr Justice Jeremy Baker and Judge Deborah Taylor, rejected the sentence appeal.
https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/judge-rules-millionaire-sex-offender-2150746
Wealthy sex abuser Charles Howeson is bidding for freedom today
In December Howeson was convicted of 10 indecent assaults against eight young men in the 1980s and 1990s
26 OCT 2018
Fallen Plymouth millionaire Charles Howeson is appealing his conviction and sentencing for sexually abusing young men.
In December 2017 Howeson was convicted of 10 indecent assaults against eight young men in the 1980s and 1990s.
He was acquitted of attempted buggery and indecent assault against a ninth complainant in June, following a retrial at Bristol Crown Court.
That same month the judge sentenced him to seven-and-a-half years in prison and ordered him to pay £50,000 in costs.
He will also be on the Sex Offender’s Register for life.
Today Howeson will sit before the Court of Appeal in London to appeal against both his conviction and sentencing of the historic sex abuse charges.
Howeson will sit before Lord Justice Hickinbottom, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker and Her Honour Judge Deborah Taylor in a bid to clear his name.
In the last trial, the court heard Howeson had been diagnosed with cancer and was due to begin chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
At the time his wife Emma gave a moving statement outside court, saying they intend to appeal the convictions.
Sentencing Judge Mark Horton said at the time: “This case has revealed that whilst to the outside world you displayed the finest qualities of diplomacy, charisma, endeavour, organisation and charm which you demonstrated during your period in the navy and in your extensive and successful career and involvement at the very highest level with public bodies authorities, businesses, including a bank, but also in your public and charitable works, mainly associated with the community of Plymouth, the hidden and dark truth is these same qualities were the very qualities which enable you to mask and conceal a dark secret, only revealed for the world to see some 30 years later in this trial.
“That secret was your uncontrolled and predatory sexual behaviour towards particularly young, or at least vulnerable men, under your control.”
https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/live-charles-howeson-court-appeal-2148533
Valerie Shaw, a former Free Presbyterian church missionary, raised concerns about possible sex abuse at Kincora Boys’ Home in the early 1980s. File picture from Pacemaker
Kincora abuse whistleblower Valerie Shaw was a ‘brave lady’
A FORMER Free Presbyterian missionary who helped uncover the Kincora Boys’ Home sex abuse scandal has died.
Valerie Shaw, who was in her early eighties, was a “brave lady who will be remembered”, a child abuse campaigner has said after she passed away at Greenpark Nursing Home in Armagh on Sunday.
Three senior care staff – William McGrath, Raymond Semple and Joseph Mains – from the children’s home in east Belfast were jailed in 1981 for abusing 11 boys.
Ms Shaw said she told DUP leader and Free Presbyterian founder Ian Paisley about McGrath’s activities eight years before he was arrested and brought to court.
She told a press conference in 1982 she had approached Dr Paisley “on at least seven occasions”.
“I asked him time and time again what he intended to do about this,” she said.
“My concern all along was very much for the fact that there were young boys under the threat of this man’s corruption.”
Former moderator and founder of the Free Presbyterian Church, the late Ian Paisley. File picture by Kirth Ferris, Pacemaker
Mr Paisley denied the allegations against him and said Ms Shaw should have raised her concerns with police.
But Ms Shaw insisted that she had contacted the RUC and had been ignored.
Allegations have persisted that the three men were involved in a paedophile ring linked to the intelligence services.
Prominent Orangeman McGrath, who founded hardline loyalist group Tara, was an MI5 agent.
Campaigner Margaret McGuckin, from victims’ group Savia, said Ms Shaw had shown huge bravery in speaking out against sexual abuse.
“Abuse was never even spoken about at that time,” she said.
“She was a brave lady who spoke her truth.”
Ballysillan Elim Church tweeted: “Valerie was an incredible woman and a true servant of the Lord and will be missed by all who knew her”.
Ms Shaw’s funeral is to take place at the north Belfast church tomorrow morning followed by burial in Carnmoney Cemetery.
The building which houses the former Kincora home is up for sale. The property’s owner has applied for planning permission for 12 apartments on the site.
Victims have previously called for the building to be torn down.
Kincora Files from 1983 – CLOSED
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_p=1950&
Ex-football coach Jim Torbett on trial accused of historic sex abuse of four young boys in Glasgow
Torbett, 71, denies a total of nine offences of sexually abuse allegedly committed between August 1985 and August 1994
22 Oct 2018
A MAN went on trial today accused of historic sexual abuse of four young boys.
James Torbett, 71, from Glasgow, denies a total of nine offences of sexually abuse allegedly committed between August 1985 and August 1994.
Defence QC Tony Graham lodged a special defence of alibi in relation to a charge alleged to have taken place between June 1985 and June 1986.
Torbett is alleged to have first sexually abused the boys when they were aged four, 12, 12, and 13.
The offences are alleged to have taken place in a number of locations including Barrowfield Football Ground in Glasgow’s London Road, at Torbett’s home, a dormitory in France as well as training facilities in Glasgow’s west end and factory premises at The Trophy Centre in Pollokshaws, Glasgow.
Prosecutor Sheena Fraser said: “The trial is set down for 10 days, but it may be less than that.”
No evidence has been heard yet.
The trial before judge Lord Beckett continues.
Rusbridger’s Ghost @JamesRusbridger
“MI5 was in complete control of #Kincora “Paedophile Eric Witchell, if he chooses to be truthful, will be able to provide details about the trafficking of Richard Kerr to Enoch Powell MP. “Witchell should also be asked what he knows about Anthony Blunt”
“In 1973 or 1974 Richard Kerr was abused by a man he is adamant was Anthony Blunt “Unlike Enoch Powell who’d been violent with Richard, Anthony Blunt was gentle as he groomed Richard into being raped “#MI5 had given Richard to Anthony Blunt as a reward”
“What was Theresa May told about the use of sexual blackmail involving children by MI5? “If May is the Christian she claims, she would come clean on what MI5 has told her about the DUP members who were subjected to blackmail, whether sexual or otherwise”
“Anthony Blunt curried favour with MI5 by describing paedophile network of which he was a member. MI5 exploited it for blackmail & destabilisation. “Theresa May clings to power with the #DUP, one of whose top members was in Blunt’s paedophile underworld”
Child abuse skeletons in Theresa May’s closet
Deputy Lieutenants; Knowl View; Dolphin Square: Elm GH Cyril Smith DL KV Sir Hugh Beach DL DS Lady Bottomley DL EGH Lord Bramall DL DS Paul Knapman DL DS Lord Steel DL DS Robert Davis DL DS Shirley Porter DL DS Sir Reg Sheffield DL DS (Laud) Lady Shephard DL KV Lady Woolf DL EGH
https://villagemagazine.ie/index.php/2018/10/the-dup-skeletons-in-theresa-mays-closet/…
Westminster ‘paedophile ring’ accuser appears in court
20 Oct 2018
A man who alleged there was a paedophile ring at the heart of Westminster has appeared in court charged with lying to police.
He was in court in Newcastle accused of 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of fraud.
His claims sparked a police inquiry into allegations he was sexually assaulted by public figures and witnessed the murder of three boys.
The man, 50, known as Nick, is not being named for legal reasons.
He had claimed he was systematically abused and tortured by senior politicians, members of the armed forces, intelligence figures and a TV presenter during the 1970s and 1980s.
One of the perverting the court of justice charges says he made a false allegation of witnessing the murder of an unnamed boy by former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor.
His allegations were investigated by a Metropolitan Police investigation – codenamed Operation Midland.
In September last year, Northumbria Police passed a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) which led to Nick being charged.
The fraud charge alleges that in September 2013 he dishonestly made representations to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.
He appeared in custody on Saturday at Newcastle Crown Court, which was sitting as a magistrates’ court.
He has been remanded in custody and his next appearance will be at the same court – sitting as a crown court – on 19 November.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-45927312
Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry Publishes First Case Study Findings
11 October 2018
Many Children found “no love, no compassion, no dignity and no comfort” whilst in the care of the Daughters of Charity in Scotland
The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry has today (Thursday 11 October) published its findings into residential institutions run by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul (DoC). They conclude that children did suffer abuse.
During the case study, the Inquiry considered evidence about the nature and extent of any relevant abuse at institutions run by the DoC in Scotland, with a particular focus on Smyllum and Bellevue.
https://www.childabuseinquiry.scot/media/1890/aps-doc-findings-final-hyperlinked-11_oct.pdf
IslingtonSurvivorsNetwork @theIslingtonSN
This report @CSACentre avoids terms organised abuse and organised crime networks. Organised abuse and excellent multi agency investigation protocols vanished in 2013 from statutory guidance. Now few professionals know how to investigate it @InquiryCSA
Stuart Syvret @StuartSyvret
A key observation. & that is no accident.
One of the first things child-protection professionals should be schooled in, are the methodologies of mafias.
Child-abuse has a “value”; it is the ultimate ‘Currency-of-Concealment’.
Always ask, ‘who might have shielded the abusers?’….
Child abuse inquiry announces 17 more institutions to be investigated
13 September 2018
Seventeen further institutions are to be investigated by a far-reaching inquiry into historical allegations of the abuse of children in care.
The 17 are in addition to the 69 establishments already identified by the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI), taking the total number under scrutiny to 86.
The list includes religious and non-religious institutions, boarding schools and council and healthcare establishments around Scotland.
The newly-announced schools to be looked at are St Andrew’s School, in Shandon, Dunbartonshire; Queen Victoria boarding school in Dunblane; Balnacraig School in Perth; Edinburgh’s Royal Blind School and Harmeny School; Donaldson’s School for Deaf Children; Oakbank School in Aberdeen; Ovenstone Residential School in Fife; and Balrossie School in Inverclyde.
Cardross Park Assessment Centre and Dunclutha Children’s Home in Argyll will also be examined, as will Park Lodge in Glasgow.
Lagarie House Children’s Home in Rhu, Argyll; Redheugh Adolescent Unit in Kilbirnie, North Ayrshire, and Humbie Care Home in East Lothian are also to be investigated, inquiry chiefs announced.
Lennox Castle Hospital in Lennoxtown, East Dunbartonshire, and the Royal Scottish National Hospital in Larbert in the Falkirk area complete the list.
(United Nations) Peter Dalglish (left) with Prime minister Trudeau
Peter Dalglish confesses to sexually abusing children, then recants, according to police dossier
24 Sept 2018
Peter Dalglish, the Order of Canada recipient accused of assaulting children in Nepal, says he was himself assaulted as a child, according to court records seen by The Globe and Mail.
Mr. Dalglish, who was arrested in April and is now being held in a Nepalese prison, also told police he then abused teenagers as an adult, according to the dossier, which contains statements and police notes. In a video-taped confession, Mr. Dalglish described it as a kind of revenge, one of the police officers who questioned him told The Globe.
But although the court records shed new light on the evidence against Mr. Dalglish, they also illuminate substantial inconsistencies in the case against him. The most important of those is his confession, which he later repudiated before a judge during a months-long trial that is still going on.
Police found Mr. Dalglish with two boys when they arrested him at a remote mountainside home he maintained outside Kathmandu. Those boys provided graphic allegations of sexual contact with Mr. Dalglish. The court documents also include a detailed account of sexual assault by Mr. Dalglish against a third person. In another major inconsistency, however, that person subsequently withdrew his allegation.
Mr. Dalglish, a globe-trotting advocate for children who held multiple United Nations posts, himself denied wrongdoing in an interview with The Globe from a Kathmandu detention cell earlier this year. The case against him is not founded on “proper factual evidence,” said Rahul Chapagain, Mr. Dalglish’s defence lawyer. It amounts to “accusing a person and then harassing them,” he said.
But the two boys found in Mr. Dalglish’s home at the time of his arrest have stood by their testimony, said Kabit Katwal, deputy superintendent of Nepal Police.
“We are pretty sure that the case will not fail,” he said in an interview. “The evidence is there, the confession is there, the victims clearly told the story of how they became victimized. So everything is crystal clear.”
The court records show that, five days after his arrest, Mr. Dalglish described being beaten and sexually abused for years by a teacher, beginning at the age of 11. “I later abused other children between the ages of 16 and 18,” he said, according to a Nepali-language transcript.
“He was a victim and had some sense of revenge once he became an adult. He abused children,” Mr. Katwal said.
But Mr. Dalglish later denied that admission before a judge. “I have never, ever abused anyone sexually,” he said, according to a document in the court records. He blamed the documentation of his earlier confession on a translation error.
Mr. Katwal was among those who questioned Mr. Dalglish, in conversations conducted in English and video-recorded, he said. Mr. Katwal also spoke in English during a detailed interview with The Globe. “You see, we can easily communicate in English. There is no problem,” Mr. Katwal said. A translator rendered Mr. Dalglish’s comments into Nepali, he said.
Mr. Dalglish is currently being held in Dhulikhel Jail, on the outskirts of Kathmandu. He was transferred there after a court denied him bail this summer, citing him as a potential flight risk. He has now been held in custody for nearly half a year, and police expect his trial to last for another month or two. But “he has not complained about his situation,” said Mr. Chapagain, his lawyer.
Over the course of his career, Mr. Dalglish delivered aid to famine-struck Ethiopia, worked with the children of murdered parents in Guatemala, evacuated children from war-torn Sudan, taught sex workers’ children in India, responded to the Ebola crisis in Liberia, founded an organization that helped street kids around the world and oversaw skills training in Afghanistan. He often paid school fees for poor children, took them on international trips and invited them to his home.
His trial is being conducted as Nepalese authorities have arrested a series of men on pedophilia-related charges this year, including a Dutch doctor and two French nationals.
One of the key issues for the Nepalese courts is assessing the reliability of evidence presented. The records seen by The Globe, for example, include a detailed account from a Nepalese man who described events that took place beginning 13 years ago.
That man, now 25, attended a Buddhist school where Mr. Dalglish occasionally taught leadership classes. The Shree Mangal Dvip Boarding School says it later banned Mr. Dalglish from its premises, citing discomfort with his conduct around children.
But at the time, Mr. Dalglish invited children to his home for sleepovers, and “used to give us a guitar, piano, bags, school books and other stuff,” the man said in a statement to police. “Peter used to make us naked and bathed us separately,” the statement says. “He then applied oil on our body and after going to sleep he used to come and touch us.“
In court, however, the man offered a very different account. “Peter hasn’t abused me sexually,” he said, according to trial records seen by The Globe. “We used to bathe on our own. Peter did not bathe us or apply oil to us. We used to put oil on ourselves.”
Mr. Dalglish’s lawyer said the inconsistency was also linguistic, saying the man is a member of the Tamang minority who is a poor Nepali speaker. Police and the Shree Mangal school said the man speaks and reads Nepali.
Police evidence against Mr. Dalglish also includes the testimony of the two children in his house at the time of his arrest, as well as what a police document calls 50 “naked photos of children from different countries.“
One of the boys in that house alleged Mr. Dalglish had sexually abused him for four years. That victim said “Peter used to buy him food, give money, buy him clothes and tell him often that [Dalglish] would take him to Bangkok for tours and provide him a job in a five-star hotel when he grew up,” according to the statement in the court record, which includes graphic details of genital touching and oral sex.
The police statement notes that Mr. Dalglish denied those allegations.
His lawyer, too, questioned their reliability. The boys, aged 12 and 14 when Mr. Dalglish was arrested, gave conflicting accounts of the alleged assaults against them, Mr. Chapagain said.
And some of the photos of naked children had been published decades ago by Mr. Dalglish in his book, The Courage of Children. The photos are not sexual in nature, but include children in the slums of Bombay and “African children in their natural state,” Mr. Chapagain said.
Kevin Spacey with Bono and Trudeau
Parish chairman, 49, who led revolt against police checks on councillors, faces jail for raping a 16-year-old girl and sexually abusing five schoolboys when he was a DJ at teenage discos
- Mark McCormick, 49, led a revolt against police checks on councillors
- He is now facing jail for raping a 16-year-old girl and other sexual offences
- Bursledon Parish Council’s office in Hampshire was raided by police
- McCormick admitted several charges at Southampton Crown Court on Tuesday
21 Sept 2018
Mark McCormick, a mobile DJ and entertainer, was first elected to Bursledon Parish Council in 2011 and committed the offences between 2009 and 2014. Twice elected as Chair of the Parish Council, he chaired the council during a bitter dispute with the previous trustees of Bursledon District Community Association (BDCA), over how the Lowford Community Centre
A parish chairman who led a revolt against police checks on councillors is facing jail for raping a 16-year-old girl.
Mark McCormick, 49, also admitted inciting five schoolboys to engage in sexual activity – dating from his time as a DJ at teenage discos.
His secret perverted past only came to light after a series of victims came forward, and the Bursledon Parish Council office in the Hampshire village’s community centre was raided, and computers seized.
Mark McCormick (pictured), former parish councillor in Bursledon, Hampshire, has pleaded guilty to rape and multiple charges involving indecent assaults on children
McCormick pleaded guilty at the last minute to 14 sexual abuse charges at Southampton Crown Court on Tuesday.
He had forced his victims to go through the ordeal of preparing to give evidence, only to finally admit the truth as the trial was about to begin.
McCormick faces a long prison term for one count of rape, three of indecent activity with a child, two counts of multiple incidents of indecent assault on a child, five of indecent assault on a male, one of sexual assault and one count of taking indecent photographs of a child.
The charges relate to seven youngsters, five under 16, and took place between 1997 and 2011. McCormick was remanded in custody to be sentenced on October 12.
It is understood that he has stepped down as parish council chairman – the role he was re-elected to in May 2016.
The drama began four years ago when Eastleigh Borough Council spent £4million on The Lowford Community Centre in Bursledon – where 1980s boatyard soap opera Howards’ Way was filmed.
It included a GP surgery, a volunteer-run library and an office for the parish council – and was run by the Bursledon and District Community Association, headed by chairman John Misselbrook.
Early in 2016 he told the parish that its councillors and the library volunteers had to go through Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks for criminal and police records to satisfy the centre’s insurer.
When members failed to comply, he evicted them.
Keith House, the Liberal Democrat leader of Eastleigh Borough Council, led opposition to police checks, arguing that Hampshire County Council does not ‘subject library staff to DBS checks’.
Only after the parish council, under McCormick, had spent £18,000 of public money on a legal battle over the eviction, did the local councillors agree in November 2016 ‘to carry out DBS checks against each member of staff and volunteer’ at the community library.
But they did not offer to do the same for parish councillors.
A compromise was eventually reached, with the parish council allowed to use the hall again. But McCormick had still not provided his criminal record, and has not done so to date.
Earlier last year, officers from Hampshire Police told Mr Misselbrook about a risk to children posed by two ‘potentially dangerous’ men frequenting the community centre.
Police then raided its parish council office and chairman McCormick, a Liberal Democrat who describes himself as a ‘voiceover artiste, DJ and radio presenter’, was arrested at home on suspicion of grooming a teenage boy.
McCormick said in his annual report to his council last year: ‘The Parish Council and the Library have had in place since its opening both a child protection and a safeguarding policy and the Library has an appointed safeguarding officer.
‘However, to obtain DBS checks the Parish Council had to adopt certain policies to allow us to have these checks made. Contrary to certain speculation there are a number of hoops we must go through to have people DBS checked.
‘However, as I said earlier we have complied with all the policies and we are now in the process of obtaining these checks for all the relevant people..’
It was not clear even then if he considered parish councillors to be ‘relevant people’ and he did not comply.
It is understood he had already attracted police attention so would have failed a police check. When approached by the Daily Mail before his guilty plea and asked about his refusal to provide checks, he slammed the door.
Avenue Artistes Ltd, Moxhams AV Ltd, Network Entertainment
https://meetings.eastleigh.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=50000007&T=6
DJ Mark McCormick
If you’re planning a wedding or a party Avenue’s number one DJ Mark McCormick is the DJ to get it to go with a swing. His experience and empathy with his audience guarantee that he will provide the music and entertainment that is right for the event.
Marks love for his work combined with his energetic approach and 25 years experience brings life to any venue, he really is the Number one party DJ. Mark is and all-rounder who can entertain at any type of event whether it’s a 90yr old birthday or a corporate awards night.
He is an accomplished performer who can present or host the more formal events and is also well known for hosting a number of top award ceremonies, conference entertainment and providing voice overs, narration for the corporate and many awards shows across the uk and abroad.
Mark is the Recommend DJ / Presenter For many of the top venues across the south coast.
http://www.avenueartistes.com/mccormick.html
McCormick, a mobile DJ and entertainer, was first elected to Bursledon Parish Council in 2011 and committed the offences between 2009 and 2014. Twice elected as Chair of the Parish Council, he chaired the council during a bitter dispute with the previous trustees of Bursledon District Community Association (BDCA), over how the Lowford Community Centre should be managed.
http://www.eastleighnews.co.uk/2018/09/ex-parish-council-chair-admits-child-sex-offences/
A former parish council chairman has admitted raping a 16-year-old girl and several sexual offences against boys.
Mark McCormick, 49, pleaded guilty to 14 charges on the first day of his trial at Southampton Crown Court.
The former Bursledon councillor committed the offences between 1997 and 2011, the court heard.
Refusing bail, Judge Nicholas Rowland said the “extremely serious” offences meant “a long sentence” would be imposed at a hearing on 12 October.
McCormick, of Griffon Close, Bursledon, pleaded guilty to seven counts of indecent assaults on boys and four counts of inciting boys to commit acts of gross indecency.
His youngest victim was a boy aged under 14, the court heard.
The other three offences were the rape of a girl, a sexual assault on a man and taking an indecent photo of a boy.
In total, the offences involved seven victims including five boys.
McCormick entered no pleas to a number of other charges, involving another two alleged victims, which the court ordered to lie on file.
Victims of Burton paedophile head teacher Derek Slade, should be managed feel ‘conned’ over compensation
Teacher Derek Slade was caught when police raided his Horninglow home
20 Sept 2018
Pupils at a Norfolk boarding school were beaten and sexually abused by Derek Slade, formerly of Farm Road, Horninglow, in Burton.
St George’s School at Wicklewood near Wymondham, in Norfolk, which moved to Great Finborough, in Suffolk in 1980, was the scene of horrific beatings and sexual abuse in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Sadistic headmaster Slade made boys as young as eight strip naked for beatings and then forced them to write essays about the whippings.
He organised “midnight feasts” at his home in the school grounds where he and friends sexually abused the boys, a court later heard.
Slade was jailed at Ipswich Crown Court in 2010, then aged 61, for 21 years after police raided his home in Burton in February 2010 and found 70,000 images of children, some from India and others from Africa.
He died in prison in 2016. Two other teachers were also jailed for abuse in 2012 and 2016.
The firm behind St George’s School, Anglemoss Ltd, agreed to pay a total of £855,000 to 36 ex-pupils, it says in a liquidator’s report on the firm.
But an investigation by the Eastern Daily Press reveal that three quarters of the settlement will go towards paying the costs of the case, where liquidators charged fees of up to £600 a hour.
It leaves the 36 victims with £192,000 – just £5,000 each – which will be paid out over several years.
One former pupil said he felt “betrayed” after the school’s ownership was restructured in 2011, without putting aside enough money to pay all of the claims.
“We feel conned, let down, disrespected and what happened to us trivialised,” said another former pupil.
He said he had never had an apology from St George’s owners.
James Sinclair, (r) took over from his father John (l)
The school has changed its name to the fee paying Finborough School and is now managed by James Sinclair, the son of the founder of St George’s, John Sinclair.
Anglemoss’ directors, the Sinclair family, hired solicitors in 2011 to restructure the firm’s business and move its assets to two new companies which they also owned.
While Anglemoss did not pay victims agreed compensation from 2013 onwards, the new company running Finborough School built a £2.5 million sports centre, said the report.
Another of the victims added: “The school and Sinclairs could have done the honourable thing, it would have shown decency and true care for their ex-pupils.”
St Georg’s School headmaster Derek Slade (left) and Alan Brigden (also known as Morton). Both men were jailed for abuse
•Timeline of case
1978: St George’s School established by John Sinclair near Wymondham. Derek Slade appointed headmaster.
1980: It moves to Great Finborough near Stowmarket
1982: Abuse allegations made by pupils to journalist Roger Cook. Slade denies allegations but leaves.
2009: Ex-pupils report Slade’s abuse to police.
September 2010: Slade convicted, jailed for 21 years.
Late 2010: Solicitors begin acting for ex-pupils to get compensation
February 2011: Former teacher Alan Williams arrested but takes own life in June while on bail.
July 2012: Former maths teacher at school Alan Brigden jailed for five years.
March 2014: Court appoints auditors to liquidate company behind school.
June 2015: Solicitors issue claims against school’s new companies.
March 2016: Slade dies aged 66.
September 2016: Ex-teacher Gerard Singer jailed.
July 2018: Ex-pupils told liquidator has settled claims.
Derek Sawyer former Labour leader of the Islington Borough Council, and the former Chairman of the London Regional Courts Boards as well as chairman for Catch 22 and other organisations.
One name seems to be in the forefront in all the documentation at the time :
John Sinclair-
His name appears on the letterhead along with the “Slade”
he appears in the newspaper article ( from which the photos were cropped of the children in 1978) ”
and the financial backing of Mr. John Sinclair
( noted as the ADMISSIONS OFFICER)
Mr. Sinclair seems to have had a “hands on approach” http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/principal_follows_in_father_s_footsteps_1_87632
and has run foul of the law for having a hands on-
A SUFFOLK public school principal found guilty of beating a dog walker with his hiking stick is unlikely to lose his job, it emerged today.
John Sinclair, owner and principal of the independent Finborough School, was ordered yesterday to pay a fine, compensation and prosecution costs totalling £900.
Sinclair, 55, of The Coach House, Great Finborough near Stowmarket,
The Coach House- home of John Sinclair until 2003 –
http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/public_school_principal_guilty_of_attack_1_135976
Sinclair’s two dogs approached and appeared friendly until one attacked, causing injuries to the throat and ear of Mr Wyer’s dog. Mr Wyer told Bury St Edmunds magistrates that he had kicked Sinclair’s dog to try to separate the animals. Sinclair had struck him six times with a stick “as thick as your wrist”. He suffered injuries to the head and shin, the court was told.
Michael Wyer, who lives with his son in Great Finborough, told magistrates: “This was a frantic attack that happened very quickly. The man was demented. Blows were raining down from all directions as he was trying to hit Malcolm.
“I was absolutely shocked and stunned. Sinclair ran up to my son with a very heavy stick raised above his head which he then smashed down on my son’s head. He proceeded to hit my son about six more blows to the body as my son was doing his best to protect his head.”
The head of the £13,380-a-year school, who is also chairman of the association’s East Anglia division, was ordered to pay £300 costs and £100 compensation to Mr Wyer.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1447620/Headmaster-beat-man-who-kicked-his-dog.html
Mr. Sinclair and his family are still heavily involved in the NOW Finborough School- Note the name change from St. George’s Finborough to THE Finborough School–
http://www.finboroughschool.co.uk/
St George’s School 1980
BUT the building where so much childhood terror and perversion took place is still welcoming pupils. One has to wonder does not Mr. Sinclair ever hear the cries of the children as abuse was heaped upon their little bodies echoing through the rooms that held such torment for those young boys. A building that was once a workhouse in its past now also holds the history of depravity.
Finborough Now
His own children are part of the NOW “Finsborough family”
http://blog.finboroughschool.co.uk/
Sweeping green lawns , photos in local papers and the net proclaiming its worthiness to educate the young – the whole building is “dressed “ the school marketed professionally- but there is a disease of perversion that perfumes the atmosphere of those not so hallowed halls that needs to be eradicated – its history will continue to haunt – no matter how they dress it up –
You can read the account of one of the school’s children here
http://ravingpikey.wordpress.com/2011/07/21/of-good-courage/
TWO of Suffolk’s best-known independent schools are to merge, it was announced last night
2010
From January next year, Finborough School, near Stowmarket, and Hillcroft Preparatory School, in Haughley Green, will join forces.
From left, Gwyneth and Fred Rapsey, joint headmistress and headmaster of Hillcroft School, with John and Sue Sinclair, principal and admissions officer at Finborough School
http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/school-merger-plan-gets-go-ahead-1-77483
Pope role in study of Argentine sex abuse case in spotlight
18 Sept 2018
Sept. 9, 2013 Rev. Julio Grassi stands in a courtroom, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Argentina’s Supreme Court in March 2017 upheld the conviction and 15-year prison sentence against Grassi, a celebrity priest who ran homes for street children across Argentina. (AP Photo)
Pope Francis’ role in Argentina’s most famous case of priestly sex abuse is coming under renewed scrutiny as he faces the greatest crisis of his papacy over the Catholic Church’s troubled legacy of cover-up and allegations he himself sided with the accused.
Francis, who at the time was still Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, in 2010 commissioned a four-volume, 2,000-plus page forensic study of the legal case against a convicted priest that concluded he was innocent, that his victims were lying and that the case never should have gone to trial.
The Argentine church says that the study obtained by The Associated Press — bound volumes complete with reproductions of Johannes Vermeer paintings on the covers — was for internal church use only. But the volumes purportedly ended up on the desks of some Argentine court justices who were ruling on the appeals of the Rev. Julio Grassi.
Despite the study, Argentina’s Supreme Court in March 2017 upheld the conviction and 15-year prison sentence against Grassi, a celebrity priest who ran homes for street children across Argentina.
The study, and Francis’ role in the Grassi case, have taken on new relevance following allegations by a former Vatican ambassador that Francis, and a long line of Vatican officials before him, covered up the sexual misconduct of a prominent U.S. cardinal.
Neither Francis nor the Vatican has responded to the allegations that Francis rehabilitated ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick from sanctions in 2013. The Vatican didn’t respond to a request for comment about Francis’ role in the Grassi case.
In an exclusive interview with AP, Grassi’s victim, Gabriel, said he is still waiting for Francis to acknowledge his pain, given the Supreme Court has now ruled that he indeed was assaulted by Grassi when he was 13.
“I’d like for the church to say something, even though I don’t expect it will,” Gabriel told AP, sitting next to his psychiatrist. “No one ever reached out to me,” he said. “No one bothered.”
Francis, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires, wasn’t Grassi’s bishop and bore no direct responsibility for him. But in 2006, he was quoted by the now-defunct Argentine magazine Veintitres as saying the accusations against Grassi were “informative viciousness against him, a condemnation by the media.”
He said he would withhold judgment pending the outcome of the court case, but Grassi himself testified that Bergoglio had “never let go of my hand” throughout the legal process.
Under Bergoglio’s presidency, Argentina’s bishops conference in 2010 enlisted a leading Argentine criminal defense attorney, Marcelo Sancinetti, to research a counter-inquiry into the prosecutors’ case against Gabriel and two other former residents of Grassi’s Happy Children homes whose cases were thrown out in the initial trial.
In the study, Sancinetti concluded that not only weren’t the accusations against Grassi sufficiently proven, “the falsity of each one of the accusations is objectively verifiable.”
In the four tomes, which were produced at an annual clip from 2010-2013, Sancinetti accused Gabriel of changing his story and trying to extort Grassi. But a court years earlier had already thrown out a lawsuit filed by Grassi accusing Gabriel of extortion.
Sancinetti compared the “current trials and condemnations with severe sentences based exclusively on the word of a person who calls itself victim of sexual abuse to the trials for witchcraft of the Middle Ages.” And in the final volume and on his law firm’s website, Sancinetti said Francis in particular had commissioned the work. He didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.
Argentina’s Supreme Court disagreed with Sancinetti’s analysis, and on March 21, 2017, upheld Grassi’s 2009 conviction for having sexually abused and corrupted Gabriel.
Through tears, Gabriel had testified that on two separate occasions in 1996 the priest once fondled him, and then performed oral sex on him in his office.
Gabriel, who for a time was placed in Argentina’s witness protection program after suffering a break-in, physical attacks and threats, said he was shocked when Grassi testified that Bergoglio “had never let go of my hand.”
“We were all like ‘wow!’ It was Bergoglio,” he said.
Gabriel said he and his lawyer delivered a letter addressed to Francis two months after he was elected Latin America’s first pope, bringing it to the Vatican embassy in Buenos Aires on May 8, 2013.
In the letter, Gabriel identified himself as a victim of “aberrant crimes of repeated sexual abuse and corruption” by Grassi.
He lamented that court-protected details of his abuse had been exposed by the study, which he said had “denigrated” him personally and contradicted the stated “zero tolerance” policy of both Pope Benedict XVI and Francis.
“I suffered and continue to suffer,” he wrote.
He asked for an audience with the pope “and I earnestly beg you for compassion and help in recovering my faith.”
He never received a reply. In fact, his lawyer said they were threatened at the embassy and don’t know what became of the letter.
Asked why the Argentine bishops conference had commissioned the study, a conference spokeswoman said it was to help bishops understand the case better.
“The bishops conference considered that it could provide more information in view of the canonical procedure,” the conference said in a statement to AP.
Such a study, however, would be unthinkable for use in a canonical trial. While church trials do make use of police investigations and evidence from secular courts, a counter-study commissioned by an entire bishops’ conference could run into jurisdictional problems at a canonical trial, canonists said.
In addition, Gabriel’s attorney, Juan Pablo Gallego, said the books ended up on the desks of some Argentine judges deciding Grassi’s appeals and represented what he called a blatant, albeit unsuccessful lobbying attempt.
The diocese of Moron, which was responsible for Grassi, had long defended its decision to keep him in ministry even after the trial began by saying it didn’t want to prejudice the outcome.
Eighteen months after Argentina’s high court ruled against him, Grassi remains a priest as he serves his 15-year sentence in the Unidad 41 de Campana prison in the province of Buenos Aires.
The Moron diocese said Grassi had been removed from pastoral duties when the trial began, and that he now has been restricted from exercising any public ministry. The diocese told AP that the canonical case is now with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that handles sex abuse cases.
Julieta Anazco, president of Argentina’s Survivors’ Network of Ecclesiastical Abuse, said the Grassi case was a watershed for Argentina since the victims went up against a celebrity priest who had the backing of Argentina’s Catholic elite, and suffered the public humiliation of being accused of only seeking money.
“They have made the path of our struggle easier for us,” she said. “Thanks to their struggle, many of us were encouraged to denounce (our abusers) publicly.”
She cited the recent case of hearing-impaired victims of the now-notorious Antonio Provolo Institute who came forward to denounce abuse by the same Italian priest accused by Italian Provolo students who in 2014 alerted Francis and the Vatican to his whereabouts. Argentine police have arrested the Rev. Nicola Coradi and raided Provolo schools.
“Before Pope Francis can enact accountability for bishops and other church leaders, he has to own up to the harm he himself caused victims in Argentina,” said Anne Barrett Doyle of the online resource Bishop Accountability, which has gathered the documentation on the Grassi saga.
The case has parallels to that in neighboring Chile, where Francis repeatedly defended a bishop accused of covering up for the country’s most notorious predator, the Rev. Fernando Karadima. Francis discredited Karadima’s victims, who placed Bishop Juan Barros at the scene of their abuse, saying their accusations were “calumny.”
Francis eventually acknowledged he had made “grave errors in judgment” about Barros, apologized to the victims and launched a Vatican investigation that resulted in all of Chile’s active bishops offering to resign.
He has offered no mea culpa about the Grassi case. Gabriel, who works odd jobs off the books and has no credit card, is waiting.
The Scottish branch of the British Sailors’ Society ran a children’s home from 1949 to 1982 in the village of Rhu near Helensburgh.
Mr Barrie was a prolific child sex abuser who used his position as a minister within the British Sailors’ Society to operate – or at least facilitate – a paedophile ring, with others connected to the organisation…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/sisters_who_survived_the_evil_at_lagarie
1970 Princess Alexandra (Duncroft) charity colleague of Jimmy Savile at Lagarie Childrens Home
At least 22 pupils and one visitor were abused by Jimmy Savile at Duncroft Approved School in the 1970s, a Surrey Police report has found.
https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/jimmy-savile-abused-22-pupils-9142879
Police cover up Savile’s claims to be friends with Queen’s cousin: Paedophile ‘visited Duncroft school at centre of abuse allegations with Princess Alexandra’
‘Princess Alex is a patron of a hostel for girls in care. At this place I’m a cross between a term-time boyfriend and a fixer of special trips out.’
Decades of sex abuse uncovered at Rhu children’s home
17 September 2018
Decades of physical cruelty and child sex abuse allegations at a children’s home in Argyll have been uncovered by a BBC investigation.
The claims centre around Lagarie Children’s Home in Rhu, Argyll, run by the Sailors’ Society charity.
More than a dozen people have told the BBC they were abused at the home, many of them sexually, by staff there.
The Sailors’ Society says it “apologises unreservedly that this abuse happened”.
Between 1949 and 1982, hundreds of children were sent to live at Lagarie. They were the children of seafarers taken in by the Sailors Society, a Christian charity supporting the families of men working at sea.
The programme, Disclosure: Suffer The Children, to be broadcast on BBC One Scotland at 22:40 on Monday tells the harrowing stories of the victims of abuse during two separate regimes at the home.
The Rev William Barrie has been accused of raping victims hundreds of times and his wife Mary of physical abuse
Angela Montgomery and her sisters Mary and Norma were at the home because their mother had died young and their father was at sea.
They told the BBC they were subjected to sustained sexual abuse after the Rev William Barrie and his wife Mary took charge of the home in 1972.
The Montgomery sisters said that over the years at Lagarie they were raped hundreds of times by Mr Barrie and physically abused by his wife.
Angela, now 56, said: “After a while, even as unpleasant as it was…not that you got used to it, you just thought… there was no point struggling or fighting… you know. You just… it was this level of acceptance of, it became part and parcel of life at Lagarie.”
Angela tells the programme children were taken away from Lagarie to conventions to be abused by people associated with Mr Barrie and the Sailors’ Society.
The Montgomery sisters left Lagarie more than 40 years ago and each of them has struggled with mental health problems.
Matron Anne Millar pictured with with Roddy Austin
During an earlier regime which Disclosure has investigated, the allegations centred on Anne Millar, the matron of the home who professed to be a devout Christian but Roddy Austin, one of the former residents, said he lived in fear at Lagarie.
Roddy, 61, said: “Unless you’ve lived it, you can’t experience it, you can’t try to fathom what went on in that place…she was evil.”
Philip Donald, now 58, was in the home for about two and a half years. He says Ms Millar used to pick him up by the ears, throw him into a cold bath and put her soap-covered fingers down his throat.
Both Roddy and Philip say they were sexually abused by the Lagarie gardener, Norman Skelton.
Philip told the programme, “He raped me. Over and over again.”
Mr Skelton died in 1999. Anne Millar retired from the home 1970 and is also now dead.
The Montgomery sisters and others gave statements to the old Strathclyde police force about the abuse in the early 2000s but no-one was charged. A second police investigation, prompted by the Sailors Society, concluded in 2016.
Mrs Barrie was questioned, and a report sent to the fiscal, but she was never charged. She died in late 2017.
William Barrie died in 1993 without ever having to answer any questions about the allegedly large-scale and organised abuse of children in his care.
Stuart Rivers, chief executive of the Southampton-based charity which has the Queen as its patron, was interviewed for the programme and apologised for the abuse that happened.
He said: “I was horrified when I heard these accounts. We do regret any abuse happened and we have apologised unreservedly that this abuse happened.”
Asked if the charity takes full responsibility for the abuse that took place, he said: “I think we have to take some responsibility. I want to see a satisfactory outcome for all who have been affected by this.”
He added that the charity is providing counselling for Lagarie survivors.
Patrick McGuire, of Thompson’s Solicitors, represents some former residents of Lagarie in civil cases against the Sailors’ Society.
He said: “The abuse is on an entirely different scale from anything else that we’ve seen.
“The simple fact is that nobody was looking out for these kids.”
Mr Rivers said: “We have co-operated fully with police and the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry and have written to all former residents we have had any contact with to date, apologising for any abuse suffered and encouraging them to make contact with police and the inquiry if they felt able to do so.”
The charity opposed the Scottish government’s plans to end the Time Bar law preventing victims of historical abuse from bringing civil actions. It said it believed a government-led redress scheme, which is under consideration, was the best solution.
Mr Rivers added: “Nobody involved in these historic events is connected in any way with the organisation now. We are no longer involved in running this, or any other children’s home, and today we have rigorous safeguarding measures in place.”
Police sent a file to the crown in 2016 about Mrs Barrie and one other man in relation to Lagarie. No charges were brought.
‘No proceedings’
A Crown Office spokesperson said: “Following full and careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, including the currently available admissible evidence, Crown Counsel instructed that there should be no proceedings at this time.
“The Crown reserves the right to raise proceedings should further evidence become available.”
Disclosure will share the results of its investigation to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry which last week announced that Lagarie has now been added to the list of residential homes it will probe.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-45542214
CEO, Stuart Rivers, was made aware of allegations when he joined Sailors’ Society and in 2014 spoke directly with a number of former residents.
https://www.sailors-society.org/about-us/our-history/lagarie-childrens-home/
Every year, the Barries would take the children on holiday to the Arbroath Convention, which was a religious festival held annually.
Angela and Norma had hoped it might be a holiday in every sense.
“We thought he might have left us alone,” says Angela. But he didn’t, she says, and neither did his friends from the British Sailors’ Society.
Both Norma and Angela separately describe nearly identical, multiple attacks, involving a man associated with the society, whom they believed to be a chaplain.
“I liked him. He’d ask me to put Bibles out. He seemed really friendly. Then one day he followed me into the toilet,” says Angela.
She knew what had happened to me. She said nothing
In her front room in Helensburgh, less than two miles from Rhu, Norma, with one of her beloved cats by her side, talks about the man.
She knew him only by his surname, the name he used from the pulpit, when invited to speak at services by Mr Barrie.
Norma says that in the toilets of the Baptist church, close to where they were holidaying and minutes after giving a sermon, the man followed her in and raped her.
Rhu Childrens Home is Unique
The children’s home from hell; SUNDAY MAIL INVESTIGATES: SCANDAL OF SEX ATTACKS ON SAILORS’ KIDS.
November 25, 2001
A SISTER and her two brothers have revealed a horrifying catalogue of abuse at a home for sailors’ kids.
Tina Patterson, John Morrice and Philip Donald broke their silence last week to tell how:
The matron of the home thrashed children every day with a rod;
Philip was thrown around by his ears so often he needed surgery to sew them back on;
Horrific sexual abuse was a common occurrence;
Christmas presents handed out by Dr Finlay TV star Barbara Mullen were taken off the sobbing children as soon as the actress left.
Now the British and International Sailors Society has launched an investigation into the claims.
Tina, 43, Philip, 42, and John, 41, were sent to Lagarie house in Rhu, Dunbartonshire, when their parents split up.
Their mother had left their father, a trawlerman, after he beat her up.
The three children, who had been brought up in Aberdeen, arrived at the charity’s home in the late 1960s. The abuse started immediately.
Tina, who now lives in Tain, Easter Ross, said: “I have never been able to get over the terrible things that were done to us there.”
She claims she was frequently beaten with a stick, force-fed, and suffered ritual humiliation.
Tina said: “I had to stand by and watch while my younger brothers were beaten black and blue.
“I still have nightmares of our years at the home. I’m still suffering.
“We were never allowed presents or sweets. Anything brought to us was immediately taken away, and we never saw the items again.
Tina told how actress Barbara Mullen, who starred as housekeeper Janet in Dr Finlay’s Casebook, visited the home one Christmas with presents for the kids.
But as soon as big-hearted Barbara – who died in 1979 – left the home, the gifts were taken away from the sobbing children by callous staff.
Tina’s brother John, of Inverness, also spent two years at the home after their parents split.
He said: “My father was a trawlerman in Aberdeen. After a big fight which ended with my mum being hospitalised, they broke up and we were put into the Sailors Society home.
“Some of the staff were vicious. I suffered terrible beatings. My body was black and blue after being hit with a stick by the matron.”
Another brother, Philip, who now lives in Liverpool, claims he suffered horrific beatings in the home when he was just eight years old.
He claimed: “I was sexually abused repeatedly.
“I suffered lasting injuries and have never been able to be the father of any children. I was picked up and thrown around by the ears so often, I’ve had surgery to sew them back in place. I was in that home for more than two years, and every single day was a torture.
“Whenever I heard my name being called, I would cower in a corner like an animal because I knew the beatings were about to start.”
On one occasion, the terrified boy was so scared, he ran naked into the surrounding countryside in a desperate attempt to seek help.
He said: “I was eventually brought back by the staff and was then beaten even harder for causing a fuss.”
Social work reports recovered by the family show officials and estranged family members had raised concerns over the bruising they had seen on children at the home.
In one report, a senior social worker informed his superiors there were “doubts about the home”.
He also referred to allegations that a child had been beaten. The reports describe the children at Lagarie as being “institutionalised”.
For decades, the British and International Sailors Society collected thousands of pounds every year with their Santa red Christmas stocking appeal, which was hung up in shops and town centres across the country.
The charity’s Dunbartonshire home was closed in 1982 and has since been converted into flats.
It had been opened in 1949 for the relief of poverty and distress among seafarers and their families.
The charity, based in Southampton, still has an income of pounds 3.5million a year, with investments and funds of around pounds 10million.
The Sailors Society confirmed an inquiry will be launched into the claims made by Tina, John and Philip.
The charity’s general secretary Alan Smith said last night: “We are extremely concerned to hear these allegations.
“As a Christian organisation, it is distressing to hear that any child may have come to harm while in our care.
“We will do everything in our power to investigate the situation.
“Unfortunately, there are difficulties involved in this, as many records were lost when the home closed.”
Mr Smith confirmed other families have been in touch with the charity, as have Lothian and Borders Police.
He said: “Officers from the force’s female and child unit at Leith, in Edinburgh, have contacted us recently.”
Last night, Lothian and Borders Police revealed that another former resident at the home had made similar allegations of abuse and violence.
Lawyer Cameron Fyfe, who is acting for Tina, John and Philip, said: “I will be contacting the charity in due course to put their allegations to them.”
Mr Fyfe already represents more than 150 former residents of remand homes which were run by the De La Salle order of monks in Scotland.
He has launched court actions on their behalf against former staff of the homes. It is alleged they carried out sexual and physical assaults on boys in their care.
AWARD BID CHARITY CHILD ABUSE SHAME; TV INVESTIGATION UNCOVERS SCANDAL Sailors’ Society Tried to Prevent Law Change to Help Victim Claims
17 Sept 2018
A CHRISTIAN charity who allowed more than a dozen children to be sexually abused at one of their homes have been shortlisted for a national award.
Victims have told how they suffered at the hands of staff at Lagarie Children’s Home in Rhu, Argyll.
It is run by the Sailors’ Society, who are vying to be named charity of the year at the Charity Times Awards. The winners will be announced on October 3. Victims spoke of their disgust at the recognition for the charity, who opposed the Scottish Government’s move to abolish the time bar law for historical abuse.
How they Former resident Roddy Austin, now 61, said: “How dare they put themselves forward for something like this.
forward something “It’s disgusting. They should never have been accepted into such a competition.”
” Between 1949 and 1982, hundreds of seafarers’ children were sent to live at Lagarie after being taken in by the Sailors’ Society – a Christian cause supporting the families of men working at sea.
In BBC Scotland TV programme Disclosure: Suffer the Children – which will be broadcast tonight – dare put victims tell harrowing stories of abuse at the home during two separate regimes.
for Angela Montgomery and her sisters Mary and Norma were sent to Lagarie as their mother had died young and their father was at sea.
They told how they were subjected to sustained sexual abuse after Reverend William Barrie and his wife Mary took charge in 1972.
The Montgomery sisters claimed they were raped hundreds of times by Rev Barrie.
Angela, now 56, said: “After a while, there was no point struggling or fighting. It became part and parcel of life at Lagarie.”
She also tells how children were taken from Lagarie to conventions to be abused by people associated with Barrie and the Sailors’ Society.
During an earlier regime, allegations centered on Anne Millar, the matron of the homewho professed to be a devout Christian.
Roddy and Philip Donald, now 58, say they were sexually abused by Lagarie’s gardener Norman Skelton, who died in 1999.
The Montgomery sisters and others gave statements about the abuse to Strathclyde Police in the early 2000s, but no one was charged. A second police probe, prompted by the Sailors’ Society, concluded in 2016.
Mary Barrie was questioned and a report was sent to the procurator fiscal, but she was never charged. She died last year. Rev Barrie died in 1993 without ever having to answer any questions about abuse allegations.
Stuart Rivers, chief executive of the charity, said: “We regret that this ever happened and have apologised unreservedly.”? Disclosure: Suffer the Children, tonight at 10.40pm, BBC One Scotland.
How dare they put themselves forward for something like this
Girls were also abused when they were taken away from Lagarie to conventions and introduced to men who were attending the events.
She and her sister Norma also said they were taken to spend weekends away where they were abused by people they had never met before.
‘Mr Rhu’ for decades was Colonel Kenneth Barge, DSO, MC, DL
An active worker for charity, he had a particular interest in the British Sailors Society childrens home at Lagarie, Rhu, and there in 1970 he was presented to Princess Alexandra.He was also associated with the Thistle Foundation which helps ex-servicemen.
A member of the Queen’s Bodyguard for Scotland, the Royal Company of Archers, Colonel Barge was a keen shot and an enthusiastic sailor at, and even before, the then Royal Northern Yacht Club came to Rhu, and he became a Vice-Commodore and chairman of the house committee. He was one of the first to own a Gareloch One Design yacht, Thia, and raced in various other classes.
Countess Airlie British Sailors’ Society
Virginia Fortune Ryan Ogilvy, Countess of Airlie, DCVO is a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth II.[1]
On 23 October 1952, she married David Ogilvy, who in 1968 became Earl of Airlie. David Ogilvy is the younger brother of Sir Angus Ogilvy
Colonel Henry Maughan “Bill” Liardet
Commandant, Royal Tank Regiment, 1961-1967. Director, British Sailors’ Society, 1961-1978; Chairman, SS&AFA West Sussex Committee, 1966-1985. Deputy Lieutenant (DL), Sussex, 1964-1974, W Sussex 1974-. W Sussex CC, 1964-1974; Alderman, 1970-1974. President Sussex Council, Royal British Legion, 1975-1981.
1980 W. E. Barrie
http://reardonsmithships.co.uk/rslnewsletter123.pdf
A military boarding school with alleged links to the man who carried out the Dunblane massacre is to be investigated by the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.
Sept 13 2018
Queen Victoria School (QVS) is one of 17 additional institutions to be included in the national inquiry led by judge Lady Smith.
The Dunblane school, which serves the families of military personnel, has previously been linked to Thomas Hamilton, who killed 16 pupils and their teacher at Dunblane Primary School in 1996.
Last year, Glen Harrison, a former housemaster, claimed pupils were abused by a paedophile ring at the school in the 1980s and 1990s. He said he first raised his concerns with police in 1991.
The national inquiry, which has cost £15.7m to date and is looking at the historical abuse of children in care, announced on Thursday a list of extra investigations, taking the total number of institutions being looked at to 86.
The institutions announced yesterday include the Royal Blind School and Donaldson’s School for the Deaf in Edinburgh.
Lady Smith appealed for anyone with information about any of the institutions on the list to get in touch with the inquiry.
She said: “It does not matter whether you have already made a report to the police or to anyone else and it does not matter whether or not you have been involved in any other investigation. You can still talk to us and we want to hear from you.
“I am well aware that it can be difficult and very emotional to talk about experiences in care and I want to take this opportunity to give an assurance that we have a dedicated witness support team here who will help and support anyone providing evidence to us. They will do so throughout the process.”
It has previously been claimed that Hamilton was linked to the a paedophile ring and was a frequent visitor to QVS.
The school did not respond to a request for comment yesterday, but a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence (MOD), which funds the school, said: “All historic allegations of sexual abuse involving Queen Victoria School were reported to the police at the time.
“We take any allegations of this nature extremely seriously and always co-operate fully with any police inquiry.”
The national inquiry, which began its work in 2015, has so far looked at allegations of physical and sexual abuse at institutions run by female religious orders.
It is due to deliver a report in the coming weeks on abuse at Smyllum orphanage in Lanark where children were allegedly beaten, force-fed and humiliated for wetting the bed prior to its closure in 1981.
Last month Police Scotland said eleven women and one man, aged between 62 and 85, had been charged in relation to non-recent abuse at the orphanage.
Earlier this year, it was announced that the time-frame of the inquiry would be extended indefinitely to allow more survivors to come forward and give evidence.
A TV advertising campaign, which hopes to encourage survivors in greater numbers, will be aired later this year.
The inquiry’s public hearings, which begin again next month, will now look at institutions run by Quarriers Homes, the Aberlour Child Care Trust and Barnardo’s before turning its attention to homes run by male religious orders.
There will also be a case study looking at child migrant schemes, where children were sent to countries including Australia and Canada.
Among the other institutions announced yesterday is Lennox Castle hospital near Glasgow which closed in 2002 and where it’s alleged children were experimented on as part of a drugs programme run by Porton Down research laboratory during the Cold War.
Campaign group In-Care Abuse Survivors (Incas) has previously called on the inquiry to “review medical experimentation that was carried out on vulnerable children and adults without consent”.
Lennox Castle was one of four Scottish institutions alleged to have been involved in trialling drugs on children.
The MOD has said it is “not aware” of such tests and has seen no evidence to back up the claims. Survivors have also claimed that six and seven-year-olds were tied to racks and given electric shocks.
Rev. Norman Walker Drummond at the age of 32 became headmaster of Loretto 1984-1995
A chaplain to the Queen in Scotland, a member of her bodyguard here and founder of the innovative Columba 1400, a charitable spiritual sanctuary and leadership centre on Skye, of which the Princess Royal is patron.
Reverend Norman Walker Drummond, M.A., B.D., a Scot aged 32, educated at Crawfordton Prep School, Merchiston and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where he graduated in Law. He returned to Scotland to take a degree in Divinity at New College, Edinburgh, was ordained as a Minister of the Church of Scotland, and then served as an Army Chaplain with the Parachute Regiment and the Black Watch. Before his appointment to Loretto he was Chaplain at Fettes for two years. He got his Blue from Cambridge at Rugby Football and went on to captain the Scottish Universities, the Army, and the Combined Services XVs. He was also a keen cricketer.
Drummond retired in 1995 after nearly eleven years as Headmaster, becoming National Governor of the BBC and Chairman of the Broadcasting Council, both in Scotland.
Drummond married to Lady Elizabeth Kennedy, the daughter of the Marquess of Ailsa, since 1976
https://www.loretto.com/the-rev-nw-drummond-19841995/2382.html
10 March 2010
Michael Mavor: Charismatic headmaster
Michael Mavor died suddenly while on a trip to Peru, was a headmaster who, throughout the course of a distinguished career, led three of Britain’s foremost schools – Gordonstoun, Rugby and Loretto.
Michael Mavor was educated at Loretto School near Edinburgh.
In January 1979, aged only 31, Mavor succeeded John Kempe as headmaster of Gordonstoun School in Moray, Scotland, the youngest such appointment in the school’s history. Assuming responsibility for educating Princes Andrew and Edward
In 1990, he moved south to take on a new challenge as headmaster of Rugby School. Mavor was headmaster at the Rugby school 1990 – 2001
In 2001 he was appointed headmaster of Loretto School.
He led the creation of the Loretto Golf Academy.
Michael Barclay Mavor, teacher and headmaster: born Kuala Lipis, Malaysia 29 January 1947; married 1970 Jane Sucksmith (one son, one daughter); CVO 1983; died Lima, Peru 8 December 2009.
Michael Barclay Mavor
Director of Caldicott School 1992-1996
https://companycheck.co.uk/company/00936838/CALDICOTT-TRUST-LIMITED/companies-house-data
ROLAND PETER WRIGHT
Director of Caldicott School 1992-1993
PE teacher, 82, at Nick Clegg’s old prep school killed after being hit by a train two days before he was due to be sentenced for abusing young boy
- Hugh Henry was a sports teacher at Caldicott Prep School in Farnham
- He was convicted of sex crimes against children dating back to the 1960s
- Former teacher died after he was hit by a train at Amersham last night
- He and former school head Roland Wright, 83, were due in court tomorrow
- They were to be sentenced for catalogue of sex crimes against young boys
He had been convicted along with the school’s former headmaster, Roland ‘Peter’ Wright, who carried out sex attacks on five boys.
The pair were part of a paedophile ring operating at the school in Farnham Royal during the 1960s.
Michael Barclay Mavor Director of Malden Trust 1992- 1997
Mr Ian David Stafford Beer Director of Malden Trust 1992- 1995
https://companycheck.co.uk/company/00747222/MALDEN-TRUST-LIMITEDTHE/companies-house-data
Ian Beer was a friend and supporter of paedophile Bishop Peter Ball
After Prince Andrew and Prince Edward had passed through Gordonstoun he was appointed a CVO in 1983.
His fellow heads elected him chairman of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference in 1997.
He became a member of the Royal Company of Archers, the Queen’s Bodyguard in Scotland, in 1996.
won the company’s Musselburgh Arrow – which is claimed to be the oldest existing sporting trophy in the world.
Mavor attended Loretto as a boy from 1955 to 1965, and held positions as Head Nipper and Head Boy at the school before winning a scholarship to read English at St John’s College, Cambridge.
In retirement
he became a governor of Oundle School,
was a trustee of the East Lothian Pipe Band Trust and
worked with RSAcademics in the appointment of heads of schools.
St Gilbert’s abuse: Pupil ‘abused more than 200 times’
17 September 2018
A pupil at an approved school for boys was sexually abused by its head teacher hundreds of times, a jury heard.
The claimant, now in his 60s, said David Burns began abusing him as punishment for repeatedly “absconding” from St Gilbert’s in Worcestershire.
He told Birmingham Crown Court Mr Burns, who he knew as Brother Wilfred, warned him “don’t tell anyone” about the abuse in his office.
Mr Burns, 87, denies 21 counts of abuse from 1966 to 1972.
The defendant, of Kings Grove, Cambridge, is facing charges including two counts of a serious sexual offence, one of indecent assault, 16 of child cruelty and two of assault causing actual bodily harm.
Another ex-master of the school Vincent Rochford, 87, of Barton Lane, Manchester, denies one charge of child cruelty and a charge of assault causing actual bodily harm.
Both worked at the defunct government-approved school in Hartlebury, Worcestershire, for boys who had committed minor crimes.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-45548390
Pupils who were beaten and raped at a school run by a religious order have for the first time revealed a 30-year campaign of sadistic and degrading abuse.
The former schoolboys, who were as young as 11 when they were convicted of petty misdemeanours and sent to St Gilbert’s in Worcestershire, are demanding answers from the De La Salle order, which ran the school under the governance of the Home Office.
They want to know why a teacher convicted of sex offences against boys continued to be employed? Why were parents who complained about severe beatings ignored? And why did police ignore the boys who asked for help?
A 1964 letter (l) from the Home Office notifying the order that deputy head teacher Brother Maurice had admitted indecent assault. Other files (r) were embargoed until 2044Reports of the Home Office inspections are at the National Archives in London, where some were embargoed and had been intended to be unavailable until 2044.
But they were recently released under the Freedom of Information Act– and indicate serious concerns about the school.
It was revealed the deputy headmaster, Brother Maurice, had been convicted of six counts of sexually abusing boys at St Gilbert’s but was reinstated as a teacher after serving a four-year jail term.
The file also showed there had been previous complaints about him to the De La Salle order – which sent him to Scotland.
West Mercia Police has opened an investigation into abuse at the school in the 40s, 50s and 60s.
None of the St Gilbert’s employees are still with the De La Salle order.
The two Christian Brothers who abused Joe Riley were Brother Robert Joseph McHale and Brother Joseph Roderick Nicholson.
They are both now dead.
St Gilbert’s building now and in the 1950s
- 1944: De La Salle Order buys Waresley House in Hartlebury, Worcestershire
- 1945: St Gilbert’s is designated by the Home Office as an approved school for Roman Catholic “delinquent” boys
- 1952: Home Office tells approved schools they must report all “indecency” to police
- 1969: The Children and Young Person’s Act 1969 abolishes the approved school system. Responsibility for St Gilbert’s transfers to Hereford and Worcester County Council but it is still run by De La Salle
- 1975: De La Salle Order leaves school and sells the Waresley estate to Worcestershire County Council. The catchment area narrows to Herefordshire and Worcestershire
- 1986: School closes
1970 Brother Wilfred Burns and Seeney family
1968 Geoffrey Frederick Temple, a building inspector at St Gilbert’s fell to his death
De La Salle:
Victims take Church to court over St William’s school sex abuse
Five child sex abuse victims have launched a High Court bid for compensation over abuse at a Catholic school in East Yorkshire.
More than 200 men claim they were abused at St William’s residential school in Market Weighton between 1970 and 1991, run by the De La Salle order.
The order has apologised “unreservedly” to those affected by the abuse and for the actions of its former principal.
James Carragher is in jail for sex offences against children at the home.
If the compensation claim succeeds, the eventual payout could run into millions of pounds.
The school, which closed in 1992, provided residential care and education for boys aged 10 to 16 with emotional and behavioural problems.
It was run by the De La Salle brothers on behalf of Middlesbrough Diocese.
The order said it “deeply regrets what happened at St William’s”.
‘Like giving candy to a baby’
Nigel Feeley was sent to St William’s in 1972, when he was 13 years old. In 2004, James Carragher was found guilty of sexually abusing him at the home.
Mr Feeley said Carragher “had a gold card to sexually abuse children”.
“It was like giving candy to a baby.”
A former worker at the home told Inside Out in an anonymous interview that “brothers came and visited [the home] quite regularly and they would take children out”.
He said: “it was a perfect opportunity for abuse”.
Solicitor David Greenwood, acting for those claiming compensation, said St William’s was “the biggest single home where boys were abused” that he had seen.
BBC Inside Out Yorkshire and Lincolnshire discovered that the Catholic Church had several opportunities to investigate the abuse but failure to act meant boys continued to be abused for decades.
There have been three criminal investigations into abuse at the home.
James Carragher, of Cearns Road, Merseyside, who was principal from 1976-1990, is serving his third prison sentence for physically and sexually abusing boys there.
He was jailed for nine years in January after being found guilty of 21 indecent assaults and three serious sex offences. He was cleared of a further 30 charges.
Former chaplain Anthony McCallen, formerly of Whernside Crescent, Ingleby Barwick, Stockton-on-Tees, was jailed for 15 years after being convicted of 11 charges including a serious sexual offence. He was acquitted of eight other charges at the same trial.
Court documents seen by the BBC state that on 6 April 1970 an incident was investigated by a “sub-committee of managers” at the home.
The investigation concluded: “Brother James [Carragher] is a conscientious and useful member of the staff and having expressed his regret, no further action should be taken.”
‘Total condemnation’
Allegations of abuse continued into the 1980s. The BBC has seen written testimony from a boy at the home describing how Carragher hit him on the head “with his fist”, “dragged” him onto the landing and “kicked” and “pulled” him down the stairs.
Documents show Carragher was subjected to an internal disciplinary hearing following the assault and was given a warning.
According to a letter sent to Humberside County Council in 1992, complaints at the home were deal with by the principal, meaning that for 14 years allegations were dealt with by the man – Carragher – who was carrying out the abuse.
“We deeply regret what happened at St William’s and the harm that was done there through the behaviour of James Carragher. We unreservedly apologise to all who have been affected by his behaviour. Our hearts go out to all victims of abuse and their families.”
A spokesman for the Diocese said: “Abusive behaviour has absolutely no place in the Catholic Church, or anywhere in society, and is against everything we stand for.”
The compensation case is expected to last three weeks at the High Court in Leeds.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-humber-37750887
The jury heard how McCallen had also been convicted before – of abusing two boys in the 1990s when he was also found in possession of indecent photographs of boys, some of which he took through spyholes as they showered and used the toilet.
Anthony McCallen worked at St Anthony’s Presbytery, Hull.
St William’s School abuse campaigner ‘angry’ over payout delays
23 April 2018
Delays in compensation payouts to victims of abuse at a Catholic school have left campaigners “angry and frustrated”.
More than 240 men have made claims over abuse at St William’s residential school in Market Weighton, East Yorkshire in the 1970s and 80s.
The De La Salle Order, which ran the school, put aside £7.7m for compensation, in 2015.
Church bosses say ongoing legal action out of its control is causing delays.
“The strategy and management of the St Williams claims has been entirely in the control of the Diocese of Middlesbrough’s insurers and the insurer’s solicitors,” the De La Salle Order said.
Insurer Royal Sun Alliance declined to comment as the “sensitive litigation is ongoing”.
The Diocese of Middlesbrough said “no agreement has been reached” over the payouts, despite the De La Salle money being earmarked three years ago.
It added: “We continue to be frustrated by the delays relating to the claims but accept that the legal process, which is out of our hands, needs to be followed.”
‘Sort it out’
To date judgement has been delivered on only nine cases.
A man received a payout of £14,000 in 2016, although that High Court judgement is subject to an appeal. Another man reached an out of court settlement last week.
Campaigner Darren Furness, who attended the school, said he was “angry and frustrated” by the delays.
“It’s time they got their act together and sorted it out once and for all,” he said.
In January 2016, the former head of St William’s, James Carragher, 75, was jailed after he was found guilty of sexually abusing boys there.
He was convicted of 21 indecent assaults and three serious sex offences, but cleared of a further 30 charges.
Anthony McCallen, 69, a former chaplain at St William’s, was sentenced to 15 years for a series of offences.
The school was closed in 1992.
James Carragher, 75, and Anthony McCallen, 69, were convicted of a string of sexual offences
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-humber-43863173
Carragher joined the home in 1969 asa teacher and rose to becom its principal. He did voluntary work in Liverpool and Oxford and worked for a charity in South Africa.
A child’s body found at St William’s residential school in Market Weighton, East Yorkshire in 1971
@craftymuvva:
Yorkshire, 1971: 14yo boy found dead under a pile of sand at an approved school. His mother wasn’t notified. The coroner concluded it was his own fault.
The abuse allegations date back to the 1970s and 1980s.
One victim was abused while he grieved over the death of a relative. Months later the same victim was targeted mourning the loss of a close friend.
Other abuse was reserved as “punishment” for boys who had absconded from the home.
The home for boys with behavioural problems was run by the Catholic De La Salle order. It has since closed.
He was one of 19 alleged victims giving evidence against ex-principal James Carragher, 75, who is standing trial along with former chaplain Anthony McCallen, 69, and former teacher Michael Curran, 62.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-humber-34642224
A dad-of-two who died before getting compensation for being wrongly locked up for 15 years was also set to get a payout for years abuse at a children’s home.
Gary Ford’s family has won nearly £70,000 from West Yorkshire Police after it emerged they used corrupted evidence from a supergrass to lock him up for a decade-and-a-half.
Ford is set to win new damages for abuse he suffered at at the former St William’s Children’s Home in East Yorkshire.
The Bebington parent stayed at the Roman Catholic children’s care home between the ages of nine and 16.
Graham Wilmer, who runs the Lantern Project in Wallasey, a charity which helps those affected by child abuse, was a close friend of Mr Ford, and described his case as ‘a tragedy on a tragedy.’
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/wrongly-jailed-carbon-monoxide-victim-11157722
A SENIOR staff member sacked from a Roman Catholic children’s home for sexually abusing boys went on to become a priest in the same diocese
St William’s Scool
Father Joseph O’Brien, who served as a priest in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, for 15 years, had previously been dismissed for abusing a number of boys at the St William’s children’s home in Market Weighton, East Yorkshire.
The case casts another shadow over the Roman Catholic Church, which has been the subject of a series of accusations that it harboured priests who abused children.
It also poses questions for Humberside Police, which was made aware of Father O’Brien’s actions but did not interview or arrest him when his history was flagged up in a formal witness statement in 2002. Father O’Brien died in January last year.
He was sacked from his position as deputy principal at St William’s in 1965 and escorted from the building. At that time, Father O’Brien was a member of the De La Salle Brotherhood, a Catholic lay order which ran the home, and was known as Brother Ambrose O’Brien.
The dismissal was formally reported to the board of managers at the home, which was part of the Middlesbrough Diocese.
But in 1972, while still a member of the De La Salle Brotherhood, he asked the then Bishop of Middlesbrough, the late Bishop John McClean, if he could train to become a priest.
The diocese has told the Yorkshire Post that the bishop sought a reference from De La Salle but was not told why Father O’Brien had been sacked from St William’s.
De La Salle has confirmed it did not in its reference say why the then Brother Ambrose O’Brien was sacked. But the brotherhood also pointed out the diocese held recorded evidence of the dismissal.
He was consequently able to train at Ushaw College in Durham and was ordained in 1975.
Father O’Brien went on to serve at churches in Middlesbrough before moving to North Yorkshire, and had a 15-year spell at All Saints in Thirsk, from where he retired in 1998.
When he died last year, aged 87, the diocese held a funeral Mass attended by the current bishop – Bishop Terry Drainey – and 20 other priests.
The diocese published details of the Mass on its website, including the homily, but there was no reference to Father O’Brien’s dismissal from St William’s.
The Yorkshire Post can also reveal that Humberside Police, which has previously been censured by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) over failings in its investigation into St William’s, was told about Father O’Brien’s sacking, along with suggestions that he might have gone on to abuse other children while a priest.
A witness statement provided on January 23, 2002 by Noel Hartnett, who was himself the subject of investigation but cleared of any wrongdoing, directly identified Father O’Brien as a perpetrator. Mr Hartnett, a former Brother at the home, informed two detectives why Father O’Brien was sacked and told them that he himself was present when the home’s principal carried out the dismissal.
He also told them a priest in the diocese had approached him during the early 1990s for information on Father O’Brien because the priest had heard of allegations of more recent abuse. Mr Hartnett told police the priest said he was compiling a dossier to send to the bishop.
The priest, who has since retired and is into his 80s, denied the existence of any dossier
St William’s
St William’s Children’s Home abuse victim ‘can’t forget’
Carragher has been found guilty after he was previously jailed twice for abusing boys at the home – the first time in 1993 and then again in 2004 when he was jailed for 14 years for abusing 14 boys, one of whom was Nigel.
James Carragher
James Carragher denies 50 counts of indecent assault and 12 other serious sexual offences
St William’s abuse: Key dates
1992: St Williams Children’s Home closes. That same year Humberside Police starts its first investigation into alleged sexual abuse at the home owned by the Diocese of Middlesbrough.
1993: Former principal James Carragher jailed for seven years after being convicted for abusing boys at the home.
2004: Operation Aldgate leads to James Carragher being jailed again in December for a further 14 years for abusing boys in his care over a 20-year period.
2005: A five-year IPCC investigation costing £1m begins into Operation Aldgate after the collapse of five other cases.
2010: New lines of enquiry emerge after solicitors place an advert in a prison newspaper canvassing for civil claims relating to St Williams. As a result, Humberside Police launches Operation Reno after 18 new complainants are identified.
2014: James Carragher is released in April from Frankland Prison in Durham after serving 10 years of a 14-year term.
www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-humber-35051612
cathyfox.wordpress.com/2017/01/05/james-redmond-carragher-2006-may-9-court-of-appeal-st-williams/
Red flag – David Rose on St William’s School:
‘Child abuse police left me a broken man’
11 Jun 2005
Two years ago Ben Mackay, a former head teacher in Humberside, was accused of indecently assaulting three former pupils of St William’s community home school for boys, at Market Weighton. The charge was to have a devastating impact that nearly wrecked the life of the 61-year-old widower.
Mackay had lost his wife to cancer in 1995 and was bringing up his two sons alone. Following his arrest, he was suspended from his job as a supply teacher in Southsea and remains without work despite the dropping of all charges against him last December, months before his trial was due to begin. Not surprisingly, Mackay’s experiences have left him bitter and angry. Several times during our interview, he broke down recalling details of his ordeal.
‘It was the destruction of my past, my present and my future: an enormous disturbance to every aspect of our lives,’ Mackay told The Observer. ‘My son had to take a year out from his degree course at Oxford to support me.
In 1966, the English Province of the De La Salle Brothers, who had run St William’s since 1912, decided to withdraw from the School. It was then taken over by the Brothers’ recently formed London Province, under the directorship of Brother Alan Reginald Stibbins who was a disciple of the American psychotherapist Carl Rogers. Brother Reginald, despite considerable resistance, was determined to introduce a regime based around Rogers’ person-centred therapeutic approach, instead of the traditional authoritarian approach. The School’s accommodation was also divided into smaller units and female staff employed for the first time. Another development was the setting up of a hostel at Newtondale on the North York Moors.
‘I lived in fear and distress of a freak conviction which never left me all that time. It was only the love of my boys which stopped me from taking my own life. They talked of trauma on the part of these former pupils. They have no idea of what it did to us, and I don’t think they cared.’
Nor was Mackay alone. The cases of four other staff, who were all charged with similar offences, are to be investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. It is to review claims that incompetence by detectives working for the troubled Humberside police service, which was probing cases of alleged child sexual abuse at St William’s, wrecked the lives of these five innocent men. The inquiry team will be composed of officers from an external force, probably West Yorkshire, and will be led by an assistant chief constable. But it will be ‘managed,’ as opposed to merely ‘supervised,’ by the new Commission, which means its staff will have day-to-day operational control – a level of involvement reserved for the most serious cases.
Nicholas Long, the complaints commissioner who is overseeing the probe, told The Observer: ‘I take the allegations very seriously, and it is important for all concerned that they are robustly investigated.’ He said he was aware that they had arisen from a broader, national context – a long series of police inquiries into so-called ‘historical abuse’ said to have occurred many years ago in care homes and in residential schools.
The investigation’s subject is Operation Aldgate, a Humberside inquiry into alleged abuse in the 1970s and 1980s at St William’s, which closed in 1992. Run by a Catholic lay order, the De la Salle brotherhood, it took child offenders, including murderers. Its former principal, James Carragher, who had already pleaded guilty to similar offences in 1993 and served four years of a seven-year sentence, was convicted and jailed for 14 years last year. Two of his former colleagues were acquitted by juries and the cases against a further three, including Mackay, were dropped.
These men say the police and Crown Prosecution Service pressed ahead with uncorroborated charges which depended entirely on the word of former pupils with convictions for serious crimes of dishonesty and violence, and, in some cases, who were suffering from severe mental illness. With their names and addresses published by the media and their lives and careers derailed, the acquitted men say the police failed to make elementary checks which would have shown that the stories told by the supposed victims flew in the face of easily established facts.
One complainant also alleges that a detective who played a central role in Operation Aldgate lied in the witness box, and that his earlier efforts to get Humberside police to investigate this were deliberately stifled.
The Observer has exposed several cases where ‘historical abuse’ inquiries have led to wrongful convictions, and a 2002 Commons home affairs committee report said that, without stringent safeguards, they could easily generate miscarriages of justice. Operation Aldgate will be the first such inquiry to be the subject of external investigation.
In a separate development last week, Colin Inglis, the chairman of Humberside Police Authority, was arrested and questioned about claims that he abused children at a Hull children’s home in the 1980s.
Inglis, who denies the allegations, last year triggered a constitutional battle with the then Home Secretary, David Blunkett, when he resisted Blunkett’s order to fire his chief constable, David Westwood, over his role in the case of the murdered Soham schoolgirls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
Humberside had destroyed files on previous sex attacks by the girls’ killer, Ian Huntley, so that when he applied for a job at Holly and Jessica’s school he appeared to pose no risk. Meanwhile, the force was dubbed one of the country’s five worst by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate. Westwood was eventually allowed to retire two months ago. His successor, Tim Hollis, appears to share the Commission’s view of Operation Aldgate.
In April, days after taking over at Humberside, Hollis took the extraordinary step of phoning Mackay at his home in Southsea, saying he viewed the complaint with concern, and that he would deal with it ‘with honesty and integrity’. Three days earlier Mackay – who had been a teacher at the school from 1974-7 – had sent him a 150-page dossier about his case. According to Mackay’s notes of the conversation, he added: ‘I just wanted to ring you to give you a reply from the heart.’
In a later letter to Mackay, Hollis wrote: ‘I am grateful to you for drawing your concerns to my personal attention. Whilst we cannot turn back the clock, we can take active and positive steps to learn the lessons from this case as they emerge and to ensure that police investigations in such cases are carried out dispassionately and with absolute integrity.’
Police documents seen by The Observer suggest that Operation Aldgate, which began under Detective Chief Inspector (now Detective Superintendent) Richard Kerman in 2001, was trying to unearth a ‘paedophile ring’ – evidence not merely of abuse in private by one or more individuals, but of institutionalised abuse where victims were shared. In case after case, historical abuse inquiries into schools and care homes have sought such rings, although none has ever been proven to have existed.
By June 2003, when they arrested Mackay, the officers of Operation Aldgate were convinced that there had been a ring at St William’s. Before they interviewed him, they gave a document to his solicitor, saying: ‘The enquiry has established the systematic and organised abuse of boys by a group of staff.’ In his complaints dossier, Mackay wrote: ‘Such “establishing” was made before hearing the evidence of myself and others accused. It must have been decided that whatever was to be said by the defendants in their interviews was to be discounted as untrue, evasions or lies.’
The legal protection given to anyone who alleges they were a victim of sexual crime means that the three men who accused Mackay cannot be named. The first, who was serving life for aggravated burglaries in which he tied up and beat elderly couples in their homes, made only generalised allegations that Mackay had abused him, without saying where, when or how. They were dropped before the rest of the case, after the judge in the trial of the admitted abuser James Carragher told the jury it could not convict on his evidence, because it had been generated through collusion with another former pupil in prison. This pupil was a convicted paedophile.
The second man, who had convictions for burglaries and stealing cars and had been investigated for raping his girlfriend’s eight-year-old daughter, claimed he had been sexually assaulted more than 14 times in teaching hours in a walk-in stationery store cupboard in Mackay’s classroom. In fact, as Mackay told the police in his interview, no such walk-in cupboards existed anywhere in the school, and the only stationery store had a glass front.
Later, Mackay discovered that a detective watching his interview through a video link had a copy of the school plans, which proved he was telling the truth.
The second man also claimed that Mackay abused him in the bathroom. But at Carragher’s trial last autumn, he made the same claim about him, and then was asked if any other teacher had also abused him there. He replied that none had.
A third man, who had been convicted for crimes of violence as a football hooligan, claimed that he had been abused at night during patrols of the dormitory. Mackay was able to trace nine members of the same school house who made statements saying that no such abuse took place. As with all the alleged victims, there was no corroboration of the man’s claims.
One of those who was acquitted at trial is Noel Hartnett, who was charged with several physical assaults at the school. At his trial in December 2003 he was able to show that medical records and other evidence disproved former pupils’ claims, none of which were corroborated. One man said Hartnett opened a ‘second mouth’ in his chin with a table-tennis bat. Hartnett’s complaint dossier says the trial judge was highly critical of some of the Operation Aldgate officers’ work, saying that they had ‘not investigated professionally’ and ‘have not investigated to discover the truth’.
His dossier includes a claim that, when he was interviewed after his arrest, Detective Constable Brian Coates reassured him that the allegations against him were trivial, and would not come to court. Another officer present confirmed this in his evidence, but Coates denied it under oath.
Hartnett says in his dossier that when he complained of Coates’s alleged perjury while Westwood was still chief constable, the police failed to take the basic step of obtaining a transcript of the relevant parts of his trial and tried to deal with the matter through ‘informal resolution’. The IPCC commissioner, Nicholas Long, told The Observer that getting the transcript would be one of the new investigation’s first steps.
A factor common in historical abuse cases is that alleged victims have been paid tens of thousands of pounds in compensation, sometimes even when supposed abusers are acquitted. This, the Commons committee said, was liable to taint criminal trials.
In December 2004, after the last Operation Aldgate acquittals, an advert appeared in the prisoners’ newspaper Inside Time. Placed by Jordans solicitors of Dewsbury, it asked: ‘Were you at St William’s care home 1970-88?’ The firm, it went on, was coordinating claims by former residents, and it was ‘important that potential claimants enforce their legal rights as soon as possible. Especially those who have been contacted by Operation Aldgate at Hull Central police station’.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/jun/12/childrensservices.childprotection1
In 1973, the School became an Assisted Community Home with Education (CHE), run in conjunction with the East Riding County Council. It was managed by the Middlesbrough Diocesan Rescue Society until 1982, and thereafter by the Catholic Child Welfare Society (Diocese of Middlesbrough).
In 1986, an attempt was made to improve contact with the local community with the opening of a day centre, and offering the use of facilities such as the Home’s swimming pool and gymnasium to local groups and individuals.
In 1990 the headmaster of the Home, Brother James, was expelled from the Brotherhood after it was discovered he was guilty of systematic sexual abuse of boys in his care. In 1993 and 2004 he was convicted of numerous counts of serious sexual offences against boys over a period of 20 years.
In February 1990, the De La Salle Brothers announced their intention to withdraw from the Home in the following August. The final closure of St William’s took place in March 1994. The buildings no longer survive.
http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/MarketWeightonRfy/
Dalai Lama admits he knew about Bud1970 Brother Wilfred Burns and Seeney familydhist teachers’ sexual abuse
The Tibetan spiritual leader told Dutch TV he has known about the sex crimes in Europe since the 1990s. He was presented with written accounts from 12 alleged victims from Belgium and the Netherlands.
The Dalai Lama, during a four-day visit to the Netherlands, has confirmed he was informed about sexual abuse by Buddhist teachers against their followers in Europe.
“I already did know these things, [it’s] nothing new,” the Dalai Lama said in response to a question on Dutch public television NOS late on Saturday.
“Twenty-five years ago… someone mentioned about a problem of sexual allegations” at a conference for western Buddhist teachers in Dharamshala, a hill town in northern India, he added.
Twelve of the victims, who alleged they were abused physically and psychologically by Tibetan Buddhist teachers in the Netherlands and Belgium, had launched a petition asking to meet the 83-year-old during his trip.
A group using the hashtag “metooguru” gathered some 1,300 signatures so he could receive their collection of testimonies.
“We found refuge in Buddhism with an open mind and heart, until we were raped in its name,” the alleged victims said in their petition.
On Friday, the Tibetan spiritual leader met four of the victims for about 20 minutes at a hotel in Rotterdam.
Following their meeting, they said the Dalai Lama had pledged to bring up their cases at a meeting of Buddhist teachers in November.
Ricardo Mendes, who said he was physically abused as a child being raised in a Buddhist sect in Belgium, said he was pleased the spiritual leader appeared moved by their accounts. Another victim, however, said she was a bit disappointed.
The Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in Dharamshala, told NOS people who commit sexual abuse “don’t care about the Buddha’s teaching. So now that everything has been made public, people may [be] concerned about their shame,” he said.
Speaking about the November meeting, he added: “At that time they should talk about it … I think the religious leaders should pay more attention.”
The Dalai Lama “has consistently denounced such irresponsible and unethical behavior,” according to one of his representatives in Europe, on Friday.
Chile Church scandal: ‘How I escaped the priest who abused me for decades’
13 Sept 2018
In Chile, more than 100 Catholic clergy are being investigated over alleged sex crimes and attempts to cover them up. It’s a scandal that haunts the reign of Pope Francis and has tipped the Chilean church into crisis. But it began decades ago with one man – Father Fernando Karadima, a parish priest in Santiago, who became Chile’s most notorious sexual predator.
“He offered you the vision of being called by the Lord. He showed you a very wonderful world,” remembers Dr James Hamilton, a gastric surgeon now in his 50s.
“He always told us he had a special gift – a kind of miracle gift – that he could see in every young person, if they had been called by God. He was almost a kind of saint.”
Father Fernando Karadima offered the adolescent James Hamilton refuge in the early 1980s. Chile had been under the dictatorship of Gen Augusto Pinochet for a decade. And in those troubled years of killings and disappearances, the church community created by this charismatic priest in the upmarket Santiago parish of El Bosque provided welcome reassurance.
“For a young person, it was like the bee and the honey – it was sweet in a world of difficulties, when you were struggling with your family,” says James Hamilton.
His father had left the family home, so here was a teenager who was vulnerable – easy prey for a practised abuser.
And, as a young idealist, he believed he had only two choices: “Join the people fighting against Pinochet, mostly through violence. Or, follow the road the Catholic Church showed you – the ways of the saints, of peace and to become the voice of Jesus. I wanted to study medicine, so my way was non-violence.”
But although the Catholic Church would be instrumental in supporting victims of the dictatorship, some priests believed Pinochet was Chile’s saviour – Karadima was one of them. James Hamilton was invited to join Catholic Action, an exclusive youth group that met in El Bosque to listen to Karadima talk about heroism, the saints and the need to be humble and obedient. This impressionable teenager felt special, as though he had been chosen.
Then the sexual abuse began.
“You didn’t expect it – it was something absolutely confusing. It couldn’t be possible that this saintly man could be doing all this because of his sexual perversion. It couldn’t be possible,” says Hamilton, remembering his bewilderment. “Obviously the one that was wrong was me…”
Karadima pursued the doctor, sending priests and bishops to speak to his family and employer. James Hamilton reported Karadima to church authorities, and although he did not know it at the time, he was the second man in two years to make a complaint of sexual abuse against the El Bosque priest. But there was a deafening silence from the Catholic Church. There would be no formal investigation for years, until the evidence against Karadima became overwhelming.
James Hamilton had made contact with other survivors of Karadima’s abuse. In 2010, the men made declarations to a civil prosecutor. They knew the priest would not go to jail because of Chile’s Statute of Limitations, but they did not want to be part of a cover-up. It was scary.
“Our names were in the press – we were [seen as] the worst. I thought that someone would try and murder me – put a bomb under my car or, my brakes would be cut in a descent from the mountains. This kind of thing happened in Chile under Pinochet’s dictatorship. And Karadima was a Pinochet guy – he was friends with all Pinochet’s former generals. He had big power – until today.”
Today Fernando Karadima is 88. He lives in a convent set in extensive gardens located in an up-market district of Santiago. In 2011 the Vatican found him guilty of sexually abusing minors, sometimes by force. He was sentenced to a life of penance and prayer, and forbidden from having contact with former parishioners, or from performing any public act of ministry.
So why did it take so long? What stopped the then-Archbishop of Santiago, Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz, from initiating an ecclesiastical investigation into Karadima’s behaviour after he received the first report of abuse at least seven years previously?
“Unfortunately, I judged that the accusations weren’t credible at the time,” he told the media in 2010.
The Karadima case shocked Chile. Resentment against the Catholic Church simmered until 2015. Then, when Pope Francis appointed one of the disgraced priest’s acolytes, Juan Barros, as bishop – a man who had allegedly protected Karadima – Chileans were furious. Protesters greeted the Pope when he visited Chile in January 2018, and the pontiff’s dismissal of allegations against Bishop Barros as “slander” provoked enormous indignation. After he left Santiago, Pope Francis was forced to respond to his critics, and sent two envoys to Chile to investigate sex crime.
Bishop Juan Barros
The staggering story that has emerged since has provoked a deep crisis in the Catholic Church. The Vatican’s envoys produced a 2,300-page report, and the Pope acknowledged a, “culture of abuse” in Chile. Five bishops have resigned – including Juan Barros. Meanwhile, in a first for Chile, civil prosecutors have seized church documents in a series of high-profile raids.
The civil authorities in Chile are investigating 119 cases of sexual abuse and their concealment by the church. Of the 178 victims so far identified, nearly half were minors at the time of the alleged offences. The Archbishop of Santiago, Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati, has been called by prosecutors to testify.
Although the investigation has moved beyond Fernando Karadima and his faithful coterie, the commitment of Chile’s lay authorities to securing justice for victims of clerical sexual abuse has emboldened more of Karadima’s victims to come forward. Last month, Father Francisco Javier Ossa Figueroa spent two hours giving his testimony to prosecutors about what happened to him in El Bosque from the late 1980s onwards.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-45486176https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-45486176
Dutch Catholic church accused of widespread sexual abuse cover-up
20 of 39 Dutch cardinals, bishops and auxiliaries ‘covered up sexual abuse, allowing perpetrators to cause many more victims’, report says
15 Sept 2018
More than half of the Netherlands’ senior clerics were involved in covering up sexual assault of children between 1945 and 2010, a press report claimed on Saturday, further engulfing the Catholic church in a global abuse scandal.
Over the course of 65 years, 20 of 39 Dutch cardinals, bishops and their auxiliaries “covered up sexual abuse, allowing the perpetrators to cause many more victims”, the daily NRC reported.
“Four abused children and 16 others allowed the transfer of paedophile priests who could have caused new victims in other parishes,” the Dutch newspaper added.
Church spokeswoman Daphne van Roosendaal said the church could “confirm a part” of the report.
Local bishop Bruno Grua said his diocese was “shocked by these unspeakable acts”.
They are the latest in a slew of assault allegations against the Catholic church spanning several continents.
People in Australia, Europe, and North and South America have charged they were sexually abused by clergymen and lay people, in what German Archbishop Georg Gaenswein has called the church’s “own 9/11”.
In August, Pope Francis declined to comment on a claim that he ignored sexual abuse allegations against a senior clergyman in the US.
On Wednesday, the German Catholic church said it was it was “dismayed and ashamed” by decades of alleged child sex abuse by priests.
Kavre Court to inspect Peter Dalglish’s electronic devices, videos, and photos next
11 Sept 2108
KATHMANDU — According to a government lawyer, Kavre Court is set to inspect the electronic devices, videos, and photos belonging to Peter Dalglish.
The investigators at the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) had found negatives, photos, and video at Mr. Dalglish’s home in Nagarkot.
The court had sent samples of negatives and electronic devices for further inspection.
German Catholic priests ‘abused thousands of children’
12 Sept 2018
More than 3,600 children in Germany were assaulted by Roman Catholic priests between 1946 and 2014, a leaked report has revealed.
The study was commissioned by the Church itself, and was due to be published on 25 September.
According to the report, some 1,670 clergymen in Germany committed some form of sex attack on 3,677 minors, German outlet Spiegel Online reported.
A Church spokesman said it was “dismayed and ashamed” by the findings.
The report is the latest in a long series of revelations that have uncovered decades of sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests around the world.
According to the new study, only 38% of the alleged perpetrators were prosecuted with most facing only minor disciplinary procedures, German media said. About one in six cases involved rape.
Most of the victims were boys, and more than half were aged 13 or younger.
Predatory clerics were often moved to new communities, where no warning was issued about their actions.
The study was compiled by three German universities, using 38,000 documents from 27 German dioceses. Its authors said the true extent of the abuse may be even greater, as some records were “destroyed or manipulated”.
How has the Catholic Church reacted?
“We know the extent of the sexual abuse that has been demonstrated by the study. We are dismayed and ashamed by it,” said Bishop Stephan Ackermann, a spokesman for the German Bishops’ Conference which commissioned the report.
He said the aim of the study was to shed light on “this dark side of our Church, for the sake of those affected, but also for us ourselves to see the errors and to do everything to prevent them from being repeated”.
“I stress that the study is a measure that we owe not only to the Church but first and foremost, to those affected,” the bishop added.
Bishop Ackermann said the report had been leaked to the press before the Church itself had seen it. He said the Church had planned to provide counselling helplines for people affected by its contents.
What is the Church doing about abuse claims?
The Vatican did not immediately respond to Spiegel’s account of the report. But elsewhere on Wednesday, Pope Francis summoned Catholic bishops to the Vatican for a discussion on how to protect children in February next year.
The damning German study is the latest in a series of blows to the Roman Catholic Church.
Claims of clerical sex abuse have been levelled around the world, and with them allegations that Church leaders hushed up or ignored the wrongdoing.
Pope Francis was caught up in the scandal last month, after a former Vatican diplomat accused him of ignoring allegations against a US cardinal for five years.
The Pope’s supporters vehemently question the credibility of this accusation, which the pontiff has refused to respond to.
It came after a grand jury report detailed seven decades of abuse in the US state of Pennsylvania. The investigation found more than 1,000 children had been abused by 300 priests there. It found evidence of systematic cover-ups by the Church
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45500072
Daniel J McLean-Steel
English, Theatre Studies, Head of Drama
Dan McLean-Steel was educated at St. Peter’s, York and Goldsmiths’ College, London. He taught at Monmouth School in Wales before moving to Loretto in 1995. He introduced Drama as a curricular subject at Loretto and enjoys helping students to create challenging pieces of theatre. He is a keen reader of contemporary fiction and theatre-goer. He has coached rugby, hockey and tennis and is an enthusiastic if inexpert gardener.
Daniel McLean-Steel, a teacher at a Loretto School in Musselburgh has been suspended amid allegations of “inappropriate behaviour” with pupils.
Mr McLean-Steel, who is also an English teacher, is believed to have been living in the Eleanora Almond boarding house with his wife, a housemistress, at the time.
The boarding house closed in July 2018 due to a decrease in pupils. It was used to house sixth-form girls.
13 Sept 2018
Head of drama, Daniel McLean-Steel has been barred from his job at the school as investigations are carried out by school bosses.
According to reports, the allegations against Mr McLean-Steel refer to his behaviour towards female pupils both while they were at school and after they left.
A picture of Mr McLean-Steel, who joined the school in 1995 and also taught English, was removed from the online staff directory.
Senior teacher at Scots boarding school suspended after ‘deeply disturbing’ allegations
One of Scotland’s top independent boarding schools has been rocked by allegations of inappropriate behaviour involving a member of staff.
A senior teacher at Loretto School in Musselburgh, East Lothian, the oldest boarding school in Scotland, has been suspended following what the headmaster has confirmed are ‘deeply disturbing’ allegations.
The police and Care Inspectorate have been informed, and an investigation into claims linked to the teacher’s alleged behaviour is now underway.
Details of the precise nature of the complaint have not yet been confirmed, and investigations into the allegations are believed to be at an early stage.
However headteacher Dr Graham Hawley has said they relate to behaviour which is not tolerated at the school.
Loretto School is one of Scotland’s leading fee-paying schools, where parents pay up to £33,600 a year to board senior pupils.
It regularly receives top ratings and is particularly renowned for its drama, music, art and sport.
Headmaster, Dr Graham Hawley said: “As Headmaster and as a parent, I am deeply disturbed by these allegations and I take them very seriously.
“The alleged behaviour is unacceptable and has no place in our community. It is everything that we are not.
“As soon as the allegations were brought to us we took action: we alerted the police, we alerted the Care Inspectorate, we instigated an internal investigation, we suspended the member of staff in question.
“The school has undertaken extensive work to ensure it is as safe an environment as it is possible for a school to be. We have built a culture in which pupils can feel empowered to come forward, to seek and find the support they need in situations like this.”
A further 200 attend the Junior School, while the nursery caters for children from birth to five years old.
Former pupils at the school, which was founded in 1827, include broadcaster Andrew Marr, former Chancellors of the Exchequer Norman Lamont and Alistair Darling and motor racing legend Jim Clarke. Movie director Don Boyd, whose films have included Scum, Look Back in Anger and The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle, is also a former pupil at the school.
Last year’s Tatler Schools Guide placed Loretto School in the top seven per cent nationally and singled out the “spectacular dance and drama” studio for particular praise.
A spokesperson for the Care Inspectorate confirmed a probe is underway. He said: “We have been notified by the Loretto School of an allegation involving a member of staff.
“We are working closely with the school. Anyone with a concern about a care service can contact us on 0345 600 9527.”
Dr Hawley added: “Given the sensitivities of this situation, the investigation, and involvement of the authorities, I am limited in what more I can say; however, I am committed to ensuring that Loretto is a school where no behaviour of this alleged kind will ever be tolerated.”
Robert Key MP -PPS to Ted Heath
Assistant master: Loretto School, Edinburgh 1967-69
After leaving Loretto in 1967 – it is not clear whether he was sacked or resigned – Mr Ray-Hills moved to Cheam Preparatory School in Newbury, where former pupils include Prince Charles and Prince Philip.
However, the scandal followed him south and he was asked to leave there.
In 2001, film director Don Boyd claimed he had been sexually abused by former master Guy Anthony Ray-Hills.
Ray-Hills was charged with a string of sex offences but the case was dropped on grounds of his ill health.
Robert Key taught economics at Harrow School from 1969–83.
Mr Key didn’t get involved in politics until he was 29. He’d studied music at Clare College, Cambridge, where his student days were free of politics, before going on to teach economics.
But it was in a teaching position at Harrow that he came very close, on a daily basis, to the political world.
“I was teaching a lot of children of politicians there.
“My mark book every morning included people like Thatcher, Hestletine, Churchill… I hadn’t got a chance of not getting interested in politics.”
Mr Key went on to become Ted Heath’s Private Parliamentary Secretary.
“I had some wonderful years with Ted Heath. I was his PPS for nearly two years during which time I found him his house in Salisbury and brought him down here which he absolutely adored.
“It was the first house he’d owned in his life.
“I also had the experience of finding out what it was that motivated that man.
“It was wonderful hearing what he was doing when he was my age and younger, going off to Germany to see the Hitler rallies to see what was brewing.
So what now for a man who has spent so much of his life involved in politics?
A member of Wessex Archaeology, Mr Key will be continuing his work to improve ancient heritage sites – most notably Stonehenge.
“I’ll be doing stuff with the Cathedral and the Diocese. I’ll be involved in the selection of a new Bishop.
Key has been MP for Salisbury since 1983 and was a parliamentary private secretary in Margaret Thatcher’s government.
The former teacher became a junior minister for the environment and, later, transport under John Major. He served as a shadow minister between 1997 and 2003.
Robert Key resigns as trustee of former prime minister Sir Edward Heath’s charity in funding row
Key stepped down after a last-minute business plan was put forward to re-open the late Sir Edward Heath’s historical Salisbury property to the public this summer. Key opposed the proposition, claiming the £7 million house should instead be sold with the money being used for grants for young people with interests in music and sailing.
The Scotsman & Edinburgh Evening News Articles
Published Date: 02 July 2010
By SHAN ROSSAN employee at one of Scotland’s most exclusive private schools has claimed she suffered a miscarriage after being bullied by the headmaster, a tribunal has heard. Fiona Gordon is suing Loretto School in East Lothian over alleged sex discrimination after she claims she was targeted for taking maternity leave. Mrs Gordon, 41, claims head teacher Peter Hogan started bullying her after she told the £8,700-per-term school that she was pregnant. Mrs Gordon had held the post of director of admissions at the school for nine years.
Mr Hogan, who took up his post at Loretto at the end of 2008, was previously warden – a position equivalent to headmaster – at Llandovery College, one of the most prestigious private schools in Wales. He has forged formal links with Edinburgh Napier University, believed to be the first scheme of its kind in Scotland in which pupils will attend business lectures at the university next year as part of a scheme to give senior school students an advantage in the battle for a university place.
Police launch probe into horror claims that nuns MURDERED children at Catholic orphanage in Vermont
- Officials in Burlington, Vermont announced the police investigation on Monday
- Follows detailed report examining abuse claims against St. Joseph’s Orphanage
- Residents recalled chilling stories of abuse and claim several kids were killed
- Allegations date from the 1930s to the 70s, when the Catholic orphanage closed
- Claims surfaced in litigation during the 1990s but church denied wrongdoing
- Comes as governments in UK, Ireland, Australia grapple with similar allegations
11 Sept 2018
A police investigation has been launched into claims that Catholic nuns tortured, sexually abused and even murdered children in a Vermont orphanage.
At a press conference in Burlington, Vermont on Monday, Mayor Miro Weinberger announced the creation of a joint city-state law enforcement task force to investigate St. Joseph’s Orphanage.
The investigation follows the publication of a report by BuzzFeed News, which Weinberger called ‘a lengthy and detailed story alleging decades of terrible abuse and violent crimes at that institution.’
St. Joseph’s, which was run by the Montreal-based Sisters of Providence, closed down in 1974, and the allegations regard children who lived there from the 1930s through the 70s.
‘Murder is a crime with no statute of limitations,’ said Weinberger. ‘If it is possible to make murder charges at this point we will, whether the perpetrators are living or dead.’
Former Wrexham Bryn Alyn resident admits historic sexual abuse of boy
Operation Pallial: Man guilty of 1970s sex abuse
10 Sept 2018
Graham Stridgeon leaving court
A 64-year-old man has pleaded guilty to abusing a boy aged under 16 in a case dating back to the 1970s.
Graham Joseph Stridgeon, from Fleetwood, Lancashire, admitted serious sexual assault and two charges of indecent assault.
The offences took place between June 1973 and December 1974 when Stridgeon was in his late teens.
He had been due to stand trial at Mold Crown Court. A number of other charges will now lie on file.
Judge Rhys Rowlands bailed Stridgeon until 15 October while a pre-sentence report is complied.
He said a custodial sentence would be inevitable.
No details were given in court about the circumstances of the case but these will be presented by the prosecution at sentencing.
The case stems from Operation Pallial, a wide-ranging investigation into allegations of historical sexual abuse at north Wales care homes.
At an earlier hearing Judge Rowlands criticised the length of time it had taken to bring the matter to trial.
He questioned delays in the case and pointed out that one of the complainants had been first interviewed in January 2014, which was four years ago.
He was told that Operation Pallial was a very substantial investigation which generated hundreds of complainants and in excess of 106,000 pages of material that the prosecution had to consider before charge.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-45472927
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/former-wrexham-bryn-alyn-resident-15133056
Graham Joseph Stridgeon was arrested and charged following an investigation by the National Crime Agency’s Operation Pallial into allegations of abuse in the care system in North Wales.
The 63-year-old pleaded not guilty to five counts of indecent assault on boys under the age of 16 at Wrexham between 1969 and 1974. He also denied three charges of illegal sex acts on teenage boys in the 1970s.
Stridgeon, of Park Avenue, Fleetwood, Lancashire, was rebailed at Mold Crown Court pending his trial on September 10.
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/MAN+DENIES+SEX+ABUSE+OF+BOYS.-a0529603542
HE STOLE MY CHILDHOOD HE CANNOT BE SET FREE.
The child victim of sex beast Graham Stridgeon dramatically broke a seven-year silence yesterday and begged: “Don’t let him out.”
The girl, now 16, was just nine when Stridgeon lured her into his bedroom.
He brutally attacked her and threatened to kill her if she told anyone.
Now, with Stridgeon on the brink of being freed from a mental health unit, she has joined a campaign to keep the paedophile monster caged.
She said: “He stole my childhood and he shouldn’t have the chance to take another. Paedophiles like him are sick, warped people and should be locked up for life. It’s the only way.
“I will suffer for life. Why shouldn’t he?”
Depraved Stridgeon, 43, was jailed for nine years for attempted rape and a serious sex attack.
But after his release from prison police found him prowling the streets with toys and colouring books looking for a new victim.
He was picked up again and ordered to be held under the Mental Health Act at the unit in Rainhill, Merseyside, for 28 days. That runs out on Sunday. Stridgeon’s 40-year-old wife Jenny, of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, has already urged that he must not be released – because he threatens to attack again.
His victim, who cannot be named, recalled how Stridgeon started going to a church as he hunted for a target – and became a friend of her family.
He pounced on her after inviting her into his bedroom to see some puppies.
The attack left her in shock. Three months went by before she broke down and told her mother.
Her frantic mum went to the police. Stridgeon later pleaded guilty in court – and his victim underwent years of counselling.
Now, attractive and confident, she is determined to overcome the horror.
She said: “He may have ruined my childhood but I’m determined he isn’t going to ruin the rest of my life.
“It has been long and painful, not just for me but for all the family. But I will not let it take us down.
“I will make a success of my life.”
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/HE+STOLE+MY+CHILDHOOD+HE+CANNOT+BE+SET+FREE.-a065303503
TAG CURB FOR KID SEX BRUTE
August 1997
TAG CURB FOR KID SEX BRUTE
A sex beast who has said he will rape the first child he finds was electronically tagged yesterday in a unique bid to curb his depravity.
Paedophile Graham Stridgeon, 43, From Manchester sparked outrage when he was freed earlier this year after a nine-year sentence for attacking a girl of Ten in a house in Wythenshawe.
Stridgeon lured her into his bedroom. He brutally attacked her and threatened to kill her if she told anyone.
Police found him roaming the streets clutching a bag of toys and looking for a child.
Eight stone, 5ft 2in Stridgeon, also known as Graham Seddon, is now living in a Greater Manchester bail hostel.
He is kept under 24-hour surveillance and escorted everywhere.
And yesterday he became the only person in Britain electronically tagged while not serving a criminal sentence.
Probation officers got Home Office permission for the move and Stridgeon himself is thought to have given his consent.
The tag will work by alerting staff at a Securicor control centre if he leaves the hostel.
https://theukdatabase.com/2013/03/05/graham-stridgeonseddon-manchester/
Peter Dalglish’s final hearing pending, likely to be sentenced
7 Sept 2018
KATHMANDU — While Peter Dalglish’s final hearing is pending, a source has revealed to Kathmandu Tribune that Peter is likely to be sentenced for ten years or so according to the old law.
Dalglish’s last hearing was on August 9 and the next hearing isn’t announced yet by the Kavre court.
With a lighter sentencing, Peter Dalglish will escape the new law’s judgment. Dalglish had come to Nepal on a tourist visa when he was arrested on April 9.
https://kathmandutribune.com/peter-dalglishs-final-hearing-pending-likely-to-be-sentenced/
Jailed football coach Barry Bennell may face further abuse charges
6 Sept 2018
- Police get go-ahead to put together a case for CPS
- Trial judge questioned merits of more criminal proceedings
Barry Bennell, the former football coach who is serving a 30-year prison sentence as an “industrial-scale child molester”, is facing the possibility of more criminal proceedings for the sexual abuse of players from the junior set-ups of Manchester City and Crewe Alexandra.
Detectives investigating Bennell’s crimes are putting together a case for the Crown Prosecution Service with a view to imposing charges relating to some of the alleged victims who are still waiting to hear whether their complaints will go to court. As of January, 86 cases were outstanding, with at least 97 people – though possibly more now – reporting Bennell on the back of the interview Andy Woodward, the former Crewe footballer, gave to the Guardian in November 2016, detailing the years of abuse he suffered in the club’s youth system.
Francis ignored, covered-up abuse in Argentina before becoming pope, documentary alleges
4 Sept 2018
German national TV channel ZDF is rerunning a documentary produced last year that claims that Pope Francis, as Archbishop Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, ignored cries for justice from abuse victims in his diocese. The documentary is now gaining traction in the fallout of Archbishop Viganò’s testimony that the Pope covered-up the abuse of now ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.
The documentary also claims that then-Archbishop Bergoglio, prior to becoming the pope, participated in the unsuccessful defense of a priest accused of abuse. That priest has now been imprisoned for 15 years after he was found guilty of sexually abusing children.
Now, in light of the Viganò report, the documentary by Martin Boudot has been aired again and is now making the rounds in the German-speaking world. The documentary, titled “The Silence of the Shepherds,” won the 2017 Prix Europa for best European documentaries. It is available in the U.S. under the title “Sex Abuse in the Church: the Code of Silence.”
The documentary makes the case that many priests accused of sexual abuse were merely transferred by their bishops to other countries so as to avoid prosecution. The second half of the documentary highlights Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio’s own conduct in Buenos Aires.
The film quotes a 2010 book titled in French Sur la terre comme au ciel (On Heaven and Earth) written by both Jorge Bergoglio and Rabbi Abraham Skorka. In this book, Bergoglio stated that in his diocese there were no pedophile priests, according to the film.
LifeSiteNews found that specific quote on page 50 of the English version. Here is what Jorge Bergoglio as archbishop says when speaking about pedophile priests:
“Now, when it happens, you can never turn a blind eye. You cannot be in a position of power and destroy the life of another person.” “In my diocese it never happened to me,” Bergoglio added. He then described what counsel he once gave to a fellow bishop who had such a case. “I told him to take away the priest’s faculties, not to permit him to exercise his priestly ministry again, and to initiate a canonical trial.”
When Bergoglio became Pope Francis in 2013, he appears to have ignored his own advice. This is evidenced in the case of known-child molester Fr. Mauro Inzoli, whom the Pope, against the advice of Cardinal Gerhard Müller, reinstated giving back to him some of his priestly faculties.
The documentary reveals, however, how Bergoglio himself, when writing his 2010 book, had indeed had such a case of a pedophile priest in a neighboring diocese and that he was intimately involved in the case. It is the now-infamous Father Julio César Grassi who has been imprisoned for 15 years because of his abuse of children who were entrusted to his care in the “Happy Children Foundation” orphanage.
The documentary highlighted six alleged victims of abuse who all claimed that then-Archbishop Bergoglio never answered their own specific complaints when they wrote to him as the archbishop of Buenos Aires.
When asked by the documentary journalists whether or not they ever received an answer, they all shook their heads in the negative. Asked about the above-quoted statement that Bergoglio never having a pedophile priest in his diocese and whether he says here the truth, one abuse victim, a woman, answered: “He wants people to believe that, but it is a lie.”
Despite contacting the future pope with allegations against abusive priests, “none of us” received an answer, was the reply by one abuse victim.
“He receives all the celebrities like Leonardo diCaprio” continued a woman, “but for us, not even a quick letter to say he was sorry.”
“I don’t expect anything from him. I do not believe in him,” added another woman.
A third woman explained: “I suffered a lot, and I’m very disappointed.” This woman spoke with tears in her eyes: “Because the Pope did nothing when he was archbishop here.” “Everyone told me,” she continued, “write to him, he’s bound to reply. But nothing.”
Reflecting on these replies, the commentator said: “As archbishop of Buenos Aires, Pope Francis was seemingly deaf to the distress of these victims.”
As the documentary continues, highlighting other cases of victims, some put forward their belief that Bergoglio “willfully tried to divert the course of justice.”
Reference was here made to Father Grassi. “The Argentinian Church did all in its power to have him acquitted,” explained the speaker. Juan Pablo Gallego, the defense attorney of the abuse victims, pointed out that the Argentine bishops in 2010 – after the first punitive sentence was spoken about Grassi – had asked a penal law professor (Marcelo A. Sancinetti) to conduct a study, which was compiled in a confidential dossier for internal use, dealing with the Grassi case.
This dossier, which was called “Studies on the Grassi Case” and contained 2,800 pages, came to the conclusion that “the court was wrong,” that Grassi was innocent and therefore should be acquitted. The author also claimed that the abused children spread “falsifications, lies, deceit and invention.”
This study, as the documentary pointed out, was made on behalf of the Argentine bishops under the leadership of Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio, who was, at that time, also the President of the Argentine Bishops’ Conference (2005-2011). This information is written on the back cover of the dossier. “So the Pope,” the speaker in the documentary concluded, “did then commission a counter-inquiry to try to have a priest who had been sentenced for pedophilia acquitted.”
“And it is said,” the speaker in the documentary continued, “that Jorge Bergoglio, the future Pope, actually sent it to the judges, with a shrewd sense of timing, before Father Grassi’s various appeal hearings.” Carlos Mahiques was one of these judges. In an interview for this documentary, he made it clear that this study, as ordered by Bergoglio, “is in some areas partial, and extremely partial in others,” and that is why he, as judge, did not allow himself to be influenced by it.
“It was clearly in favor of Father Grassi,” the judge said. “They were trying to exert a subtle form of pressure on the judges.” When asked whether he thought the Church tried to influence the judges, Mahiques replied: “That’s totally correct.”
In an interview in the documentary with one of the abuse victims of Father Grassi, it becomes clear that Grassi claimed to stand under the protection of Bergoglio.
“Bergoglio never let go of my hand,” are the words as they are quoted by the abuse victim who claimed to have heard them from Grassi himself. The victim continued, saying that Bergoglio now “is Pope Francis, but he has never gone against Grassi’s words. So I’m certain that he never did let go of Grassi’s hand!”
The documentary states that, Bergoglio, as Pope Francis “never publicly commented on the Grassi case.” The journalists themselves had tried for eight months to obtain an interview with the pontiff on the subject, but to no avail. Since they failed, the journalists stood in line at Saint Peter’s during one of the papal audiences and were able to call out to Pope Francis: “Your Holiness! Your Holiness, in the Grassi case, did you try to influence Argentine justice?” Pope Francis, making a stunned face (caught on film here in the documentary), replied “No!” The journalists continued, saying: “No? Then why did you commission a counter-inquiry?” The Pope responded, with a similar face: “I never did.” The documentary then asks: “How can the Catholic Church retrieve itself from these guilty silences?”
Grassi was until recently still on the official list of the diocese of Morón, a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires (on today’s list, however, his name is missing). It appears that Grassi was never laicized, at least not under Bergoglio.
New York subpoenas Catholic dioceses in sex abuse probe: source
September 6, 2018
New York’s attorney general issued civil subpoenas on Thursday to all eight Roman Catholic dioceses in the state as part of a sex abuse investigation, a law enforcement source said
The subpoenas are part of an ongoing civil investigation by Attorney General Barbara Underwood’s office into how dioceses reviewed and may have covered up allegations of sexual abuse of minors, said the source, who asked not to be identified.
In August, Underwood sought to partner with district attorneys, the only entities with the power to convene grand juries in the state, to investigate possible crimes.
There is no time limit under New York state’s statute of limitations for so-called Class A felonies such as rape.
“The Pennsylvania grand jury report shined a light on incredibly disturbing and depraved acts by Catholic clergy, assisted by a culture of secrecy and cover ups in the dioceses,” Underwood said in a statement on Thursday, announcing New York’s investigation.
The Archdiocese of New York said in a statement it had received the subpoena and was eager to work with Underwood in the investigation. It said that since 2002, it has shared information with the office concerning allegations of sexual abuse of minors.
“Not only do we provide any information they seek, they also notify us as well when they learn of an allegation of abuse, so that, even if they cannot bring criminal charges, we might investigate and remove from ministry any cleric who has a credible and substantiated allegation of abuse,” said Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York.
The Diocese of Buffalo said in a statement that it would cooperate with any investigation by the New York State attorney general or district attorney.
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said on Thursday that his office was creating a task force to investigate allegations of sexual abuse by clergy members within the state’s Catholic dioceses.
Last month of a grand jury report on a two-year investigation into abuse in Pennsylvania said that at least 1,000 people, mostly children, had been sexually abused by some 300 clergymen over the past 70 years.
Grewal said he was troubled by that report. “We owe it to the people of New Jersey to find out whether the same thing happened here,” he said in a statement. “If it did, we will take action against those responsible.”
Bishop of Oxford to face police questioning over allegations of sex abuse cover-up
2 Sept 2018
The Rt Rev Steven Croft, (left) the Bishop of Oxford, is one of a number of bishops under police investigation
The Bishop of Oxford will be summoned for questioning by police over claims he failed to pass on allegations of rape against a priest.
The Rt Rev Steven Croft will be interviewed under caution by South Yorkshire Police as part of an investigation over alleged failures to report abuse, sources have told The Telegraph.
No arrest is expected and the Diocese of Oxford stressed there was no suggestion of guilt.
However, a senior lawyer involved in the case said that Bishop Croft is set to be questioned over possible offences of misconduct in public office.
Matt Ineson, who has waived his right to anonymity, says he was raped by a former priest, the Rev Trevor Devamanikkam, in Bradford in the 1980s….
Retired teacher jailed for sexual abuse in Sussex
4 Sept 2018
Jeremy Malim has been jailed for historic sex offences
Jeremy Malim taught at the Brambletye Preparatory School near East Grinstead from 1975 to 2002 when he was suspended following accusations of indecent sexual assault.
The 73-year-old pervert used his position as a French teacher to “groom” boys aged between nine and 13 at the school.
He was found guilty of six charges of indecent assault after a trial at Hove Crown Court and was sentenced to six years in prison by Judge Paul Tain.
Ryan Richter, prosecuting, said Malim used his popularity as a teacher to abuse boys in his care.
“The victims described how the defendant had singled them out as ‘favourites’, paying them more attention than their classmates with his tactile behaviour turning to abuse,” he said.
He was previously on trial at Oxford Crown Court in 2003 when two former pupils made allegations but the case was dropped by a judge who was concerned about the length of time that had passed since the incidents.
But after a change in the law, further accusations from three former pupils were brought to Sussex Police in 2014.
The first victim was a boy who was abused between 1978 and 1979, the second was abused between 1977 and 1979, and the third from 1996 to 1999.
One victim said Malim had become like a “father figure” but said the pervert had the choice in his actions that his victims did not have.
He said: “As a 13-year-old child I did not have the opportunity and freedom to know what is right and wrong or to know I was being exploited for his own sexual gratification.
“Malim was in a position of trust and pastoral care for safeguarding children like me.
“He was supposed to protect our innocence and ease the concerns and worries that a child may have when away from home.”
Detective Constable Phil Cracknell led the investigation and said Malim would touch the boys inside their clothing, almost in full view of other pupils and would then make light of it.
He said: “Our investigation found that Malim used his position of authority and trust to effectively groom the boys he approached into a situation in which they felt unable to resist or report his advances.
“The young and vulnerable victims somehow accepted it at the time but it is quite clear that their distressing experiences stayed with them.”
Judge Tain said the victims were vulnerable and said it was an “almost classic” case of abuse of trust involving grooming.
He passed a six-year sentence for six offences for indecent assault, which included a five-year term for crimes against one boy, a one year term for another boy, and a total of six years from four charges against a third boy.
Malim, now of Morteaux-Coliboeuf in Normandy, was found not guilty of two charges.
Det Con Cracknell added: “The sentencing sends a message that we always take seriously and investigate such reports, no matter how long ago the events are said to have happened.”
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/16687271.retired-teacher-jailed-for-sexual-abuse-in-sussex/
British Boarding School Walls Hid Abuse
OCT. 11, 2004
Tom Perry had not seen his old friend for some 35 years when he called him out of the blue with an urgent question about the boarding school they attended together. “Just as a matter of interest,” he asked, “did you like the place?”
It was a deliberate provocation. “Hell, Tom, the conversation bowls happily along, and then you ask me a question like that,” Mr. Perry said his friend protested. But Mr. Perry, a businessman who turned 50 this year, invited him over to continue the conversation.
“There’s no point in prating about,” Mr. Perry said he told his friend. “I must tell you that when I was at Caldicott, I was sexually abused.”
So began a long process of facing up to the past for Mr. Perry, his friend and at least half a dozen other men who say they were molested by teachers at the Caldicott School, in Buckinghamshire, between 1964 and 1970. But it has been a bumpy and frustrating road. While one of the teachers pleaded guilty to abuse, the case against another, the school’s former headmaster, was thrown out of court by a skeptical judge who said the accusations involved events that had happened so long ago that a fair trial was impossible.
The judge’s apparent lack of sympathy, the former students say, is consistent with the general attitude of the British establishment, still disproportionately made up of men of a certain age and class who went to prep schools like Caldicott. Such men may be sympathetic about accusations of sexual misconduct in institutions like the Catholic Church, but acknowledging the abuse that took place at many boarding schools not so long ago is another matter.
But in the 1970’s, Mr. Perry said nothing. Caldicott was a place where loyalty to the school was emphasized above all else, where a culture of secrecy and shame prevailed and where emotional distress was something to be quelled, not indulged.
Simon Doggart, the current headmaster of Caldicott, said the school was not what it had once been. “We make children very aware of what their rights are and who they should talk to if they’re unhappy,” he said.
This is little comfort to Tom Perry, who was sent to Caldicott at 8 years old and who says the sexual attentions of Peter Wright, then the headmaster, began when he was 12 and lonely, missing the warmth of family life and craving intimacy and kindness. “My first sexual kiss was from Peter Wright,” he said. “My first sexual experiences were with him.”
It was not until decades later that Mr. Perry, racked by depression, sought psychiatric help. He also quickly found a half-dozen other former students who, like him, had lived alone with feelings of shame and complicity all those years.
Through his lawyer, Andrew Bright, Mr. Wright declined to be interviewed. In 2003, on the basis of statements by Mr. Perry and four other former students, he was indicted on 13 counts of indecent assaults and three counts of gross indecency with a child. But last year a judge, Roger Connor, stayed the case and set Mr. Wright, then 73, free. “The long delay has clearly made it significantly more difficult for the defendant to put forward his defense,” Judge Connor said.
Though some former teachers have been convicted in similar cases, many judges seem unsympathetic, even hostile, to the issue.
In a similar case, former teacher at the Cothill School in Oxfordshire was charged recently with abusing boys in the 1970’s. But the judge, Julian Hall, declared this year that “this is the stalest case I have been asked to try” and threw it out.
“I think the best thing that should happen to people who behave in this way,” Judge Hall told Oxford Crown Court, speaking of the former teacher, Jeremy Malim, “is that they should get a very brisk elbow in the ribs at the time or be rejected.”
Most of the goings-on at Caldicott were known but never spoken about, but a sexual scandal did erupt there in 1973, when a teacher named Martin Carson was caught sodomizing a 12-year-old boy, Alastair Rolfe.
The abuse had gone on for a year, and “during that time, virtually everything happened,” Mr. Rolfe, now 43, a writer and editor, said in an interview. Spurred by news of the case against Mr. Wright, Mr. Rolfe and others came forward, and Mr. Carson pleaded guilty to sodomy, indecent assault and possessing indecent images of children. In 2003, he was sentenced to two years in prison. He was released after a year.
In 1973, there was a rush to cover everything up. Mr. Carson was dismissed and eventually got a job at another school. At home, Mr. Rolfe said, “it was always referred to as ‘an incident’ like someone tripping over a curbstone.” He was sent right back to school and did not discuss the subject again for 30 years when, troubled by issues with his own children, he began seeing a therapist.
“I don’t want to sound self-pitying,” he said, “but I’d probably say it affects all aspects of my life.”
That is also true of Mark Winter, a third man who says he was abused at Caldicott by yet another teacher and who has gone to the police with his accusations. Mr. Winter, 54, a journalist, says he was 11 when the teacher took him into a room and began more than a year of regular abuse.
“I wandered, completely traumatized, out of the room,” Mr. Winter said in an interview, recalling how he was then spotted by the school matron, a sort of nurse-cum-housekeeper. “She said, ‘I know what you’ve been doing, you dirty boy.”‘
Some time later, he confided in a schoolmate. “I told him I was a sexual partner” of the teacher, Mr. Winter said. “He looked at me and said, ‘Who wasn’t?”‘
https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/11/world/europe/british-boarding-school-walls-hid-abuse.html
Judge Julian Hall has previously made controversially lenient sentences. In 2007 he jailed a window cleaner, Keith Fenn, for two years for the rape of a ten-year-old girl. Fenn’s accomplice, Darren Wright, received nine months. Fenn’s sentence was doubled on appeal by the Attorney-General.
29th September 2010
Judge Julian Hall, the resident judge at Oxford Crown Court, has courted national controversy for some sentences during his eight years in the job.
In 2007 he told a paedophile that £250 compensation would buy his six-year-old victim “a nice new bicycle” – while some sex and violent crime sentences have been increased by more senior judges.
The 71-year-old, a judge for 24 years, said: “You’ve got to make up your own mind, and sentencing has become increasingly directive and prescriptive.
Judge Anthony King said his colleague was ‘renowned for his fairness and his humanity’.
Sentences passed by Judge Hall that made the headlines included: October 2007: The Court of Appeal doubles the two-year sentence given by Judge Hall to child rapist Keith Fenn after an outcry by campaign group Phoenix Chief Advocates. The result was reported by the Mail as a triumph for justice.
May 2008: The Court of Appeal backs Judge Hall’s decision to give a paedophile a three-year supervision order, rather than jailing him. Callum Witheridge, 18, molested a girl and young boy.
October 2008: Victims’ campaigner Sara Payne says Judge Hall’s sentencing of Witney paedophile Colin Lyons, 19, is “unduly lenient in the extreme”. He was given a three-year community order.
February 2009: Judge Hall lets a female teacher who admitted two counts of sexual activity with a 15-year-old boy walk free, after saying he was not sure she harmed him. Catherine Armstrong, 33, receives a 12-month suspended prison sentence after the teenager, who has learning difficulties, asks Judge Hall to “be nice to her” during sentencing.
December 2009: Judge Hall’s sentencing of violent robber John Shirley, 24, is increased by a senior judge. Shirley was jailed for six-and-a-half years for a violent crime spree which included pistol-whipping a shopkeeper and bursting into a couple’s home with a meat cleaver. Lord Justice Hughes increased it to nine years.
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/8419484.Controversial_judge_calls_it_a_day/
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/search/?search=%22Judge+Julian+Hall%22
Judge Julian Hall was appointed as a circuit Judge on 18 Sept 1986
2002 to 2010 – His Honour Judge Julian Hall – circuit judge from 1986 to 2010, resident judge Oxford Crown Court and Honorar y Recorder between 2002 and 2010.
http://mycouncil.oxford.gov.uk/documents/s19182/Honorary%20Recorder%20Appointment.pdf
9th Annual High Sheriffs Lecture
Under Sheriff of Oxford, Tom Birch Reynardson, The Rt Hon the Baroness Hale of Richmond, The High Sheriff of OxfordTony Stratton,DL, Shrieval Remembrancer, His Honour Judge Julian Hall.
November 4 2002,
Gray’s Inn
The following have been elected Masters of the Bench of Gray’s Inn:
His Honour Judge Julian Hall;
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/announcements-vm82dvkvm7z
Steve Bannon (left) shared a secret meeting with reviled billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein at the financier’s notorious Upper East Side mansion.
August 11, 2018
Former White House chief strategist Bannon was spotted stepping out of his SUV and entering the registered sex offender’s sprawling 21,000-square-foot mansion at 9 E. 71st St. shortly before 7 a.m. Wednesday.
Epstein’s palatial pad is one of his homes where young girls were allegedly brought in to perform massages and used as “sex slaves.”
We assume Bannon wasn’t there for a massage.
Sources speculate that the disgraced Epstein wants to use his millions to work his way close to political power again.
One told us, “Bannon needs money to bankroll his political agenda. Epstein has plenty of money, and craves power and access.”
Bannon made an early-morning beeline to Epstein, even though Bannon may have burned bridges when he savaged Ivanka Trump over her criticism of Roy Moore, whom Bannon backed despite claims the candidate had sexually harassed teens. Citing an allegation in legal papers from a woman (who later dropped her lawsuit) that Donald Trump and Epstein had raped her when she was 13, Bannon said in response to Ivanka, “What about the allegations about her dad and that 13-year-old?”
Epstein has previously used his millions to cultivate the world’s most powerful — but has mostly given money to Democrats.
From 2001 to 2003, Bill Clinton flew on Epstein’s private plane, dubbed “The Lolita Express,” 26 times. Epstein is close to Prince Andrew and was a regular at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.
Trump told New York magazine of Epstein in 2002, “Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
Epstein, 65, pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a teen and served 13 months in jail.
Last year, he reportedly paid millions to settle three lawsuits filed against him by teens. Bannon’s rep didn’t comment. A lawyer for Epstein said, “Let me ask him,” but didn’t respond by deadline.
ZED @ZedTrafficker
Westminster VIP child abuse inquiry kicks out ‘witness’ @ciabaudo @chrisstacey1 @reeves3915 so this day has come… It was inquiry to clear famous people of child abuse, not about justice for children who were abused. My heart weeps
Chris Stacey @chrisstacey1Replying to @ZedTrafficker @ciabaudo @reeves3915
but this story is not going away. Either directly or indirectly information will force it’s way out about Heath and the other VIP paedophiles
Westminster VIP child abuse inquiry kicks out ‘witness’
2 Sept 2018
A woman who was a witness in the Wiltshire police inquiry into allegations of child abuse by Edward Heath has had her claims rejected as implausible.
The 48-year-old submitted a request to be deemed a “core participant”, or witness of enhanced status, at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). Known as WM-A5, she claimed to have been abused by 13 prominent men in a Westminster paedophile ring that included Heath, the former prime minister, and Jimmy Savile.
Alexis Jay, the inquiry’s chairwoman, examined the woman’s allegations but concluded: “I was not able to place any weight on [her] claims to have been the victim of child sexual abuse at the hands of people of prominence associated with Westminster.” She added: “None of the named individuals has any obvious or explained connection to [the claimant], and the strongest theme . . . is the fact that many have been publicly accused in recent years of involvement in historic cases of child sex abuse.”
1979 Baroness Soames, Jimmy Savile and James Callaghan
The woman said she had been abused by senior Tories at Chequers, the prime minister’s country home, at a time when Labour was in power. She listed sites where abuse occurred but “gives no explanation as to how she came to be in such disparate places as Chequers, a US military base at Naphill and Stoke Mandeville Hospital”, said Jay. “I do not regard [the] allegations as plausible.”
The claimant is challenging Jay’s ruling and the statement was removed from the IICSA website. The inquiry said: “We received a complaint about the notice of determination and took it down while it is addressed. It will be republished in the next few weeks.”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/westminster-vip-child-abuse-inquiry-kicks-out-witness-zfld5jvr0
Alex Salmond resigns from SNP after sexual misconduct claims
Former leader of Scottish National party quits to fight allegations that he denies
Alex Salmond has dramatically quit the Scottish National party as he seeks to clear his name of sexual misconduct charges.
The former SNP leader and first minister, who brought the party to power at Holyrood in 2007 and close to winning an independence referendum in 2014, said he wanted to focus on his judicial review against the Scottish government over its handling of the two complaints.
In a lengthy statement posted on Twitter, Salmond said: “I truly love the SNP and the wider independence movement in Scotland. They have been the defining commitment of my life. But today I have written to the national secretary of the party resigning my membership.”
His lawyers filed his judicial review application with the court of session, Scotland’s civil court, earlier this week. He is also facing a police investigation into those allegations.
Salmond’s statement said he would reapply to the party if he wins his case and at the same time launched a crowd-funding appeal to help pay his legal costs. Less than two hours after launching the appeal on Twitter, he had raised £27,000 against an initial target of £50,000.
Salmond said his high stakes move was designed to avoid his legal battles damaging and splitting the SNP, but it will be seen as a tactical move to win greater sympathy from party activists. It also risks splitting the party between Salmond loyalists and those who back his successor as leader and first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, only a few weeks before she hosts its annual conference in Glasgow.
In a statement on Twitter, Sturgeon said: “I feel a huge sadness about this whole situation. Alex has been my friend and mentor for almost 30 years. [These] last few days have been incredibly difficult for the party and, I am sure, for those involved in the complaints.”
She added that regardless of the distress to her and her party “the hard fact remains that two complaints were received by the Scottish government that could not be ignored or swept under the carpet. Complaints must be investigated without fear or favour.”
The Scottish Conservatives said Salmond’s strategy raised an “incredible and unprecedented situation” where its most significant figure wanted money from SNP supporters to fight a government he once led and which was still run by their party.
Rhoda Grant, the Scottish Labour MSP who sits on several cross-party groups representing women’s interests, said the former first minster was “dragging Scotland into the gutter.” She added: “That an independently wealthy man with his celebrity and political power is to raise legal fees through a crowdfunder for a case ultimately linked to sexual harassment is unbelievable.
“It suggests that he is sending a signal to those who have made allegations that he has the upper hand.”
Sturgeon has come under intense pressure from opposition parties to suspend Salmond’s membership while the Police Scotland investigation into the claims is under way.
Salmond said in his statement he did not enter politics to damage the SNP but implied too the party was facing a split over his case. Many Salmond loyalists in the party are furious that Sturgeon’s government has confirmed that he is under investigation.
“Most of all I am conscious that if the party is forced into suspending me it would cause substantial internal division,” he said. He also implied that he disagreed with Sturgeon’s previous decision to suspend her former children’s minister Mark McDonald from the SNP over sexual harassment allegations against him.
He points out that the Scottish government had said no internal complaint had been made against him until January this year, adding: “Let me be clear again. I refute these two complaints of harassment and I absolutely reject any suggestion of criminality.”
Since the allegations against Salmond came to light last Thursday night, he has suggested that proving that the Scottish government mishandled the complaints will absolve him. However, the police investigation is legally separate and could see him face criminal charges.
Senior SNP figures were unwilling to immediately discuss the announcement publicly but offered differing private views.
Some suggested it was driven by ego rather than to save the party from disrepute. Others said it was helpful he had separated himself from the party while the police investigation was ongoing. They pointed out that it also meant the SNP could not take any disciplinary action against him at a later date.
They said it removes pressure on Sturgeon to suspend him, effectively sidelining him during the SNP’s upcoming conference. But one senior supporter warns that the resignation frees Salmond to “go to war”, in particular over the timing of a second independence referendum, as he fights to preserve his legacy.
Salmond is a relatively wealthy man. After nearly 30 years in the Westminster and Scottish parliaments and more than seven years as first minister he has parliamentary pensions and continuing earnings from his media work. He is married but without children.
He is currently the host of his own chatshow on the Kremlin-funded RT television network, is an author and the host of a live chatshow that tours theatres and arts venues.
He said, however, he needed help with his legal costs. That is likely to be the focus of a major appeal by his supporters and allies, who will use it to increase the profile of his campaign.
In his statement, Salmond said: “The costs of a judicial review in the highest court in the land are huge. Many have asked how they can help directly. Therefore I have established a crowdfunder to assist with costs. All sums received will contribute exclusively to progressing the judicial review and any money left over will be used to support good causes in Scotland and beyond.”
Alex Salmond saddened at Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s resignation
Alex Salmond was “SADDENED” at O’Briens resignation
Lawyers: Kincora home should be included in NIO legacy consultation
An inquiry dismissed long-standing claims that senior politicians, civil servants and businessmen were complicit in a paedophile ring there.
A notorious Belfast boy’s home should form part of official efforts to address the legacy of the past, lawyers said.
KRW Law argued that Kincora should be addressed as part of the NIO’s consultation on dealing with the past, which closes next month.
The firm represents Richard Kerr, who alleges he was abused by “very powerful people” with links to Kincora and does not accept the conclusions of the four-year Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry.
The inquiry dismissed long-standing claims that senior politicians, civil servants and businessmen were complicit in a paedophile ring that operated at the home in the 1970s and for which three staff members were jailed.
A statement from KRW said: “In addition to the proposed legal proceedings, KRW will argue that the Kincora scandal must be considered as part of the legacy of the conflict and we have made representations to the Lord Chief Justice and OPONI (Police Ombudsman) to that effect and will make the same point in its submissions to the NIO consultation on the legacy of the conflict.”
The inquiry report rejected allegations that the UK security services knew what was going on and, instead of intervening, used the information to blackmail the establishment figures involved.
Publishing the HIA findings in January, inquiry chairman Sir Anthony Hart said of Kincora: “It was not a homosexual brothel, nor was it used by any of the security agencies as a honey pot to entrap, blackmail or otherwise exploit homosexuals.”
The retired judge added: “It is now time to finally lay these unfounded myths to rest.”
Mr Kerr, who claims he was abused inside Kincora and at other locations in Belfast and London, was due to give evidence to the inquiry but withdrew his co-operation at a late stage after claiming key state documents related to the home were not disclosed to his legal team.
A statement from his lawyers said: “On his behalf, KRW is considering issuing legal proceedings by way of a judicial review of the failings of the OFMDFM, the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) and the PSNI to investigate Kincora in a manner consistent with human rights standards, which Sir Anthony Hart stated would not be applied to The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry (HIA) which reported its conclusions and recommendations in 2017.”
This point was argued before the Court of Appeal at the start of the HIA Inquiry.
The law firm added: “It is a point that will now be subject to challenge again in light of the flaws and failings of the HIA Inquiry.”
Catholic Church sex abuse cover-up in Pennsylvania ‘went all the way to the Vatican’, says state attorney general
The prosecutor is not directly implicating Pope Francis, but claims the Vatican was aware of a systematic cover up
28 Aug 2018
Pennsylvania’s attorney general has claimed to have evidence that the Vatican was aware of a systematic cover up for decades of sex abuse carried out by priests in the Catholic Church.
Josh Shapiro described the abuses dating back to 1947 found by a grand jury in an interview with NBC’s Today Show, including “a systematic cover up that went all the way to the Vatican”.
“I can’t specifically speak to Pope Francis,” the attorney general said Monday about whether or not the the pontiff was aware of the abuses. But, he said: “We have evidence that the Vatican had knowledge of a cover up.”
An estimated 300 Roman Catholic priests in Pennsylvania molested more than 1,000 children – and possibly many more – since the 1940s, according to a scathing Pennsylvania grand jury report that accused senior church officials, including the man who is now archbishop of Washington, DC, of systematically covering up complaints.
The “real number” of victimised children and abusive priests might be higher since some secret church records were lost and some victims never came forward, the grand jury said in the report, which is the largest of its kind in the United States.
US bishops adopted widespread reforms in 2002 when clergy abuse became a national crisis for the church, including stricter requirements for reporting accusations to law enforcement and a streamlined process for removing clerics. But the grand jury said more changes are needed.
“Despite some institutional reform, individual leaders of the church have largely escaped public accountability,” the grand jury wrote in the roughly 900-page report. “Priests were raping little boys and girls, and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did nothing; they hid it all.”
Meanwhile, Pope Francis faced a lukewarm reception and scattered protests on his trip to Ireland, with even his vow to rid the church of the “scourge” of sexual abuse and his outrage at those “repugnant crimes” dismissed as a disappointment by some of Ireland’s wounded victims.
But others who met with him in private left heartened that he would respond to their plight, including two of the thousands of children who were forcibly put up for adoption for the shame of having been born to unwed mothers. They said Francis described the corruption and cover up in the church as “caca” – which a Vatican translated for the English speakers as “filth as one sees in the toilet”.
The abuse scandal – which has exploded anew in the US but has convulsed Ireland since the 1990s with revelations of unfathomable violence and humiliation against women and children – took centre stage on the first day of the Pope’s two-day trip. The visit was originally intended to celebrate Catholic families.
Francis responded to the outcry by vowing to end sex abuse and cover up during a speech to Irish government authorities at Dublin Castle.
“The failure of ecclesiastical authorities – bishops, religious superiors, priests and others – to adequately address these repugnant crimes has rightly given rise to outrage, and remains a source of pain and shame for the Catholic community,” he told them. “I myself share these sentiments.”
He cited measures taken by his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, to respond to the crisis. But while Benedict is credited with cracking down on abusers, he never acknowledged the Vatican’s role in fuelling a culture of cover up or sanctioned bishops for failing to protect their flocks from predator priests.
UK child migrants sent to Australia sue government over abuse
29 Aug 2018
More than 100 Britons who were forcibly sent abroad as children under a resettlement scheme are suing the UK government over the abuse they faced.
In March, the Independent Inquiry Into Child Sex Abuse said all 2,000 survivors should receive financial compensation within 12 months.
But the British government has failed to set up any scheme providing redress.
Between 1945-70, some 4,000 children were separated from their families and sent to Australia and Zimbabwe.
As part of the scheme, children from deprived backgrounds who were often already in social care – some as young as three years old – were sent away with the promise of a better life.
The scheme was overseen by government, and managed by charities and the church. Victims say they went on to be sexually, emotionally and physically abused.
Rex Wade was one of the last children to be sent to Australia as part of the programme in 1970.
At the age of 10, he was shipped from Cornwall with his brother to Tasmania.
He says he was subjected to a punitive regime and was treated “cruelly for any misdemeanour”, to the point that his tormentors would set a dog on him and other children if they misbehaved.
“It was physical, verbal and mental abuse,” he says.
“I lost everything I ever had; the relationships I had with my family. It’s a lot to deal with and you just don’t get over it.”
‘They took my childhood’
John Glynn, who was sent to a Christian Brothers institution in Western Australia when he was eight years old, is one of the 100 former migrants to bring the case forward.
At the institution in Clontarf, he was told he was not loved by his family in Britain. Through his seven years with the Christian Brothers he was beaten brutally with a cane, and also sexually abused.
“As I get older it gets worse,” the 74-year-old says.
“I think about that a lot now. They took my childhood from me. They took my country from me, my heritage.”
For several decades, the UK sent children across the world to new lives in institutions where many were abused and used as forced labour. It’s a scandal that is still having repercussions now.
Imagine the 1950s, in the years before air travel became commonplace or the internet dominated our lives. Imagine being a child of those times, barely aware of life even in the next town. An orphan perhaps, living in a British children’s home.
Now imagine being told that shortly you would board a ship for somewhere called Australia, to begin a new life in a sunlit wonderland. For good. No choice.
Read the full article here (published February 2017)
Historically, the migration of British children was part of a longstanding policy aimed at easing the strain on UK orphanages and strengthening the British population abroad.
More than 130,000 children were shipped to Commonwealth countries from 1618 until 1970, to countries like Canada, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Australia.
The Independent Inquiry Into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) investigated the final 4,000 children sent to Australia and Zimbabwe between 1945-1970.
It found children suffered sexual and emotional abuse, as well as forced labour. Some were also wrongly told they were orphans, depriving them of the opportunity of meeting their birth parents.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We want to reassure those affected we are committed to providing a timely response to the Inquiry’s recommendations.”
But despite the recommendation in March, the government is yet to set up a compensation scheme for the surviving child migrants.
BBC correspondent Sanchia Berg said many “of the migrants feel time is running out” as most are elderly, and some are frail.
Since March, 14 of the survivors have died.
Meanwhile, lawyer Alan Collins, who is representing the victims, said: “The government needs to step up to the plate and bring into force its redress scheme.
“Compensation can never put matters right, that’s impossible and it would be insulting to suggest otherwise.
“But it is action, it is a recognition that meets the words that have been spoken by the politicians.”
In 2010, then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologised on behalf of the British government for sending British children abroad.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45340295
Over 100 line up to sue States for alleged abuse
MORE than 100 former residents of a secure school in Jersey are set to sue the States unless they get a compensation scheme and a formal apology for the years of abuse they claim they suffered.
Over 100 line up to sue States for alleged abuse
MORE than 100 former residents of a secure school in Jersey are set to sue the States unless they get a compensation scheme and a formal apology for the years of abuse they claim they suffered.
The children, who were held at Les Chênes in St Saviour during the 1990s and early 2000s, say that as well as being physically abused they were locked up in solitary confinement, in one case for six weeks continuously.
One of the youngsters, now in his early 30s, has described hitting the walls of the cell so hard that he was left covered in blood.
He claims that he wrote ‘I hate Les Chênes School’ in his own blood on the walls while detained in solitary confinement.
The man said: ‘They took away my childhood. I didn’t have a life from the age of 12 to 15. I had nothing. I was stripped naked. I was humiliated because I was having tantrums. I was then placed in that cell.
‘At the time I thought it was normal because I wasn’t the only one being put in there. I now know, growing into adulthood, that it wasn’t normal.’
Les Chênes was one of several institutions which featured heavily in the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry – a long-running investigation into sexual and physical abuse in the Island’s post-war care system.
Several former residents claimed that they had been subjected to physical abuse at the centre from both staff and fellow pupils.
During the inquiry, one former worker was accused of ‘pinballing’ children by throwing them off walls, as well as punching, pushing, throwing them to the ground and dragging them by their clothes.
He was also accused of lifting children by their ears. The worker denied all the allegations.
Alan Collins, the UK-based lawyer who is representing the alleged victims, is giving the States until 30 September to come forward with both a formal apology and a compensation scheme for the former residents, as has previously been afforded to those who suffered sexual and physical abuse while in full-time States care. He says that if the States fail to meet the deadline he will will lead a class action in court.
‘If it comes to that, that is what is going to have to happen. I hope it doesn’t,’ he said.
‘This is not going to go away. The States of Jersey needs to step up to the plate now and deal with this,’ he added.
https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2018/08/28/over-100-line-up-to-sue-states-for-alleged-abuse/
Former Vatican official claims Pope Francis knew of abusive priest and calls for his resignation
26 Aug 2018
Vigano, who retired in 2016 at age 75, described an exchange with Francis on June 23, 2013, shortly after he became pope, about Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington D.C., who resigned last month over claims he sexually abused seminary students and an altar boy.
Vigano writes that he told Francis about the allegations: “Holy Father, I don’t know if you know Cardinal McCarrick, but if you ask the Congregation for Bishops there is a dossier this thick about him. He corrupted generations of seminarians and priests and Pope Benedict ordered him to withdraw to a life of prayer and penance.”
Vigano writes the pope did not respond to the statement, and McCarrick continued in his role as a public figure for the church.
“Pope Francis has repeatedly asked for total transparency in the Church,” Vigano continues. “He must honestly state when he first learned about the crimes committed by McCarrick, who abused his authority with seminarians and priests. In any case, the Pope learned about it from me on June 23, 2013 and continued to cover him.”
Pope Francis addressed the sex abuse scandal on Saturday in comments made in Dublin. “The failure of ecclesiastical authorities — bishops, religious superiors, priests and others — to adequately address these repugnant crimes has rightly given rise to outrage, and remains a source of pain and shame for the Catholic community,” he said. “I myself share these sentiments.”
Pope Francis accepted McCarrick’s resignation on July 28. McCarrick has maintained his innocence.
Father Boniface Ramsey of New York told CBS News this month that he repeatedly complained about McCarrick and heard about his disturbing behavior as early as 1986.
This month, a Pennsylvania grand jury issued a report that said more than 300 priests abused more than 1,000 children, and likely thousands more, over seven decades.
Nearly 100 of the accused clergy are from the Pittsburgh diocese alone, where Donald Wuerl, the current cardinal of Washington, D.C., was the bishop for 18 years.
In his statement, Vigano wrote that Wuerl also knew about McCarrick. “His recent statements that he knew nothing about it … are absolutely laughable. The cardinal lies shamelessly,” Vigano wrote.
In an interview with CBS News correspondent Nikki Battiste before the grand jury report, Wuerl said that he was quick to deal with allegations and that he was not aware of any rumors about McCarrick.
“If there were allegations, we dealt with them immediately,” he said. “All the time that [McCarrick] was here and certainly all the time that I’ve been here, there was never any news. If I could tell you no one ever came to me and said this person did this to me. No one. No one. And remember, we were just talking about Pittsburgh. I was in Pittsburgh…we weren’t following the rumors of different parts of the country.”
Wuerl also suggested to CBS News that McCarrick had paid a price for his actions. “He has resigned and his resignation has been accepted. And he’s been told to stay in seclusion…that’s a pretty substantial penalty to be paying.”
Vigano’s statement calls on the church to take action. “To restore the beauty of holiness to the face of the Bride of Christ — so tremendously disfigured by so many abominable crimes, if we truly want to free the Church from the fetid swamp into which she has fallen, we must have the courage to tear down the culture of secrecy and publicly confess the truths that we have kept hidden.”
Archbishop: ‘I Wasn’t Sure If It Was A Crime For Priests To Rape Children’
The high ranking head of the Archdiocese of St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson said under oath that he “wasn’t sure if he knew that it was illegal for priests to have sex with children.”After admitting to protecting and covering up for pedophile priests, Carlson testified that he wasn’t sure whether it was a crime for a priest to rape children when he served as chancellor of the Twin Cities archdiocese in the 1980s.
Archbishop Carlson also said under oath that he could not recall how he handled the allegations of abuse against a Minnesota priest years ago.
Attorney Jeff Anderson asked Carlson if he was aware that it was a crime fro ana adult to engage in sex with a child.His response was: “I’m not sure whether I knew it was a crime or not,” Carlson replied. “I understand today it’s a crime.”Anderson then asked Carlson if he knew in 1984 when he was an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, that is it was a crime to have sex with a child.“I’m not sure if I did or didn’t,” Carlson said.
Documents show that Carlson made a conscious choice to protect accused sex offenders and conceal crimes. Anderson says Carlson uses the words “I don’t remember” 193 times under oath when asked of his knowledge of cases of child sex abuse in the church.Carlson left Minnesota in 1994 and served as bishop in Sioux Falls, S.D., and Saginaw, Mich., before becoming St. Louis archbishop in 2009.
In response to questions Monday, the St. Louis Archdiocese released a statement that said: “while not being able to recall his knowledge of the law exactly as it was many decades ago, the Archbishop did make clear that he knows child sex abuse is a crime today.”The statement also said Carlson’s “moral stance on the sin of pedophilia” is “that it is a most egregious offense.”
The Archbishop’s claim that he did not know it was a crime for a priest to rape a child is unbelievable.The fact that the Catholic church continues to stand by this moral monster is predictable.This sad episode is yet another reminder of the Catholic Church’s failure to protect children.The moral corruption of the Catholic Church is by now well documented.The Catholic brand is forever tarnished, reduced to a symbol of moral corruption and decay, a symbol of inhumanity, a symbol of broken and dead children.
Source : https://bit.ly/2tServI
Much-anticipated Jeffrey Epstein civil case trial set for Dec. 4
August 22, 2018
WEST PALM BEACH —
A long-awaited-for trial that promises a first-ever exploration of the sexual misdeeds of billionaire convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is expected to begin Dec. 4 in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.
During a two-hour hearing on Wednesday, Circuit Judge Donald Hafele dispensed with a series of routine motions filed by attorneys representing Epstein and those representing his longtime nemesis, lawyer Bradley Edwards.
Jeffrey Epstein: Coverage of Palm Beach billionaire sex offender case
Unless the two agree to settle their differences during yet another mediation session on Sept. 21, the civil lawsuit is expected to go to a jury nearly 10 years after it was filed.
However, the money manager who counts President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Britain’s Prince Andrew among his friends has no plans to be there, his attorneys said.
Memo: Sex offender Jeffrey Epstein talked to FBI to get plea deal
As a result, attorney Jack Scarola said he will be forced to read excerpts from Epstein’s sworn statements. The part-time Palm Beach resident refused to answer nearly every question — ranging from how many times he had sex with the girls at his waterfront mansion to how much he is worth. In each case, he invoked his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Epstein attorney Scott Link said the strategy is simply to vilify Epstein. “Mr. Scarola and Mr. Edwards want to show what a horrible person Mr. Epstein was,” he said. “They hope the jury dislikes Mr. Epstein enough to award Mr. Edwards lots of money in damages.”
Jeffery Epstein civil trial spins on claims of stolen documents
While Judge Hafele threw out some of the questions, he said Epstein’s relationship with the young women and his net worth are relevant to the malicious prosecution lawsuit Edwards filed against Epstein.
Link argued that Epstein has good reason not to answer questions about his relationships with young women. While Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to state charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution and soliciting prostitution and served 13 months in jail, Edwards is trying to convince a federal judge to reopen the investigation.
Until U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra decides whether federal prosecutors violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act by not telling the young women that they agreed to drop their investigation if Epstein pleaded guilty to the state charges, Epstein is not off the hook, Link said.
Epstein and Edwards have been duking it out in court for years. Edwards successfully sued Epstein on behalf of three women who claimed he paid them for sex when they were in their teens.
After Epstein paid $5.5 million to settle the three lawsuits and undisclosed amounts to settle dozens of others, he sued Edwards and his former boss, disbarred lawyer and convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein. Epstein claimed Rothstein and Edwards used the cases they filed against him to lure investors into the $1.2 million Ponzi scheme. Investors were lured by tales of bogus settlements of various lawsuits filed against high-profile people.
After Rothstein was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison, Epstein dropped the lawsuit. Edwards responded by suing Epstein for malicious prosecution to clear his reputation. Epstein knew Edwards wasn’t part of Rothstein’s scheme but sued him to punish him for representing the young women, Scarola claims.
Link disagrees. At the time, he said Epstein had good reason to believe Edwards was part of the scam.
Nuns arrested over Smyllum child abuse claims
23 Aug 2018
Twelve people, some of them nuns, have been arrested over claims of abuse at a former children’s home in Lanarkshire.
Police said 11 women and one man – all aged between 62 and 85 – had been charged in connection with the abuse of children at Smyllum Park.
The home, which closed in 1981, was run by a Catholic order known as Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul.
Police said a further four people were due to be reported to the Crown Office in connection with their investigation.
Smyllum Park took in more than 11,600 children over the course of its existence from 1864 to 1981.
It has been hit by claims of sexual and physical abuse and is being investigated as part of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI).
The bodies of at least 400 children were discovered in a mass grave just a three-minute drive away from the care home in 2003.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-45282865
FREDDIE THE FISH @deirbhilesdaddy
When are the arrest warrants being issued in Ireland?
Bob Murphy @TinaMurnotbot
Never. Killing women and children, by the clergy, isn’t illegal in Ireland. Neither is rape, paedophilia or any other level of torture. In fact, so legal was it, that they actually had religious concentration camps funded by the State and run by the Church.
Gilo @seaofcomplicity
If these Church of England clergy had acted – then this Zimbabwe teenager would be alive today.
https://www.channel4.com/news/christian-lawyer-who-beat-boys-was-charged-over-zimbabwe-death
@JustinWelby @bathwellsbish Will you be asking questions Archbishop? Will you be speaking on the emerging revelations of this cover-up?
The church had a full report on John Smyth’s sadistic behaviour in 1982
Private Eye magazine, 24th February, no1438, page 8, supplements the thorough investigation by Channel Four News, in a report under the headline ‘The C of E and the Sado-Evangelist’
Andrew Graystone: “I have personally written to every individual Titus Trustee more than once, pleading for them to do their duty as trustees and as Christians, and help the victims. Not one has responded.”
Victims launch claim against John Smyth camp leaders
VICTIMS LAUNCH CLAIM AGAINST JOHN SMYTH CAMP LEADERS
A group of men who say they were groomed and beaten by the English barrister John Smyth have launched a legal claim against the Titus Trust, which runs the notorious Iwerne holidays network.
One victim, who did not wish to be identified, said “The abuse we suffered as a consequence of attending Iwerne camps has had a devastating effect on all of our lives. We have been compelled to take this course of action because of the unwillingness of the Titus Trust to accept any responsibility for what happened.”
Since John Smyth’s abuse came to public attention in February 2017, Titus Trust has consistently refused to speak to the men, to help identify other victims or to provide for the counselling they all need. Victims’ advocate Andrew Graystone said “I have personally written to every individual Titus Trustee more than once, pleading for them to do their duty as trustees and as Christians, and help the victims. Not one has responded. The refusal of the trustees to offer any help to Smyth’s victims has massively compounded their suffering.”
The victims have instructed Richard Scorer of Slater and Gordon Solicitors to pursue their claim against Titus Trust. Scorer has frequently represented victims of abuse In a church context. He said “No reasonable person could believe that the Titus Trust is anything other than the legal successor to the Iwerne Trust. If the current trustees of the Titus Trust persist in claiming that they bear no responsibility, we will be forced to launch additional claims against the individual surviving trustees of Iwerne, namely David Fletcher and Giles Rawlinson.”
Titus Trust is the legal successor to the Iwerne Trust, which continues to run camps under the Iwerne brand. Iwerne provides a programme of intensive Christian discipleship based around activity holidays. The programme has run continuously since 1930. The most recent Iwerne holidays were held this month.
Ruston’s report made clear that Smyth’s action were criminal.
Several clergy who were on the distribution list for the Ruston report have gone on to enjoy high profile careers in the church.
Chief among them is Rev David Fletcher
(He commissioned the report, was senior officer at Iwerne camps where Smyth abused. He then became Rector of St Ebbe’s church in Oxford and remained a trustee of Iwerne and its successor body until 2016.)
Other recipients of the Ruston report:
Rev Roger Combes
Rev. Tim Sterry – director of Walhampton School Trust along with Lord Montagu of Beaulieu (Ralph)
Why did none of them think to speak out about their abusive colleague over 36 years?
The same question might be asked of
Rev David Conner -Now Dean of Windsor
Rev Hugh Palmer – visited one of Smyth’s victims in hospital
Andrew Watson, now Bishop of Guilford
Alasdair Paine – Vicar of St Andrew the Great in Cambridge
John Smyth QC was the chair of the Iwerne Trust from 1975 to 1982. He resigned when the trust became aware that he was using the network to recruit young men for abuse. Smyth died at his home in South Africa on 11th August, just eight days after Hampshire Police had summoned him for formal questioning in connection with the offences.
https://www.thinkinganglicans.org.uk/victims-launch-claim-against-john-smyth-camp-leaders/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Sherbourne prep school to be sued over sex abuse claims
August 19 2018hodge
A legal test case is being prepared against Sherborne Preparatory School in Dorset seeking damages for child sex abuse, even though the school was sold 20 years ago and is now a charity. The Sunday Times understands that potential claimants allege they were victims of abuse by Robin Lindsay, head teacher and owner of the school from 1972 to 1998. Lawyers will argue that, although the school is a new entity, it is liable to pay compensation because Lindsay sold it to the charity for £1 and the buyers allegedly knew of the abuse. The authorities were aware of the claims and at least five inquiries were conducted into Lindsay’s behaviour, but no action was taken.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sherbourne-prep-school-to-be-sued-over-sex-abuse-claims-dtqb0x8l7
‘Old Boys’ to raise $60,000 for Wilson appeal
https://www.theherald.com.au/story/5590715/old-boys-to-raise-60000-for-wilson-appeal/?cs=7573
Colm O’Gorman Verified account @Colmogorman
This man reappointed known serial child abusers to ministry.
18 Aug 2018
Cardinal Wuerl will give the keynote address in the RDS at 2.30pm next Wednesday afternoon, on “The Welfare of the Family is Decisive for the Future of the World”.
Pennsylvania’s predatory priests: The Cardinal Wuerl connection
Prelate, due in Dublin this week, is criticised in a damning US report
Cardinal Donald Wuerl is in Dublin this week to address the World Meeting of Families on Wednesday. Archbishop of Washington since 2006, he succeeded Cardinal Theodore McCarrick (88) who, last month, was removed from public ministry and resigned from the College of Cardinals following allegations that he had abused minors and seminarians.
In 2006 Cardinal McCarrick was in negotiations with two New Jersey dioceses about settlements involving his victims. Last month Cardinal Wuerl said he did not know “about these confidential settlements until this most recent credible and substantiated allegation against Cardinal McCarrick was made public”.
Cardinal Wuerl, however, was bishop of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1988 to 2006. His handling of child sexual abuse allegations there was examined in the grand jury report published last Tuesday.
It is not flattering.
It found “wholesale institutional failure that endangered the welfare of children” in all six Pennsylvania dioceses investigated, including Pittsburgh. It chose three examples from cases involving 99 abuser priests there as “a window into the conduct” of bishops “and the crimes they permitted to occur on their watch”.
The cases concerned Fr Ernest Paone, Fr George Zirwas, and Fr Richard Zula. All three involved Cardinal Wuerl.
Up to 1988, when Cardinal Wuerl became bishop of Pittsburgh, Paone continued in ministry with approval from the diocese “in spite of its knowledge he was a child molester,” the grand jury found.
Sent for treatment
This continued when bishop Wuerl took over. In 1991 bishop Wuerl granted Paone’s request to serve in the Diocese of Reno-Las Vegas. Following another abuse complaint against the priest in 1994, he was sent for treatment.
In a confidential letter to the treatment centre, Pittsburgh diocese acknowledged that Paone had previously been “teaching seventh- and eighth-grade children in the diocese of San Diego for 19 years. The priest’s various assignments and sexual abuse complaints were listed in detail.”
The grand jury found that this “showed no concern for public safety or the victims of child sexual abuse”.
Further complaints emerged against Paone. In February 2003 bishop Wuerl accepted the priest’s resignation from ministry. As the grand jury report put it: “Approximately 41 years after the diocese learned that Paone was sexually assaulting children, he was finally retired from active ministry.”
It added that “the clear and present threat that Paone posed to children was hidden and kept secret from parishioners in three states. Wuerl’s statements had been meaningless without any action.”
Referring to a “disturbing disdain for victims” in the six Pennsylvania dioceses it investigated, the grand jury selected a case from Pittsburgh diocese as example.
In March 1989 bishop Wuerl authorised a confidential settlement with the family of two brothers abused by Zula
There, it said, “church officials dismissed an incident of abuse on the ground that the 15-year-old had ‘pursued’ the priest and ‘literally seduced’ him into a relationship. After the priest was arrested, the church submitted an evaluation on his behalf to the court.
“The evaluation acknowledged that the priest had admitted to ‘sado-masochistic’ activities with several boys – but the sadomasochism was only ‘mild’, and at least the priest was not ‘psychotic’.”
Arrest warrant
The case concerned Fr Richard Zula, for whom an arrest warrant was issued in November 1988. He was charged “with over 130 counts related to child sexual abuse”. In March 1989 bishop Wuerl authorised a confidential settlement with the family of two brothers abused by Zula.
At a court hearing in autumn 1989 Zula pleaded guilty on two counts. Then, as the grand jury report concluded, “the diocese was placed on notice that the services it had procured for Zula were being used as mitigation evidence at Zula’ s sentencing. Moreover, these assertions blamed the child victim rather than the adult criminal.” Sentencing was in 1990 and the priest served more than two years.
Another case concerned Fr George Zirwas, who was assigned to eight different parishes in Pittsburgh diocese until 1995, when he was placed on leave of absence, where he remained until he died in 2001.
In 2016, when seeking documents from Pittsburgh diocese, the grand jury found that “some original documents related to deceased priests were intentionally destroyed by the diocese”. However, as canon law required “the maintenance of a summary of the facts and any text of a definitive judgement”, so it was in the case of Zirwas.
From these the grand jury learned that “the diocese was aware of complaints against Zirwas for sexually abusing children as early as 1987. Additional complaints were received between 1987 and 1995. However, Zirwas continued to function as a priest during this period and was reassigned to several parishes.”
In December 1994 Zirwas “was placed on a leave of absence for ‘personal reasons’”. In the summer of 1995, after he threatened legal action, Zirwas “was returned to ministry by bishop Donald Wuerl”.
In November 1995 a 15-year-old boy complained that the priest sexually abused him. Zirwas was again placed “on a leave of absence for ‘personal reasons’”. He moved to Florida and then Cuba.
In 1996 Zirwas told the diocese he knew of other Pittsburgh priests who had abused children and would reveal these if his allowance was increased.
Bishop Wuerl “instructed him to document in writing the names of the priests involved, or state that he had no knowledge of what he had previously claimed.” He advised Zirwas this had to happen before he “could receive any additional assistance.”
Financial stipend
The priest then “disavowed any knowledge of priest involvement in illegal sexual activity in a letter to the diocese” and “was granted an additional financial stipend and his sustenance payments were continued”.
He “continued to work with the poor and needy in Cuba until May 2001, when he was murdered inside his Havana apartment”, the report found.
However, in the course of its Pittsburgh investigation, the grand jury found that there was indeed “a ring of predatory priests operating within the diocese who shared intelligence or information regarding victims as well as exchanging the victims amongst themselves”. They “used whips, violence and sadism in raping their victims”.
In his evidence to the grand jury one such victim, “George”, told of being introduced to this “ring of predatory priests” by Zirwas. George recalled that these priests gave favoured boys special gifts, “specifically, gold cross necklaces”. The grand jury concluded these gold crosses “were a signal to other predators that the children had been desensitised to sexual abuse and were optimal targets for further victimisation”.
George wondered how none of this “created suspicion on the part of diocesan administrators”. However, the report concluded that “the grand jury’s review of records revealed that the diocese was aware of the conduct of these predatory priests and the records corroborated George’s testimony”.
Cardinal Wuerl’s Embassy Row Penthouse
November 18, 2015
Walking through the posh neighborhood of Embassy Row in October, I stumbled across a scoop: that Washington, D.C.’s Cardinal Donald Wuerl lives in a penthouse atop a mansion priced north of $40 million.
That Embassy Row mansion is the Our Lady Queen of the Americas parish. As I approached the mansion, across from the elegant Russian Cultural Center, I wondered if it contained a chapel. Curious, I walked inside. On the first floor, I walked past posters touting open-borders propaganda (“Ten Myths About Immigration” and so on) and saw signs for a leftist outfit called the “Washington English Center,” which offers language and job services to immigrants, legal and illegal.
Not finding the chapel on the first floor, I looked for a priest to direct me to it. I found one, or maybe I didn’t. A man with dyed hair and an ornament in his ear, sporting a priestly collar of an unspecified denomination, was standing near the stairs. “Where is the church?” I asked him. “It is on the second floor,” he replied. “Cardinal Wuerl lives in a penthouse on the third floor,” he added with a grin.
I gave this information to ChurchMilitant.com, which ran a story last week titled, “Cardinal Donald Wuerl, A New Bishop of Bling.”
The article’s author, Christine Niles, reported that the faithful have been paying from $50,000 to $100,000 in taxes for Wuerl’s mansion-complex each year, and that the archdiocese was in no mood to talk about it:
The archdiocese itself is intensely tight-lipped about his living arrangements. When ChurchMilitant.com called Cdl. Wuerl’s office requesting his home address, the parish secretary gave a location in Hyattsville, Maryland. When pressed, she admitted the location was not his living quarters, but rather was where the cardinal “receives things.” ChurchMilitant.com asked whether Cdl. Wuerl’s home address is public record considering it is archdiocesan property, and the secretary explained it was policy not to give out his residential address.
ChurchMilitant.com then called Our Lady Queen of the Americas parish to confirm Cdl. Wuerl’s residence, but the parish secretary refused to answer the question, and the line was abruptly disconnected.
In spite of the secrecy, multiple sources — both clerical and lay — confirmed to ChurchMilitant.com that His Eminence does indeed reside there.
One of our sources, George Neumayr, columnist for the American Spectator, verified this fact…
The Catholic faithful in Washington, D.C. — who after all are financing Wuerl’s taste for high living — should stroll over to this mansion-complex and check out the champagne socialism of our humble pope’s favorite American cardinal.
https://spectator.org/64692_cardinal-wuerls-embassy-row-penthouse/
President Donald Trump speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Thursday, May 4, 2017, before signing an executive order aimed at easing an IRS rule limiting political activity for churches. From second from left are, Cardinal Donald Wuerl is the Archbishop of Washington, Pastor Jack Graham, Paula White, senior pastor of New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, Fla. and Vice President Mike Pence.
Wuerl was ordained in Rome and spent a decade there as a secretary to a cardina
Wuerl had a decades-long relationship with Pope Benedict XVI
Wuerl mandated zero tolerance on sex abuse of minors 14 years before it became national policy
He hosted the pope during his 2008 visit to Washington, which culminated in a Mass for 45,000 at Nationals Park. He took part in a prayer service at Washington National Cathedral the week of President Obama’s inauguration in 2009. And he was House majority leader John Boehner’s guest at the 2011 State of the Union address.
https://www.washingtonian.com/2011/10/17/the-vaticans-man-in-washington/
July 18, 2006
President Bush and wife Laura with outgoing Archbishop McCarrick (left) and incoming Wuerl (right), welcome papal nuncio Pietro Sambi to the White House
On Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018, a Pennsylvania grand jury accused Cardinal Wuerl of helping to protect abusive priests when he was Pittsburgh’s bishop
Why is the Pope still silent about damning sex abuse report
The Vatican was warned.
17 Aug 2018
‘A playbook for concealing the truth’
Three unanswered questions from The Lost Boys of Bird Island
16 August 2018
The apparent suicide of co-author of controversial book The Lost Boys of Bird Island, Mark Minnie, has resulted in suspicion around the circumstances around his death. The book, which was released on 5 August, details an alleged paedophilia ring that operated during apartheid.
Malan and John Wiley
John Wiley on Bird Island
David Allen
Authors Mark Minnie and Chris Steyn named high-profile National Party ministers in that period including John Wiley, Magnus Malan, an unnamed minister and controversial Port Elizabeth businessman Dave Allen as being involved in the operation which allegedly raped and molested young coloured boys.
Minnie was found dead at a friend’s farm on August 13 and despite police saying a suicide note and gun was found next to his body, several unnamed friends have expressed their shock at his suicide, with one person telling HeraldLIVE “I do not believe he would have taken his own life.”
As speculation around Minnie’s death continues and the contents of the book remains a talking point, there are several unanswered questions.
What happened to the boys of Bird Island?
On the final page of The Lost Boys of Bird Island, Mark Minnie appeals to victims of the alleged paedophilia ring to come forward. “Any victims who suffered at the hands of Dave Allen and company, let your voices be heard. Do not remain silent any longer.”
Minnie was a former police officer during apartheid when he was asked by his brigadier to contact a woman who was part of his (the brigadiers) church. The woman claimed her son had “some info.”
Minnie followed up and the woman and her son led him to her older son who was in hospital. The boy had allegedly been raped and a “foreign object forced up him.” Records of the boy’s stay at hospital were destroyed.
Minnie meets a second boy, who he refers to as William Hart in the book. William Hart is a pseudonym used by the author to protect the identity of the boy. Hart was an informant for the police and was also allegedly a victim of the paedophilia ring and was the person who identified Dave Allen, John Allen, an unnamed minister and “Ore” the name the boys used to refer to Magnus Malan.
After months of investigation, the docket with all of the information about the case that Minnie had gathered went missing from his office.
“Looking around, I quickly discover that the Allen case docket is gone. The entire file has disappeared without my knowledge or approval.”
Nobody knows what came of the two boys and the others who were alleged victims of rape and molestation at the hands of ministers.
The mystery matron & 10k
Minnie was sent by his brigadier to speak to a woman her son about “information.” He later discovered and interviewed a young boy who had been raped. He had a nurse who was a contact at the hospital and she detailed an incident that happened when she was on night shift.
She said a helicopter had landed, a patient was wheeled into the private ward by three men dressed in grey suits and only the matron was allowed to tend to him. The nurse told Minnie she had peeked into the room and there was a young coloured boy being treated. There was, however, no record of the boy nor of him being in hospital. The matron who had helped the boy mysteriously disappeared, but Minnie tracked her down and she said she had been given R10,000.
“I haven’t spent a cent, not a penny, Sergeant Max. All of the money is still here. I always knew it was trouble. It’s dirty money. And now God has seen fit to punish me for my sins. Oh God, please forgive me.”
The cover-up: The surgeon, the unnamed minister and flight logs
Both authors mention a surgeon who operated on a boy who had been raped. At the time he said he could not reveal information as it “violates patient confidentiality.”
Steyn made contact with the surgeon in 2017. She said he had become a wine farmer and wrote to him to ask for any information about performing a life-saving operation on a young boy 30 years ago. He took the same stance and said it violated patient confidentiality.
Steyn mentions sources who detailed how the ministers had flown by helicopter to Bird Island. Steyn was told that the logs of passengers who were on the flights weren’t likely to be found as the entire “record keeping system has collapsed.”
The authors name a second location where boys were allegedly raped and molested. This location is allegedly “a farm” in Witelsbos, near Eerste Rivier, and was a property that belonged to the unnamed minister.
Although the minister has remained unnamed by the authors, Barend du Plessis, who was the finance minister in PW Botha’s cabinet released a statement after the release of the book.
Teacher, MP for Florida, 1974; Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Education and Training, 1983-84; Minister of Finance, 1984-1992.
Barend Jacobus du Plessis was born on 19 January 1940 in Johannesburg to Martie and Jan Hendrik du Plessis. He was the eldest of three children and grew up in Boksburg. Du Plessis attended Baanbreker Primary School and Voortrekker High School.
After matriculating in 1956 he obtained his B.Sc. degree in 1960 at Potchefstroom University of Higher Christian Education and in 1961 also completed his Transvaal Higher Education Diploma. During his studies du Plessis played an active role in the Transvaal Teacher Training College Union. Although this organisation concerned itself with student and educational rather than political issues it can be seen as his first foray into the political arena. He was elected as Chairman of the Students’ Representative Council, which enabled him to travel abroad to Holland, Germany and Belgium and meet with other student leaders.
In 1962 du Plessis started teaching mathematics at the Hoër Seunsskool Helpmekaarin Johannesburg, as well as at the Johannesburg Technical College. Eventually he was employed by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) as administrative officer to the Chief Engineer and was promoted to the new data processing department where he received training in computer technology. His career at the SABC advanced further and he was transferred to the office of the Director General as administrative secretary.
Following his resignation from the SABC in 1968 he joined the international computer company, IBM, where he was employed until 1974. Between 1968 and 1974 he received training in banking and finance and attended the IBM Graduate School of Banking in Princeton in the United States of America.
https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/barend-jacobus-du-plessis
Barend du Plessis
He said he was “apparently the third and up to now unidentified minister who is still alive” that the book refers to.
Barend du Plessis
He said “the fact that I am now raising my hand is absolutely not an admission of guilt to these disturbing allegations. Rather this statement is a confirmation that I am clearly being identified in the book and in news reports, by referring to a former minister who is still alive, who has a holiday home in the Eastern Cape, and who was a frontrunner to take over from the then state president…”
1989
Thatcher’s aides announced she intends to meet South African Finance Minister Barend du Plessis “sometime in May”, with other’ ministerial meetings to follow.
https://mg.co.za/article/1989-03-31-00-maggie-to-visit-namibia
Agents of South African intelligence included: John Fairer-Smith, of the private security industry, Daily Mail journalist Keith Wallace, Helen Keenan who worked for Harold Wilson and Sir Trevor Lloyd-Hughes, Harold Wilson’s press secretary
wo of Lloyd-Hughes employees were Stephen Govier and Patrick Watson.
Stephen Govier’s father was the UK military attaché in Washington during the 1970s and then NATO’s Chief of Staff for Northern Europe.
Patrick Watson’s brother was Private Secretary to the Duke of York.
Murder, arms dealing, treason and sexual abuse.
In the 1980s, South African intelligence sent weapons to paramilitaries in Northern Ireland.
What happened to the kings of old…
16 Apr 1999
When last seen, Barend du Plessis, the man who was placed in charge of the national finances after his computer company had gone bust, looked like an aging beauty queen.
Consultant, director of companies and Johannesburg dealmaker extraordinaire, the once handsome Du Plessis was wearing one of those orange tans that some post-middle- aged peroxide blonde American widows cram inside 44DD brassieres.
Sources say his colour scheme can be explained by the fact that his new girlfriend owns a tanning salon at Sandton City to which the local kugels report for a quick pre-Greece fry.
Du Plessis is now, privately, deeply critical from the left of the New National Party and Marthinus “Kortbroek” van Schalkwyk is thought unlikely to get his vote.
Du Plessis’s former wife, Antoinette, is now married to Adriaan Vlok, the former minister of law and order, who, between hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, has been spotted leading a quiet life in Johannesburg, Pretoria and a hideaway at Melkbosstrand that lies under the shadow of Koeberg nuclear power station on Table Bay.
https://mg.co.za/article/1999-04-16-masters-of-the-late-universe
General Who Militarised the Apartheid State
Cape Times (South Africa), July 21, 2011
correspondent Gavin Evans
Malan spearheaded the creation of the National Security Management System, which brought policing, intelligence and civic affairs under the generals. It was headed by the State Security Council, which set up the Civil Co-operation Bureau (CCB) – a death-squad network to assassinate opponents.
Like thousands of others I had reasons to keep an eye on Malan. In 1989 the Harms Commission found that I was one of the CCB’s intended assassination victims. They botched the job, but succeeded in murdering my close friend Dr David Webster. The decisions to kill David and I were taken by the State Security Council, on which Malan had a prominent seat.
I would regularly sit alongside this bald, bulky, jug-eared figure in a different capacity: at boxing matches. Malan would plant himself in the press seats as a guest of the promoters, exuding power and entitlement despite his bluff, good-old-boy bonhomie.
His long spell in a corruption-mired government had given him a taste for the high life, and the low.
Malan and cabinet minister John Wiley developed a friendship with an opportunistic businessman, Dave Allen, and used military helicopters and equipment to go on fishing trips to Bird Island near Port Elizabeth. In 1987 Allen committed suicide after being arrested on paedophilia charges, followed, soon after, by Wiley.
Investigating this story a decade later I discovered that two coloured boys had been sexually assaulted during one of these Bird Island expeditions. I caught up with Malan, who, to my surprise, admitted knowing at the time that his friend was an alleged paedophile. “Yes, I heard,” he said, adding enigmatically. “I heard a lot of things in my position.”
Malan was considered untouchable in the 1980s, and he and his forces resorted to ever more brutal methods. As “unrest” escalated, so did the military’s reach. In 1984, they occupied black townships and began to fund, organise and train black proxy forces – in particular, Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s Inkatha movement. It is estimated that close to 20 000 people died in political violence during the 1980s and early 1990s, many as a result of military intervention.
Malan’s demise coincided with Botha’s. The patriarch suffered a stroke in 1989 and was succeeded by FW de Klerk, who was less beholden to the military. Malan had a brief spell as Minister of Water Affairs and Forestries before bowing out.
He was charged with commissioning a massacre in KwaMakhuta in 1987, and acquitted. Although Inkatha had been paid by the state to carry out the massacre, the link to Malan could not be proved.
https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-273095592/general-who-militarised-the-apartheid-state
The death of author Mark Minnie may have elevated interest in his book tenfold. It has also drawn widespread suspicion of foul play that is, ironically, an amplified echo of the strange circumstances surrounding the “suicide” of two key characters in “The Lost Boys of Bird Island.”
Minnie was found with a bullet wound to the head, and a firearm near his body, a near replica of the deaths of Dave Allen, the first of the Bird Island paedophile ring to “sing” after being found in possession of pornography and arrested for statutory rape, and John Wiley, then minister of environmental affairs and tourism, found on his bed and shot through the temple.
But let’s start at the beginning.
As part of an international probe into child-sex and pornography, a computer engineer was arrested in 2015, causing an inquiry that eventually brought this book.
In the foreword, Marianne Thamm says previous exposures in South Africa seldom made headlines, because of the secrecy of the crimes, and because the predatory adults were often in powerful or respected positions. In 1986/87 an allegation against three Cabinet ministers suspected of abusing boys briefly surfaced, then disappeared.
At that time there was vicious intimidation of journalists, editors and political opponents, and also political assassinations by death squads. Conversely, disinformation could be used to discredit government officials. The authors, former narcotics detective Mark Minnie and investigative journalist Chris Steyn, spent much time investigating the case independently of each other. Thirty years later, their narratives have been brought together – by the publisher Tafelberg – in this explosive expose.
The pair convincingly claim they have finally ripped the veil off the horrendous story of official complicity in the criminal abuse, rape and possible murder of children, mainly black and drug-dependent , who were frequently taken to Bird Island off Port Elizabeth by helicopter (sometimes military) to “entertain” men of power.
Minnie tells his story first in direct, salty language, and includes incidents from his tough personal life in Port Elizabeth, including having been raped by two teens as a boy – possibly explaining his tenacity in pursuing perpetrators. An agitated boy tells Minnie his brother is in hospital with internal injuries suffered in a sexual assault.
Investigation reveals that boys, addicted to alcohol and dagga, hang around venues popular with paedophiles. Then follows the sensational information that boys are flown to Bird Island by helicopter to pleasure men of obvious wealth or connections. It transpires that one particularly sadistic man is known to the boys as ‘Ore’, because of his prominent ears, and Minnie dubs him ‘Wingnut’.
The boys identify “Uncle” Dave Allen, charismatic Bird Island guano concession millionaire, deep sea diver and police reservist. A search of Allen’s home by Minnie reveals a hidden compartment in a cupboard, packed with child pornography. Arrested for statutory rape, he confesses. Not wishing to take the blame alone, he names three cabinet ministers – “one the second most powerful man in the country”.
But before he can turn state witness, he is found shot in the forehead. There are no powder burns. Steyn then writes that Minister of Environmental Affairs John Wiley, who for 10 years had a close relationship with Allen, is shortly afterwards an apparent shooting suicide. The death room must have been locked from the outside, as the key was missing, and notes had been hurriedly burned in the driveway.
A National Party source told Steyn that Wiley had faced blackmail several times because of his sexual orientation, and Allen had also been blackmailed. The case was muddied further when a military counter-intelligence source told Steyn that the Minister of Defence and head of the all-powerful Security Council, Magnus Malan, was the first person to enter Wiley’s room after the suicide. A close friend of Wiley for many years, Malan personally “swept” the house, then left with two boxes of effects.
A blatant cover-up by a senior State prosecutor quashes Minnie’s investigation by ordering that it be shelved, and Steyn’s piece on Wiley is virtually spiked by The Cape Times.
By now, Minnie has uncovered the infamous incident of the boy who was shot in the anus. He had been delivered by military helicopter to a whites-only hospital by three men in suits. No hospital records are kept, a nurse friend tells Minnie of utmost secrecy, and the elderly matron is given a sum of R10 000 and transferred, tearful and scared.
“High-ranking Pretoria” then demand and confiscate Minnie’s docket, and he is transferred from PE to the Soweto Riot Squad – a really dangerous job. A bullet through his windscreen, and his car going up in flames on being started by his girlfriend, show the evil intentions of what Minnie suspects is the covert and murderous Civil Co-operation Bureau.
The case was seen as a real threat to National Party election prospects at a time when the party was starting to implode, and the opposition was growing stronger.
The Bird Island fishing trips by the three ministers have been defended, and there are character references from people who knew Wiley. The name of the third ex-minister implicated, then a senior member of cabinet and touted to succeed PW Botha, has been omitted on legal advice.
You will form your own conclusions, but there is surely enough circumstantial and victims’ evidence to be convinced that his book is an honest account of a truly diabolical episode in some of the darkest days of our country’s history.
Port Elizabeth businessman and Sacramento Salvage Diver, Dave Allen…
Magnus Malan
South Africa’s ‘paedophile’ minister and a mysterious death
15 August 2018
Mark Minnie was reportedly afraid that he might be killed
South Africa has been gripped by the mysterious death of former police officer Mark Minnie, just a week after he revealed horrific details about an alleged paedophile ring in the once-feared white-minority government that portrayed itself as being made up of devout Christian men.
Minnie, 58, was found with a bullet to his head, but many people are refusing to believe the police version – that he took his own life at the farm of a friend near the coastal city of Port Elizabeth.
“The fact that the suicide note was found doesn’t necessarily mean he wrote it willingly. I mean he could’ve written it under duress. The fact that he shot himself with someone else’s pistol already raises questions,” investigative journalist and author Jacques Pauw told South Africa’s radio 702.
Minnie and journalist Chris Steyn co-authored The Lost Boys of Bird Island, which details shocking allegations against Magnus Malan, the once-powerful defence minister who was accused of setting up death squads and sanctioning military raids on neighbouring states as he fought to maintain white-supremacist rule in South Africa in the 1980s and 1990s.
In later years, Steyn confronted Malan about the allegations, and he replied: “What is a paedophile?”, South Africa’s privately owned News24 reported on its website.
Aged 81, Malan died of a heart attack in 2011 – about 17 years after anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela swept to power as South Africa’s first black president, heralding the end of the racist system of apartheid.
Malan was part of a regime which believed that the Bible justified racism – and they saw themselves as defending their faith, families, and race from being over-run by “godless communists” and “uncivilised blacks”.
But secretly, Minnie alleged, Malan was part of a paedophile ring which raped boys – mostly of mixed race – during “fishing excursions” on Bird Island, a declared nature reserve near Port Elizabeth. The boys were flown to the island in military helicopters, made drunk during barbecues – and then sexually abused, he alleged.
Malan’s family and former colleagues strongly rejected the allegations against him, local media reported.
President intervened
Other shocking allegations contained in The Lost Boys of Bird Island include:
- Some of the boys regarded Malan as an especially “cruel uncle”, and nicknamed him “Ears” because of his big ears
- On one occasion, a gun was inserted into the anus of a boy. A shot was fired by Malan, and the critically injured boy was flown to a hospital in Port Elizabeth for treatment
- Men, dressed in suits, stood guard while the mixed-race boy was treated in the whites-only section of the hospital, even though this was illegal under South Africa’s then-racial segregation laws
- The boy’s family and the hospital matron were paid to remain silent.
Minnie said he had been building a case against Malan, but was forced to abandon his investigation after senior police officers in the regime, then led by Pieter Willem Botha, intervened and a prosecutor wrote in “fat red letters” on the docket: “Any investigation into this matter should be discontinued immediately.”
The book alleged that the paedophile ring, which operated in the 1980s, included then-Environmental Affairs Minister John Wiley and wealthy businessman and diver Dave Allen. Minnie said he had, in fact, arrested Allen for allegedly having sex with children and for possessing child pornography.
Allen, Minnie added, had sung “like a canary”, and dropped “a bombshell: he mentions a name. And not just any name, but the name of a very powerful cabinet minister.
“I’m taken aback, then he names two more cabinet ministers. He threatens to open the whole can of worms.”
‘Minnie feared for his life’
Allen never stood trial – he was found dead, at the age of 37, with a bullet wound to his head, just like the 60-year-old Wiley.
Both died within weeks of each other in 1987. Both had, according to the official police version, taken their lives.
Now, more than 30 years later, Minnie – their nemesis – has died, also with a bullet wound to the head.
As South Africa’s Times Live news site put it: “That is the common denominator linking alleged suicides three decades apart that silenced three people with intimate knowledge of an alleged apartheid-era paedophile ring extending to the highest echelons of government.”
Fuelling speculation that they were killed, journalist Marianne Thamm, who helped edit The Lost Boys of Bird Island, said Minnie had feared for his life.
Minnie, who worked as a part-time teacher in China, said he had emigrated because a former contact in the security services had “handed me certain documents which was sufficient to convince me to leave the country”, Thamm quoted him as saying.
‘Body found near a bush’
At the time of his death, Minnie had been in South Africa to promote The Lost Boys of Bird Island.
Its publisher, Tafelberg, said Minnie saw the book as “only the beginning of the process to have justice prevail for the victims whose stories are told in the book”.
“Minnie had said nothing to Tafelberg to indicate that he would harm himself,” it added in a statement posted on Twitter.
So far, the police have only said that Minnie was found by a friend “lying near a bush with a gunshot wound to his head. A firearm was found lying next to him”.
“At this stage no foul play is suspected. Police have opened an inquest pending the results of the post-mortem,” a police statement added.
If it does turn out that Minne was killed, it would imply that hit men – loyal to the former regime – are still operating in South Africa.
And that would strike fear into the hearts of many people – not least other potential whistleblowers.
But Steyn, the co-author of The Lost Boys of Bird Island, said she would press ahead with investigating alleged paedophiles in the former regime.
“He [Minnie] would have wanted me to continue and that is exactly what I’ll be doing,” she was quoted by South Africa’s IOL news site as saying.
Tafelberg Publishers were shocked to hear of the sudden death of #MarkMinnie, co-author of The Lost Boys of #BirdIsland, one week after the release of the book. #Tafelberg’s last contact with Minnie was on Sunday night, but he had been out of reach since Monday morning.
So far, the police have only said that Minnie was found by a friend “lying near a bush with a gunshot wound to his head. A firearm was found lying next to him”.
“At this stage no foul play is suspected. Police have opened an inquest pending the results of the post-mortem,” a police statement added.
If it does turn out that Minne was killed, it would imply that hit men – loyal to the former regime – are still operating in South Africa.
And that would strike fear into the hearts of many people – not least other potential whistleblowers.
But Steyn, the co-author of The Lost Boys of Bird Island, said she would press ahead with investigating alleged paedophiles in the former regime.
“He [Minnie] would have wanted me to continue and that is exactly what I’ll be doing,” she was quoted by South Africa’s IOL news site as saying.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-45195756
previously:
Apartheid’s paedophiles: ‘Magnus Malan and others in sex orgies with young boys’
https://city-press.news24.com/News/apartheids-paedophiles-20180804
The Lost Boys of Bird Island: three apartheid ministers named in paedophilia ring
2018-08-06
https://www.thesouthafrican.com/bird-island-ministers-paedophilia/
I was 13 when Magnus Malan made me ‘his wife’ for a night – alleged child sex victim
2018-08-10
One of the victims of an alleged paedophile network involving senior apartheid government ministers and businessmen in the 1980s has described to Netwerk24 how he was kidnapped, raped and forced to perform other sexual acts by former defence minister Magnus Malan and another “uncle”.
The man, whom Netwerk24 dubs “Mr X”, is now 44, married and a father of two. He told the publication that he had been kidnapped at the age of 13 in 1987 by a group of white men in Port Elizabeth. He and four other coloured boys were reportedly given liquor and he passed out.
According to Mr X, he realised the next morning that he had been raped by a man he refers to as “Uncle One”, before being forced into more sexual acts. After that, Malan reportedly fetched the 13-year-old and further molested him. Mr X claims he bled after being repeatedly abused, and was made to be Malan’s “wife” that entire night.
Netwerk24 said it was impossible to independently verify the allegation, but carried the interview due to public interest following the alleged revelations about Malan.
News24 reported on Sunday that three former National Party ministers, including one who is still alive, had been named as central figures in a paedophilia ring that operated during apartheid.
Investigations into Malan – as well as John Wiley, minister of environmental affairs, and another former minister, who was considered a possible successor to then-president PW Botha, and who is still alive – were halted by the police, and the investigating officer was hounded from service in the 1980s.
These and other explosive allegations are contained in The Lost Boys of Bird Island, a book by former police officer Mark Minnie and former investigative journalist Chris Steyn, which hit the shelves on Sunday.
READ AN EXTRACT: The Lost Boys of Bird Island – We called him ‘Ore’
On Monday, Netwerk24 reported that Malan’s family, as well as former colleagues, had rejected the allegations against the late military strongman.
According to the book, Malan, Wiley and the other minister were involved, along with disgraced Port Elizabeth businessman John Allen, in ferrying coloured minors to Bird Island in Algoa Bay near Port Elizabeth, where the children were molested and forced to satisfy the older men’s sexual fantasies.
Malan died in 2011, while Wiley and Allen both officially committed suicide in 1987.
‘Fishing trips’
The identity of the third former minister, whose name is known to News24, is being withheld based on legal advice.
Following Malan’s death in 2011, his obituary by Chris Barron, which was carried in the Sunday Times, also mentioned the allegations.
The obituary said Malan had used military helicopters to go on “fishing trips” at Bird Island with Wiley and Allen, and that two coloured boys were said to have been sexually assaulted on one of these trips.
According to the obituary, Allen was arrested for paedophilia, before he committed suicide.
News24 reported on Sunday that the book detailed how one child was maimed when a gun was thrust up his anus and the trigger was pulled.
Derek Laud, Sir Michael Grylls, Edward Leigh and an associate on a business trip to South Africa
Dame Alun Roberts@ciabaudo
Can you see where I am heading yet? Throughout the Eighties, Britain’s paedo-infested Thatcher government was a staunch supporter of South Africa’s evil Apartheid regime. Do names like Laud, Brown, Proctor, Denby, Powell, Hamilton etc. spring to mind?
Orlando Police Chief Paul Rooney with Ed Ganster and wife
Pennsylvania church officials helped ex-priest, Ed Ganster, get job at Disney World knowing he was ‘sexual predator,’ report says
16 Aug 2018
For 15 years, a man reportedly piloting trains at Walt Disney World in Orlando kept a dark secret locked away.
When Edward Ganster died at 71 in 2014, his wife lovingly recalled her husband as a man of deep faith who enjoyed his job. “He really loved trains,” Mary Ganster said in an obituary, the Orlando Sentinel reported this week. “His witness for Jesus was so strong.”
But its Ganster’s life before arriving in Florida that has suddenly snapped into sharper focus. On Tuesday, August 14, officials in Pennsylvania released a sweeping 1,300-page report on Catholic priest sex abuse. The investigation, one of the most comprehensive investigations into clergy abuse and the subsequent coverup, identified more than 1,000 children victimized by 300 priests in Pennsylvania over seven decades.
“Priests were raping little boys and girls, and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did nothing; they hid it all. For decades,” the grand jury wrote.
Edward Ganster was among the priests named in the scalding document. Before leaving the church voluntarily in 1990, he worked at a number of parishes in Pennsylvania. According to the report, three young boys accused Ganster of sexual abuse. Although church officials knew of at least one allegation, Ganster was allowed to leave the priesthood on his own and relocated to Florida. With a reference from a church monsignor, he was hired on at the Magic Kingdom, the grand jury report states.
Walt Disney World did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ganster was ordained in 1971 and started his career as an assistant pastor in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. According to the report, in 1977, a 13-year-old boy confided to his parents he had been abused by Ganster on an overnight trip to the beach. The child “told his parents that Ganster hurt him and got in bed with him. He also stated that something happened in the confessional.”
The boy’s mother immediately reported the incident to a monsignor, who said “he would take care of the situation,” adding that “Ganster would be given some counseling and would be removed from the parish,” the report states. “The following Sunday at Mass, Ganster announced he was being reassigned.” The victim, however, still suffered from “broken relationships and anger issues resulting from the abuse.” His mother again reported the abuse to the church in 2005.
The incident was allegedly not isolated. In 2002, a 37-year-old married father of two approached the local diocese with his own allegation about Ganster. According to the report, this victim stated that when he was a 14-year-old altar boy, he “was fondled and groped” by Ganster, the report says.
“On one occasion, Ganster dragged the boy across a living room floor, pulling him by the underwear,” the report states. “Ganster also beat the victim repeatedly, once using a metal cross.”
The victim again approached the diocese in 2004 with the same allegation.
“Despite having two reports and having given counseling to the victim, the Diocese did not report the abuse to the Northampton County District Attorney’s Office until 2007,” the report states.
In 2015, the mother of a third victim reported her son had also been abused by Ganster in 1977.
The priest’s time in the clergy ground to a halt in the late 1980s. According to the grand jury report, in 1987 Ganster was put on sick leave. The following year, he was sent to a hospital in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. He requested to be laicized – or withdrawn from the clergy – and the diocese agreed in 1990. Ganster indicated he wished to marry a woman he had met during his hospital stay, the report says.
According to the report, Thomas Welsh, the Bishop of Allentown, discussed Ganster’s marriage as well as his past issues in a letter to the Bishop of Orlando.
Referring to Ganster’s wife, Welsh wrote, “I don’t know her problems,” the report says. “His were at least partially sexual and led to my decision that I could not reassign him.”
The report notes that Ganster did make his wish to work at Disney known to the church.
“As he was in the process of being laicized, Ganster wrote the Diocese indicating he would be seeking employment at Walt Disney World and hoped to use the Diocese as a reference,” the report states. “Despite knowing Ganster was a sexual predator, Monsignor Muntone responded to Ganster’s request for a reference by writing.”
Monsignor Muntone replied to Ganster: “I am quite sure that the Diocese will be able to give you a positive reference in regard to the work you did during your years of service here as a priest.”
The report notes the reference led to Ganster’s employment at the theme park.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Ganster died in 2014 due to a “weak heart,” his wife told the paper in his obituary. In the same article, Ganster’s widow said her husband had “had a breakdown, which moved him to seek laicization from the pope.”
She has not commented on the allegations in this week’s grand jury report.
“His footprint in life was very large,” Mary Ganster told the Sentinel in 2014.
1976
Ganster served as Bethlehem district director for the Catholic Youth Organization 1973-76. In 1971-72 he was an associate professor at Bethlehem Catholic High School
Aug 21 1982:
Dec 02 2006:
Ed Ganster, retired priest of the Holy Ghost Church in Bethlehem, PA. He worked in the merchansdise division of Disney World. His website http://www.pillarsofheaven.org
February 24, 1988
Monsignor Richard J. Loeper, pastor of Holy Guardian Angels Church, Hyde Park, Reading, will become pastor of Holy Ghost Church, Bethlehem, replacing the Rev. Edward G. Ganster, who will be on sick leave.
http://operationsafety91.blogspot.com/2010/11/
The Rev. Edward George Ganster died in 2014. He was accused in 2002 of sexually abusing and beating a 14-year-old boy at St. Joseph’s in Frackville. Two other people reported Ganster had abused them when they were children. Ganster was defrocked in 1990 at his own request following a desire to marry and work in Walt Disney World. He worked at Walt Disney World for the next 18 years.
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-nws-grand-jury-report-allentown-priests-20180615-story.html
Operation Safety 91 attended Orlando Police Department’s Change of Command Ceremony on June 9th at the Amway Center, making official the passing of the torch from Chief Val Demings to new Orlando Police Chief Paul Rooney. The Ceremony was outstanding and Chief Rooney’s first priority is “the safety and protection of the Officers”, which resonates in the heart of OS91 as well. We also want to mention our own Sr. Chaplain Andrew Wade, Founding Chaplain of OS91, who did the Invocation for the Change of Command Ceremony.
Ed Ganster was a priest, worked at Walt Disney World and co-founded Operation Safety 91
July 11, 2014|
Six years ago, he and his wife, Mary, founded Operation Safety 91. The nonprofit group honors firefighters, police officers, emergency-service personnel and corrections officers.
“When they first started, not everyone understood what they were trying to do,” said Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings. “Some people had skepticism. Were they legitimate? But over time, that went away. People saw them as being legitimate. They also recognized military veterans. They are true patriots, true American patriots.
“Everything the Gansters do is out of pure love, said Jimmy Brown, a civilian employee at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. Brown is a retired firefighter from New York who worked during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Operation Safety 91
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COL Danny R. McKnight, USA (Ret.) OS91′s National Spokesperson,
Over 300 ‘predator priests’ in Pennsylvania accused of abuse in grand jury report
Victims and survivors of child sexual abuse within the church and their families were in attendance at the Tuesday news conference.
The investigation spans the Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton dioceses. Some of the dioceses had already released the names of clergy members accused of child abuse ahead of Tuesday’s announcement.
Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court had agreed to consider claims from priests that the report is inaccurate and releasing it with identifying information would violate their constitutional rights and set oral arguments for the issue in September, according to Shapiro.
And at the end of last month, a priest with the Greensburg Diocese, the Rev. John Sweeney, pleaded guilty to sexually molesting a 10-year-old boy. Sweeney was the first priest convicted as a result of the grand jury, and a priest in Erie has charges pending, but the state’s statute of limitations for child abuse could prevent some prosecutions, especially with many of the allegations going back decades.
“As a consequence of the cover-up, almost every instance of abuse we found is too old to be prosecuted,” the grand jury wrote in the report. “But that is not to say there are no more predators.”
The grand jury also gave a series of recommendations to stop abuse going forward.
The report called on the Pennsylvania legislature to “stop shielding child sexual predators” and eliminate the criminal statute of limitations for sexually abusing children.
“We want future victims to know they will always have the force of the criminal law behind them, no matter how long they live,” the report said.
Other recommendations included a law that would let older victims sue the diocese for damage inflicted on their lives by the child abuse, improvements to the law for mandating reporting of abuse, a law saying no nondisclosure agreements can apply to criminal investigations, saying that the church had been using “quite a few confidentiality agreements” going back decades.
Sick priest Terrence Grigg guilty of sexually abusing young, vulnerable boys
9 AUG 2018
A disgraced Church of England priest is facing a “lengthy” prison sentence after being convicted of 14 historic sex offences against vulnerable boys and young men.
Canon Terrence Grigg, 84, former rector of St Mary’s Church in Cottingham, abused four victims in the 1980s and 1990s.
He was convicted of 12 indecent assaults and two other serious sex offences on Wednesday after an 18-day trial at Hull Crown Court.
Grigg was found not guilty of a further charge of indecent assault against a fifth man. All verdicts were unanimous.
Grigg, of Grove Street, Norton, Malton, North Yorkshire, showed no emotion as the verdicts were delivered
During the trial, it was claimed by one of the complainants that he had handed a letter alleging abuse by Canon Grigg to the then Bishop of Hull, James Jones, in the 1990s.
He told the court instead of being offered support, he was threatened with “legal action” and “prison”, and was told to write a letter of apology to Canon Grigg.
The man said all he had wanted to do was “minimise the possibility of harm towards other vulnerable people”.
Grigg admitted in his evidence having a conviction from Lambwath Magistrates’ Court in London from August 11, 1951, after he had been arrested in a public toilet with a man. This was for “conspiracy to corrupt public morals or outrage public decency”.
Grigg said he pleaded not guilty but was sentenced to an absolute discharge.
This prompted the judge to ask him: “My question is how you came to be sentenced if you pleaded not guilty? Presumably you had a trial and you were found guilty.”
“No, I had an unconditional discharge,” Grigg said.
https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hull-east-yorkshire-news/terrence-grigg-priest-cottingham-abuse-1875131
Former Hull vicar Terence Grigg jailed for sexual offences
Rev. Grigg, 76, who is celebrating 50 years of priesthood, had supported the Koforidua Diocese for the past 29 years.
He established a fund to raise 1,000 pounds sterling annually to support the monthly stipends to priests in the diocese and offered scholarships to some members of the clergy to study in the UK, some of whom have become bishops and leading clergy men in the Anglican Church in Ghana.
Rev. Canon Grigg who recently retired from the Diocese of York in the UK is now serving at the Cottingham Parish.
Rt. Rev. Quashie expressed the appreciation of the diocese to Rev Canon Grigg for his missionary work.
https://www.modernghana.com/news/300858/anglican-church-honours-british-priest.html
Celtic FB
There’s no doubt a paedophile ring was operating at Celtic at this time. The cover up from the media has been shameful.
When’s the rest of the ring up.
https://twitter.com/PA/status/1028958268520054784
Ex Celtic youth coach Jim McCafferty, 72, jailed for three years and nine months after pleading guilty to eight counts of sexual assault
13 Aug 2018
McCafferty, formerly of Raby Street in Belfast, will serve half the sentence in custody and the remaining half on licence
A former Celtic Football Club youth coach has been jailed for three years and nine months after admitting eight counts of sexual assault.
Jim McCafferty, 72, initially pleaded not guilty to a series of sexual offences against the same boy over a three-year period before December 2015, but changed his plea to guilty on the morning his trial began at Belfast Crown Court in May 2018.
During sentencing, Judge Patricia Smyth told McCafferty that what he had considered “a bit of fun” had had a significant impact on his victim.
McCafferty, formerly of Raby Street in Belfast, will serve half of the sentence in custody and the remaining half on licence.
The offences took place over a three-year period from December 2012 to December 2015 when McCafferty was aged from 66 to 68 and his victim was aged between 14 and 16.
Judge Smyth said: “You abused trust placed in you by his family… assaulting him in your home and his home. The impact on your victim and his family has been significant.
“There are other factors in the victim’s life that had rendered him vulnerable.”
Judge Smyth also told the court that McCafferty had only apologised to his victim because he had been advised to and said he continued to regard his behaviour as having been “a bit of fun for the victim”.
McCafferty, who lived in Glasgow before moving to Northern Ireland in recent years, will remain on the sexual offenders register for an “indefinite period” and has been banned from working with children in any capacity.
Are Fred West’s first victims buried in a Glasgow allotment? Hollywood producer urges police to reopen case amid claims the killer’s murder spree began in Scotland in the early 1960s
- Paul Pender, a Hollywood producer, wants to reopen the Fred West murder file
- He is urging police to search a Glasgow allotment for bodies from the 1960s
- Police Scotland said they will look at all evidence regardless of the time passed
Fred West may have murdered many more innocent people and buried them in an allotment in Glasgow, it has been claimed.
The serial killer and his deranged wife Rose murdered, raped and dismembered young women, including two of their own daughters.
But Fred, who killed himself before being brought to trial on twelve murder charges, is now believed to have killed many more.
Hollywood producer Paul Pender was tipped off about more victims at a family funeral by a man who worked with West’s first wife Rena who Fred later killed.
The former abattoir employee told Mr Pender to investigate further.
Fred West is known to have killed at least 12 women and ran over a young boy in Glasgow before moving to Gloucester
Serial killer couple Rose West (left) and Fred West (right) killed girls in their home. A Hollywood producer named Paul Pender believes more victims are buried in Glasgow
As a result the screenwriter believes there are more bodies buried in an allotment which West used in the early 1960s.
He said there is an ‘inarguable’ case to crack open the West file once more because we ‘owe it to the victims’.
Mr Pender believes high tech scanning equipment could be used on the ground.
Fred and Rose were finally arrested in 1994 and nine bodies were found at the house of horrors in Gloucester.
The rapes and horrifying killings took place between 1967 and 1987. Rose West was jailed for life for ten murders while Fred killed himself before court where he was charged 12 counts of murder.
Pender is also calling for officers to look into the death of Henry Feeney, a three-year-old in Glasgow’s Castlemilk district.
West ran him over in an ice-cream truck and at the time it was said to be an accident.
Murderer Fred West with his wife Rose and daughter Ann Marie pictured at Ann Marie’s wedding, in 1986. Anne Marie survived her murderous parents but attempted suicide later
But it is now believed West lured him to a quiet spot and ran him over on purpose by telling him to retrieve a ball from bushes, before reversing into him and killing him.
Fred West and Rena Costello, later Rena West, moved to Gloucester but after difficulties in the marriage Rena fled back to Scotland.
When she returned to Gloucester to find her daughter – who was not Fred’s child – she was killed by West who had already killed the girl named Charmaine.
Police Scotland said: ‘We will investigate all reports regardless of what time has passed and would encourage anyone who has information to come forward.’
THE TRAGIC VICTIMS OF THE HOUSE OF HORRORS MURDERERS
Although Fred West was convicted of killing 12 women and Rose 10, the pair are thought to have killed up to 20 more.
One victim who was almost certainly killed by West was his former girlfriend Anne McFall who like the others, was found in a shallow grave with body parts missing. West denied it.
The waped pair used whips to torture their victims as well as their own children.
Fred West committed suicide by hanging himself in a prison cell in January 1995 — before he could stand trial for the murders.
Rose West is still a prisoner at HMP Low Newton in Durham, having been handed a rare ‘whole life tariff’ for her part in the killings.
Confirmed victims include:
Charmaine West, eight: Fred West’s stepdaughter from his first marriage, Charmaine was murdered by Rose in 1971 while Fred was in prison.
Rena Costello, 27: Charmaine’s mother Rena, Fred’s first wife, was murdered when she arrived to pick up her daughter Charmaine in August 1971. With Charmaine already dead, it is thought Fred killed her to avoid an investigation.
Lynda Gough, 20: Miss Gough was a lodger in the West’s home and was killed in April 1973. Rose told her mother she had moved to Weston-super-Mare.
Carol Ann Cooper, 15: The teenager disappeared while walking home from the cinema to her Worcester children’s home in November 1973. Her remains were found buried in the Wests’ garden.
Lucy Partington, 21: After spending Christmas with her family in Cheltenham, Miss Partington disappeared after leaving to catch a bus. The student was the cousin of novelist Martin Amis and the sister of author Marian Partington.
Lucy went missing in 1973 after visiting friends in Cheltenham. She was killed by the Wests
Therese Siegenthaler, 22: The South London student was killed in April 1974 after disappearing while attempting to hitch-hike to Ireland.
Shirley Hubbard, 15: One of the Wests’ youngest victims, she disappeared on her way home from college in Droitwich. When her body was discovered, her head was completely covered in tape with a rubber tube placed in her mouth to allow her to breathe.
Juanita Mott, 18: Miss Mott, a former lodger at 25 Cromwell Street, was living in Newent when she vanished.
Shirley Robinson, 19: Another lodger, Miss Robinson was killed in 1978 after becoming pregnant with West’s child.
Alison Chambers, 17: The teenager disappeared in August 1979 and her remains were later found beneath the patio at 25, Cromwell Street.
Heather West, 17: Repeatedly raped by her father, Heather complained to friends about the abuse and was murdered by her parents in a bid to keep her quiet.
The Today program reports that It is now known there are at least 87 victims of Smyth’s beatings.
The Today programme reports on the damaging ‘blanking’ of abuses by Church of England and the Titus Trust, formerly the Iwerne Trust
The Iwere network could have stopped Smyth anytime in the last 36 years.
ABC has still not spoken to victims of #Smyth‘s abuse. The @churchofengland default of blanking abusees is very damaging. A report was written for the Iwerne Trust by vicar Mark Ruston in 1982 detailing the abuse perpetrated by #Smyth who was allowed to leave the country /2
The Iwerne Trust became the Titus Trust in 1997. It continues to run elitist camps presumably for the same strategic reasons mentioned in the article. #MandatoryReporting is vital in such settings 3/3
Mandate Now@mandatenow
Archbishop apologises for historic ‘abuse’: the full story 2/2/17 | ABC has not spoken to any of #Smyth‘s victims. Why not? Perhaps a newspaper will inform us this week? #WhereisWelby?
https://www.channel4.com/news/archbishop-apologises-for-historic-abuse-the-full-story… …
Christian camp leader John Smyth suspected of abuse dies
A leading barrister suspected of physically abusing boys who attended Christian summer camps has died.
11 Aug 2018
John Smyth QC, 77, had been wanted for questioning over abuse claims concerning boys at Winchester College during the 1970s and 1980s.
In a statement his family told BBC News the cause of death appeared to be a sudden heart attack following a heart procedure last week.
They asked to be “left alone” to grieve in private.
Mr Smyth was previously a senior member of Christian charity the Iwerne Trust and died at his home in Cape Town, South Africa on Saturday.
Victim advocate, Andrew Graystone, said Hampshire police informed victims the CPS had asked them to summon Mr Smyth back to the UK for formal questioning with a view to possible charges last week.
The CPS said it was “not in a position to comment at this time”.
Mr Smyth also previously worked as a barrister representing the moralising campaigner Mary Whitehouse and ran camps in Dorset for young evangelical Christians during the 1970s and 1980s.
He and his wife Anne were excommunicated by Church-on-Main, in Cape Town last year.
Officials said he had been “evasive, combative, non-compliant and generally unwilling to work with us” when the abuse allegations surfaced.
The investigation came after a report by the Iwerne Trust from 1982, which was not made public until 2016.
It found Mr Smyth identified pupils from leading public schools like Winchester College and took them to his home near Winchester in Hampshire, where he carried out lashings with a garden cane in his shed.
It said eight of the boys received a total of 14,000 lashes, while two more received 8,000 strokes between them over three years.
The Iwerne Trust called the practice “horrific” but the claims were not reported to police until 2013 – more than 30 years later.
‘No justice’
Mr Smyth refused to comment on the allegations, which were reported to have happened while Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, worked at some of the camps as a young man in the 1970s.
He said he knew nothing of the abuse until it was reported to police.
The Bishop of Guildford, Andrew Watson, has also said he was abused by Mr Smyth.
Mr Graystone said a number of alleged victims expressed their sympathy for his family in their loss.
He added: “They are, however, angry that the police and the Church of England have failed to respond to their disclosures for the past six years. As a direct result they will see no justice, and more importantly they will not get answers to their crucial questions about why this was allowed to happen.”
A spokeswoman for Hampshire Constabulary said: “We are in the process of speaking with the victims of the non-recent abuse allegations, to update them on the news that we have heard around the suspect’s death.
“Until those conversations have taken place, and until we have spoken with the CPS and the suspect’s solicitor, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-45161316
LazerLight@Lazer_Light23
And up pops David Rose…
In the week a judge throws out a THIRD historic abuse case against pop mogul Jonathan King convicted of molesting boys… Police appear in dock over missing evidence of star witness who helped secure his seven-year sentence
- Child sex abuse case that saw pop mogul Jonathan King handed a seven-year jail sentence has been reopened
- Fresh evidence is being considered by the Criminal Cases Review Commission
- The commission is set to decide whether it will be ordering a new appeal
11 Aug 2018
The child sex abuse case that saw pop mogul Jonathan King handed a seven-year jail sentence has been reopened in the light of fresh evidence – including documents which dramatically undermine the testimony of a star witness at his 2001 trial.
Fresh evidence is being considered by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which will decide whether to order a new appeal. It emerged as a result of King’s trial this year on separate, though related, charges of ‘historic’ sex abuse, some dating back to 1970.
That case was brought to an end last week when the judge issued a damning ruling, accusing Surrey Police of failing to disclose critical evidence and misleading the court.
Judge Deborah Taylor told Southwark Crown Court that it would be impossible for King to get a fair trial because ‘the integrity of the criminal justice system and processes have been undermined publicly in a fundamental way by disclosure failures and persistent misleading of the court’.
She added: ‘A trial has been aborted due to the failures. The time of the court and public money have been wasted, in a time of scarce resources… Continuation would undermine public confidence in the administration of justice.’
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that the fresh evidence to be considered by the CCRC includes:
- Witness A – one of five underage victims King was convicted of abusing in 2001 – who gave a long, unpublished interview to the News of the World four years before he spoke to the police, in which he revealed a very different story from his trial testimony. This newspaper has established he told the reporter in 1997 that he met King when he was with a friend at an amusement arcade, and was not assaulted until weeks later;
- In 2001, Witness A said former DJ King first approached him when he was alone at a market stall, drove him in his Rolls-Royce to a ‘peep show’ and, later that same day, took him to his home, where he assaulted him. The police knew of these discrepancies seven months before the 2001 trial, but allegedly did not disclose the 1997 account to the defence team;
- As the MoS first revealed in 2016, an investigation by the author Bob Woffinden, who died earlier this year, shows that another boy King was convicted of abusing was not in the same country as the music mogul throughout the period when he claimed he was certain the alleged abuse took place. He was in England, but tickets, receipts and credit card bills unearthed by Woffinden show that King was in America;
- A 2014 report by Merseyside police on Operation Arundel, the original 2001 Surrey investigation, was only disclosed to King’s lawyers shortly before the 2018 case finally collapsed. The report, triggered by Surrey’s widely criticised investigation of allegations against Jimmy Savile before his death, made sweeping criticisms of the way Arundel officers took statements from alleged victims, saying the method they used ‘increases the possibility of error’, and ‘the integrity of any statement taken in this manner is open to question’;
- The report says officers failed to tape the questions they asked during interviews, while victims’ statements were written up and signed ‘days if not weeks’ afterwards from short ‘trigger notes’, instead of immediately. The CCRC will now decide whether this casts doubt on all the evidence that convicted King in 2001;
- The first Arundel detective to take a statement from an alleged victim of King was Mark Williams-Thomas, now a TV presenter. According to Judge Taylor’s ruling, after Williams-Thomas left the force, police found ‘a document on his computer offering for sale names and introductions to victims of Mr King’. The judge also said that when he left, Williams-Thomas took his police notebooks concerning King with him. The prosecution said he should not have done this because they were force property;
- In 2018, though not in 2001, King was charged with abusing Witness B, the alleged victim interviewed by Williams-Thomas. Witness B could not have testified in person because illness had destroyed his ability to speak: the jury would have been asked to convict King on the basis of his 2001 statement. Witness B’s medical records, which showed he had been in numerous mental institutions and had been a drug addict, were only disclosed in June, shortly before the trial collapsed.
Yesterday, King, 73, told this newspaper in an exclusive interview: ‘I’m naturally delighted by the outcome, but my real hope is to protect others in future, and to let the many teachers, care workers and others who have also been wrongly convicted of so-called historic sexual abuse to have their cases reopened too.
‘There needs to be change at all levels. But as Judge Taylor has done, we must start with the behaviour of the police.’
He said that Surrey Chief Constable Nick Ephgrave, the man ultimately responsible, should resign.
King’s long career in pop began in 1965 when he had a top five hit while still a Cambridge student. He went on to write, perform and produce many more, while also discovering bands such as Genesis.
His contacts were also impeccable. In 2001, Simon Cowell stood him bail, and when he was arrested, King had been offered the chairmanship of recording giant EMI on an annual £5 million salary.
Other famous friends included former Page 3 model Samantha Fox.
He admits the sexual opportunities that success gave him were endless, and some might find his promiscuous behaviour reprehensible.
But he says he never made any secret of it, and was always clear he was not interested in settling down. In a recent video, he ironically described himself as a ‘vile pervert’.
‘I’m bisexual,’ he said, ‘and I had sex with hundreds of people. About 40 per cent were women.
‘But I found it absurd that in the 1970s and 1980s, I could legally have sex with a 16-year-old girl but not with a boy the same age because the age of consent for gay sex was 21.
‘So I deliberately broke the law with young men who were over 16, and who wanted to have sex with me.’
King insisted he went to elaborate lengths to ensure he never slept with anyone under 16, adding: ‘I was very good at seduction. I’m sorry if some people have come to regret having sex with me in later life. But if anyone said no, I accepted it. I knew some of those who made allegations, but I didn’t have sex with any of them.’
In all, King has faced four trials.
The first – in which he was convicted of abusing boys aged 14 and 15, with offences ranging from buggery to touching inappropriately – led to his seven-year jail sentence, of which he served three and a half years.
The four cases against him
CASE ONE
King was convicted at the Old Bailey in September 2001 of four counts of indecent assault, one of buggery and one attempted buggery on five boys aged 14 and 15 when the crimes took place in the eighties. He has protested his innocence ever since, but was jailed for seven years. He served half his sentence. This case has now been reopened because of fresh evidence.
CASE TWO
Two months later, in November 2001, he was found not guilty of sexually assaulting two other underage boys, after one admitted in court he might have been over 16 at the time of the alleged offence.
CASE THREE
He has been due to face further charges in late 2001, but the prosecution decided not to go ahead with the trial. The charges were ‘left on file’ – and King was told by his lawyers this meant they would never be revived.
CASE FOUR
In what legal experts say was a highly unusual move, two of the ‘on file’ charges were revived in 2015. King was also charged with crimes reported to police in 2001, but where they had taken no action. Facing claims he had abused a total of 10 further underage boys, he was found not guilty of two of the revived charges in June 2018. The whole case was aborted last week after the judge found the police had ‘misled’ her and so ‘undermined the integrity’ of the criminal justice system.
In the second, in November 2001, he was accused of abusing two boys but found not guilty on all counts.
A third trial due after that was dropped by the prosecution.
The charges he would have faced then were ‘left on file’. But King was assured by his lawyers that they would never be revived.
Legal experts say it is highly unusual for charges of this kind to be tried years later. However, this is what happened in King’s fourth trial, which ended last week.
Of the ten alleged victims, seven – including Witness B – had first made statements in 2001, when their claims were either left on file or did not lead to charges.
The other three came forward after King was arrested in 2015 amid huge publicity.
The 2001 trial started in June. In April, King’s defence, led by solicitor Steven Bird and Henry Blaxland QC, had tried to get the case stopped as an ‘abuse of process’, arguing it was unfair to revive the old allegations.
At that stage, the judge disagreed. But then, following pressure from King’s defence, further documents were disclosed, including the Merseyside report on Operation Arundel and Witness B’s extensive medical records.
The prosecution, acting on information from the police, had wrongly told the court these documents contained ‘nothing of relevance’, and that there was no ‘final version’ of the Merseyside report – when, in fact, there was, and Surrey Police had a copy in their files.
King was found not guilty on the two charges which had lain on file, including the claim he abused Witness B. Then the case was aborted.
Meanwhile, a long statement to police by the News of the World reporter describing his interview with Witness A in 1997, with its many discrepancies from his 2001 evidence, had also come to light.
HHJ Deborah Taylor sits at Southwark Crown Court, in the Administrative Court, High Court Queen’s Bench Division and Court of Appeal Criminal Division. She was a Judicial Appointments Commissioner from 2011-2013.
Judge Deborah Taylor told Southwark Crown Court that it would be impossible for King to get a fair trial
It had been sent to King’s office as part of a package of ‘unused material’ in October 2001 but he never examined it because by then he had been convicted, and was in Belmarsh prison.
King said he was sure that the reporter’s statement had not been disclosed before his trial, and if it had been, his barrister, Ron Thwaites QC, who had a formidable reputation, would have used it to undermine Witness A’s allegations.
The 2018 prosecution lawyers said ‘it is not possible to say’ if the reporter’s statement was disclosed before the 2001 trial or not, but admitted that the information it contained was ‘not in any statement made by [Witness A] himself’.
‘I was misled,’ Judge Taylor said at the end of last week’s ruling.
She added that, whether the misleading was deliberate or not, to allow this ‘would give rise to a belief that in this type of case, where there are sexual allegations against figures in the public eye, the courts are prepared to sanction the end justifying the means’.
Perhaps most astonishingly of all, she also suggested that the 2018 case had ‘not been driven by complainants’ allegations’, but ‘by concerns about reputational damage to Surrey Police in the wake of the Savile case and the consequent Merseyside investigation’.
Last night the CCRC confirmed that it had reopened the 2001 case. A spokesman said: ‘We will examine whatever material there may be which is relevant. Anything that concerns witnesses’ credibility will have a bearing.’
Williams-Thomas said he ‘not been given any opportunity to defend myself’ before the judge issued her ruling, saying that he should have been. He said he left the police with an ‘exemplary record’ and only kept his notebooks because he was advised to do so.
As to the document the judge said was found on his computer offering to sell details of King’s alleged victims, he said: ‘After two investigations, no action was taken against me.
‘It must follow that no offences were disclosed. I categorically deny any wrongdoing here or in relation to any of the other criticisms… I pride myself on my ability to protect victims of such crimes.’
A Surrey Police spokesman said: ‘We recognise there were serious organisational failings in the investigation, particularly in relation to disclosure.’
The force ‘deeply regret we did not meet the required standards to ensure a fair trial. For this we wholeheartedly apologise.’
The spokesman added that the force had commissioned an ‘independent review’ and a formal complaint by King was now being investigated. However, Chief Constable Nick Ephgrave had ‘no intention of resigning’.
Vatican has never co-operated with Irish inquiries into clerical child sex abuse
Church has pattern of withholding relevant documents from Irish State abuse inquiries
7 Aug 2018
Then president Mary McAleese meets with Pope Benedict in the Vatican in 2005.
Concordats were very much in the air when then president of Ireland Mary McAleese met then Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Angelo Sodano on November 6th, 2003. On a state visit to Italy that week, protocol indicated she should also call on the Vatican.
At the time, the Catholic Church was in discussion with the Czech Republic over a concordat, a draft of which was rejected in 2003 by the chamber of deputies in Prague.
Its first article pledged both states to “mutually consider the other party an independent legal person in compliance with international law and they pledge to respect fully this legal personality”.
Ms McAleese has revealed that Sodano proposed something similar for Ireland at the meeting attended by her; Dermot McCarthy, then secretary to the government; and then Irish ambassador to the Holy See, the late Bernard Davenport.
“What he [Cardinal Sodano] was asking for was an agreement between the Holy See and the Irish government under which church documentation would be protected by the church and the State would, clearly, have no access to it. That was what he seemed to be saying,” she told The Irish Times.
She said she was “gratified to say it never was pursued but I think the thinking is indicative of what did happen”.
Denial of access
The Irish Times sought a comment from the Vatican’s press office but none was forthcoming.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/vatican-has-never-co-operated-with-irish-inquiries-into-clerical-child-sex-abuse-1.3588073
Caldey Island monk abuser film ‘makes my skin crawl’11 Aug 2018
A victim of child abuse by a monk on Caldey Island 50 years ago has revealed he was given home movie footage of his abuser to remember him by.
The victim has shown BBC Wales the 8mm film given to him by Thaddeus Kotik in the late 1960s and said it now “makes my skin crawl”.
It shows the monk – who died in 1992 – sight-seeing in Pembrokeshire.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) has now said Caldey could form part of its probe.
BBC Wales revealed on Friday that Dyfed-Powys Police are now investigating claims by 20 victims.
Mark – the name we are using to protect his identity – was the first male victim to come forward earlier this year.
Previously, the victims who had come forward had been girls.
- Compensation call over island sex abuse
- Victim’s call to remove abuse monk’s body
- Drowned girl and sister were victims
Now in his early 60s, he was given the film when he was 10 or 11.
“[Kotik] told me: ‘This is if you ever want to remind yourself of me in the cold winter months’.
“It makes my skin crawl thinking about it now.”
Mark’s father had been befriended by Kotik when the family visited the island, off the coast of Tenby, on holiday and they used to return, while his father would do odd jobs.
He said Kotik spent years grooming him and abused him on several occasions from the age of eight.
The film had been in a box in his attic for decades.
Mark found it around two months ago and watched it again on an old projector as he, as well as his lawyer, wanted to give it to BBC Wales to help with his legal case against the abbey.
Mark said watching it again was difficult.
“It was mind numbing and contained a number of triggers,” he said.
“I had to look away at times, it’s not good for me. But, I wanted to check it was appropriate to give to others and so I watched it again.
“I’m trying to put things right – I thought the film might help others remember and come forward with their stories. I’m climbing a mountain and I guess this is part of that.”
Mark has already described to us how he just “froze still” during one of the assaults, and being “frightened and upset.”
He is now taking legal action against the abbey and has also backed calls for a public inquiry.
Last year, six women received compensation in an out of court settlement and the abbot of Caldey Abbey apologised after it emerged that complaints about Kotik were not passed to the police by his predecessor in 1990.
BBC Wales has made repeated attempts to contact the current abbot on Caldey for comment.
Meanwhile, IICSA, which this week reported a cover-up of “appalling” abuse at two Catholic schools in North Yorkshire and Somerset, said the allegations about Caldey were relevant to its continuing investigations into abuse in the wider Catholic church in the coming months.
“As the investigation progresses the inquiry will give thought to whether it can consider the allegations relating to Caldey Island as part of that slightly longer term programme of work,” a spokesman added.
Dr Mair Edwards, a clinical psychologist, said: “I think it is important to look into historic abuse so that we can learn lessons.
“There is a need to look at what has happened to people in our society in order to make sure that it doesn’t happen to others.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-45130637
Caldey Island: 20 people claim monk abused them as children
10 Aug 2018
Twenty people have now claimed they were sexually abused by a monk living on Caldey Island when they were children.
Father Thaddeus Kotik died in 1992 without facing any criminal charges into claims he abused children between 1977 and 1987.
The figure comes as one victim told how living with the trauma of being abused almost killed her.
The abbot of Caldey Abbey has not responded to requests for a comment.
Since November, 14 new people have reported they were abused by the monk when they visited the island off Tenby, Pembrokeshire, when they were children, Dyfed Powys Police has confirmed.
This is as well as six women who previously came forward and received out of court settlements last year.
Thaddeus Kotik with ‘Jenny’, who has released this photo to us of her as a child
She told BBC Wales that finally piecing together the information and putting together the story of her abuse made her realise how her life had fallen apart and led to her near death.
“I became an alcoholic, I had an eating disorder, and I was hanging around with drug addicts and prostitutes,” she said.
“I was in relationships with violent, alcoholic men and all these terrible things nearly ended my life because I was very heavily into drink and drugs, and living with a heroin addict is pretty full on.”
She has since managed to turn her life around and has lived without drink and drugs for 12 years and has been on a quest to find out what happened to her as a child ever since.
Jenny realised that she was abused between the ages of five and six when she compared two school photographs – she said she looked tormented in the later picture.
Thaddeus Kotik died without any charges being brought against him
After her sister told her about her own experience with Kotik, they looked up his details on the internet and saw the media coverage of the allegations that he was a paedophile.
“After that, all the pieces just started falling into place,” she said.
“Fortunately, my mum keeps diaries and lo and behold between the two school photos when I was five and six, he came to stay with us for one night in the November of 1978.
“My sister said he went upstairs to pray and that’s when I would have been in bed, asleep, and it all fell into place, that’s when he interfered with me – and that’s what started all the fear, the night terrors, the sleepwalking and all the problems that got worse and worse until my life nearly ended.”
She said the girls did not tell anyone about the abuse at the time but she did not think the monastery responded well to the allegations that have come out since then.
“I think they should be more open. They don’t seem to be saying enough, I think they need to be more forthcoming. I also think the whole monastery needs to be looked into,” she added.
Det Ch Insp of Dyfed-Powys Police Jayne Butler said specially-trained officers were investigating and supporting victims of historical abuse and people should report crimes to the force.
BBC Wales made numerous attempts to contact the abbey for an interview and visited the island, but have been unable to get a comment from the abbey.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-45084979
Call for Gove to give evidence over school abuse case claims
Lawyers want minister called to inquiry over allegation he intervened in investigation
10 Aug 2018
Lawyers representing child abuse survivors have called for the environment secretary, Michael Gove, to be called before a public inquiry over an allegation he intervened in a sexual abuse investigation at a boarding school.
Two child abuse professionals have testified at the ongoing independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA) that while he was the education secretary, Gove intervened to find out about an investigation into a priest suspected of abuse at Downside Abbey school in Somerset.
Gove has denied the allegation, adding that there are no official records of such an intervention.
The inquiry into child sexual abuse published a damning report on Downside and another leading Catholic school, Ampleforth, on Thursday, saying the true scale of sexual abuse at the schools over a period of 40 years was likely to have been far greater than had been proved in the courts.
The inquiry said there was “insufficient evidence” to draw any conclusions on the allegation relating to Gove.
Two lawyers representing child abuse survivors have called for the cabinet minister to give evidence in person at the inquiry.
David Enright, one of the lawyers, said: “This report represents an impressive piece of work by the inquiry and its legal team, and must be commended. However, we are concerned about the allegation that Michael Gove intervened in relation to an investigation of sexual abuse at Downside.
“This is an allegation made by two apparently reliable witnesses about a senior member of the government. The minister in turn has said it did not happen. It needs to be cleared up. There is a simple solution to this: call Mr Gove to give evidence before the inquiry at one of the two scheduled further hearings in this important investigation.”
Another lawyer, Richard Scorer, said that given the conflicting evidence, it was right to invite the minister and one of the child abuse professionals to give oral evidence to resolve the matter.
Clare Winter, the deputy director of children’s services responsible for children’s social care at Somerset county council, told the inquiry in 2017 that she received two telephone calls in 2010 from Gove and his office inquiring about the investigation.
The second call, she said, came from “somebody who said they were the secretary of state for education” who repeated a request for information about the progress of the investigation into a priest, known only as F65, suspected of having oral sex with a 16-year-old boy.
She said she did not disclose any information. She told the inquiry the incident was “so unusual. I have never experienced it before or since”.
Jane Dziadulewicz, another safeguarding official responsible for child protection, told the inquiry that she helped produce a report for Gove’s office on the progress of the Downside investigation following the calls.
Following testimony from the pair last year, the inquiry initiated a deeper examination. In a witness statement, Gove said neither he nor members of his office had called Winter. He added that there were no official records of such calls.
“I think it extraordinarily unlikely that I would have made such a call. I cannot conceive of the circumstances in which I would have wished to do so … The only possible explanation for Ms Winter’s evidence is that she is labouring under some kind of misunderstanding,” he said.
The Somerset MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, who has connections to Downside school, has previously not responded to the Guardian’s questions about whether he had discussed the investigation with Gove.
In a witness statement, Winter said: “I did not expect someone saying they were the secretary of state to contact me and have no reason to doubt who they said they were.”
Peter Dalglish’s next hearing on August 9
August 5, 2018
Canadian Peter Dalglish’s next hearing is scheduled for August 9 and it might be the final hearing.
Mr. Dalglish’s case was postponed as the Kavre court was verifying the witnesses’ statement.
If found guilty, Peter faces 11 years jail term and might be required to pay compensation to the victims.
https://kathmandutribune.com/peter-dalglishs-next-hearing-on-august-9/
Christ’s Hospital School ex-sports coach jailed for sex abuse
9 Aug 2018
A sports teacher at a private school has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for sexually abusing female students.
Ajaz Karim, 63, from Hammersmith, west London, was convicted of nine charges of indecent assault at Christ’s Hospital School in Horsham.
Hove Crown Court was told he abused six girls aged 14 to 18 between 1985 and 1993.
He was also found guilty at an earlier hearing of one count of attempted indecent assault.
He is one of a number of teaching staff at the West Sussex school who have been convicted of sexually abusing students.
Karim had claimed during the trial his relationship “with the girls and boys was one of friendship”.
Judge Christine Henson said Karim displayed a “complete disregard” and “continued arrogance” towards his victims, adding: “I’m in no doubt that you used your popularity as a teacher to groom your victims.
“They should have been safe and secure, sadly they were not.
“You have betrayed everything a teacher should stand for.”
He left the school after complaints from four pupils surfaced between 1990 and 1993.
Senior staff came under fire from victims over the way they handled the allegations.
Teachers never reported him to the police and he was initially allowed to carry on working, even with the girls in question.
‘Hugely traumatic’
Reading a victim’s statement, Oliver Dunkin, prosecuting, said the victim was “deeply disappointed” with the school’s handling of the incidents, which made it “hugely traumatic”.
“For 32 years I have lived with the deeply buried memory of events that took place with Mr Karim,” the statement read.
“Until recently I believed the impact had been minimal and I got on and lived my life.”
An NSPCC spokeswoman said Karim displayed a “shocking breach of trust”.
She added: “We hope today’s sentencing provides some sort of closure for those cruelly targeted by Karim.”
Karim was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-45129488
Dan Bean@DBPressReporter
UPDATED: “The blatant openness of this behaviour demonstrates there was a culture of acceptance of abusive behaviour.” Damning report by @InquiryCSA into abuse at North Yorkshire Catholic school:
Two Catholic schools Ampleforth and Downside Abbey hid claims of appalling sex abuse over four decades to protect the church’s reputation as scale of ‘sadistic’ attacks was worse than feared, inquiry finds
- Report into sexual abuse at leading Roman Catholic schools published today
- Bosses £34,000-a-year Ampleforth College in Yorkshire and £33,000-a-year Downside Abbey in Somerset accused of turning blind eye to allegations
- Report found extent of abuse likely to be ‘considerably worse’ than what has been dealt with in the courts over the past two decades
- Schools ‘hid allegations of appalling abuse to protect the church’s reputation’
- Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has conducted hearings for weeks
Monks at two leading Roman Catholic schools in the UK covered-up claims of ‘appalling sex abuse’ over four decades to protect the church’s reputation, a report claims.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) has been investigating whether Ampleforth in North Yorkshire and Downside Abbey in Somerset failed to protect pupils from predators.
And it found the scale of the ‘sadistic’ sexual abuse was ‘likely to be “considerably” worse’ than previously believed, an inquiry has found.
The report said the schools tried to avoid contact with police and council officials ‘at all costs’.
Teachers and staff at both schools have been jailed over incidents of abuse but the report found the extent likely went beyond what ‘conviction figures reflect’.
Lawyers representing former students alleged the schools turned a blind eye to offending over many years, with one of the bosses at Downside even accused of burning evidence and the abbot at Ampleforth quizzed over allegationns himself.
Ampleforth and Downside are two schools linked to the monasteries, run at times by ‘secretive, evasive and suspicious’ church officials who avoided reporting misconduct to police and social services.
Allegations stretching back to the 1960s encompassed ‘a wide spectrum of physical abuse, much of which had sadistic and sexual overtones’, according to the report.
Ten individuals linked to the schools, mainly monks, have been cautioned or convicted over sexual activity or pornography offences involving a ‘large number of children’.
‘The true scale of the abuse however is likely to be considerably higher,’ the investigation, led by Professor Alexis Jay, found.
The report followed several weeks of evidence hearings at the inquiry last year, which included personal accounts from victims.
Victims were as young as 11 at Downside and seven at Ampleforth.
One alleged offender at Ampleforth abused at least 11 children aged between eight and 12 over a ‘sustained period of time’, but died before police could investigate.
‘Many perpetrators did not hide their sexual interests from the children,’ the report found, allowing abusers at Ampleforth to prey on entire groups of pupils both outdoors and indoors.
‘The blatant openness of these activities demonstrates there was a culture of acceptance of abusive behaviour,’ the report said.
This was a culture fostered by the abbot leading the schools, it was claimed.
In 2001, the Nolan Report recommended all sexual abuse allegations within the church must be referred to police, a position which many felt was ‘neither obligatory nor desirable’.
The report said: ‘For much of the time under consideration by the inquiry, the overriding concern in both Ampleforth and Downside was to avoid contact with the local authority or the police at all costs, regardless of the seriousness of the alleged abuse or actual knowledge of its occurrence.
‘Rather than refer a suspected perpetrator to the police, in several instances the abbots in both places would confine the individual to the abbey or transfer him and the known risk to a parish or other locations.’
But details of the monk’s predatory past was not always passed on to monks at the abbey to which he was moved.
‘Some children were abused as a consequence,’ the inquiry said.
Downside paved the way for the return of offenders such as Nicholas White, who became his first victim’s housemaster despite staff knowledge of the abuse allegations.
Child protection issues were not limited to the distant past, the report found.
In 2016 and 2017, former abbot of Downside Aidan Bellenger sent two letters to Dom Leo Maidlow Davis, highlighting how four suspected paedophiles remained at Downside, but this information was not passed on to the local authority safeguarding lead.
Dom Leo eventually apologised, but the report said: ‘The whole incident, having occurred so recently, gives no cause for confidence that the attitudes at Downside had changed enough to put children first over threat to reputation and embarrassment to senior members of the monastic order,’
The congregation’s most senior clergymen including past presidents Dom Richard Yeo and Dom Charles Fitzgerald-Lombard refused to fully accept that criminal activity was tolerated when questioned at the inquiry.
Accountability within the congregation was exacerbated by ‘no recognisable line management oversight’ with the monastic order appearing ‘collaborative rather than hierarchical’.
The inquiry suggested that a ‘strict separation’ between the abbeys and schools was needed to ensure school safeguarding was free from the ‘often-conflicting priorities of the abbeys’.
HOW ‘SADISTIC’ ATTACKERS HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TO JUSTICE AT AMPLEFORTH AND DOWNSIDE
Ampleforth College:
The charities regulator launched an inquiry in November 2016 that revealed multiple allegations had been made against 40 monks and teachers who lived or worked at the £34,000-a-year Ampleforth College over the past 60 years.
Since 1996 three monks and two teachers have been convicted of sexual abuse offences.
They include Father Piers Grant-Ferris who was jailed in 2006 over 20 counts of indecent assaults against abusing boys.
The inquiry heard the school had been warned against hiring Grant-Ferris, who the pupils had nicknamed ‘Pervy Piers’.
Although a letter to the school from a psychologist identified Grant-Ferris as a ‘risk’ to pupils, he was allowed to work in the abbey shop, only to later describe it as a ‘goldfish bowl’ because it was regularly visited by pupils.
Music teacher Dara de Cogan, 59, who subjected a teenage girl to ‘vile’ bondage sessions and ‘critiqued her sexual technique in the same he would her violin playing’, was jailed for 28 months at York Crown Court in March 2017.
Father Gregory Carroll, 68, was jailed for four years in 2005 for abusing at least 10 pupils in the 1980s after admitting 14 offences.
Former Ampleforth music teacher Dara de Cogan, pictured, was jailed for 28 months for sexually abusing a teenage girl at Ampleforth while Richard White, right, was handed a five-year sentence in 2012 after abusing two boys at Downside more than two decades ago, including a 12-year-old he paid 50p to hush up
Former finance chief Frank Hopkinson, 58, was jailed for two-and-a-half years in 1990 for sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy, although he was not an Ampleforth pupil.
Then in 1996 teacher Father Bernard Green, 45, was handed community service for indecently assaulting a sleeping 13-year-old.
In 2015 former English teacher David Lowe, 63, was jailed for ten years for 15 sex offences against ten boys aged eight to 13.
Downside Abbey:
Two monks from the Abbey have previously been jailed for child sex offences.
Monk Richard White, 66, was handed a five-year sentence in 2012 after abusing two boys more than two decades ago, including a 12-year-old he paid 50p to hush up.
His court hearing was told that, instead of contacting the police after allegations were raised, the then abbot of the monastery simply stopped White from teaching younger students.
In 2004, Desmond O’Keefe, another former priest from the abbey, was jailed for downloading 12,000 children sex abuse images.
Dr Aidan Bellenger, who was abbot for eight years until 2014, has previously apologised to all former pupils affected by abuse.
They include music teacher Dara de Cogan, 59, who subjected a teenage girl to ‘vile’ bondage sessions and ‘critiqued her sexual technique in the same he would her violin playing’.
De Cogan was jailed for 28 months at York Crown Court in March 2017.
Ampleforth abbot Cuthbert Madden, pictured, stepped down from his post in 2016 after he was accused of sexual abuse. No action has been taken against him but he is yet to return to the role
The school’s abbot, the Right Rev Cuthbert Madden, stepped down from his role in 2016 after he was questioned by police over accusations of indecent assaults on four young boys in the 1990s.
He did not face any action but has not returned to his previous post.
Meanwhile bosses at Downside Abbey were accused of destroying evidence to cover up sex abuse.
Father Leo Maidlow Davis, 63, now the senior monk at the £33,000-per-year school, burned staff files dating back to the early 1980s in a bonfire in 2012.
However, he claimed any destruction of evidence was unintentional, saying his aim had been simply to ‘get rid of unnecessary old material’.
When police investigated the alleged offences in 2010, allegations had been raised about 16 of the institution’s 23 monks.
Witnesses described being taken into monks’ beds and there were reports of a locked room in the school’s basement where monks would watch personal videos.
Letters from the abbey’s former abbot, Aidan Bellenger, also revealed his fears that ‘the issue of child abuse was tolerated by all my predecessors as abbot’.
Two monks from the Abbey have previously been jailed for child sex offences.
Monk Richard White, 66, was handed a five-year sentence in 2012 after abusing two boys more than two decades ago, including a 12-year-old he paid 50p to ‘hush up’.
In 2004, Desmond O’Keefe, another former priest from the abbey, was jailed for downloading 12,000 children sex abuse images.
Dr Bellenger, who was abbot for eight years until 2014, has previously apologised to all former pupils affected by abuse.
The inquiry carried out a case study on the English Benedictine Congregation as part of a wider investigation into the Catholic Church.
Counsel to the inquiry Riel Karmy-Jones said in her opening last November that there were many instances when church officials chose to keep abuse quiet.
A ‘wide spectrum of behaviour’, ranging from rape to voyeuristic beatings, was inflicted on school pupils over many years, she said.
Reasons for cover-ups included families being pressured not to report assaults, offenders getting shifted to different establishments but not punished and complaints simply being ignored, she added.
Predators from the two schools who were convicted include David Lowe, who taught at Ampleforth and was jailed for 10 years in 2015 for 15 indecent assaults on boys aged under 14.
During the same hearing, Richard Scorer, representing 27 core participants to the inquiry, said some schools concealed abuse out of fear for their reputations.
Many rely on private school fees to survive and cannot risk exposing misconduct, turning schools into ‘honeypots where multiple offenders operate’, he told a hearing in November.
‘The reputational pressures, the cultural and theological factors which led to abuse being covered up in Catholic institutions have not gone away.
‘They remain as powerful as ever.’
The hearings considered the prevalence of child sexual abuse by individuals associated with the English Benedictine Congregation, and failures by them or the Roman Catholic Church to protect youngsters.
IICSA also scrutinised the adequacy of the church’s response to the allegations.
How two top boarding schools tried to cover up 40 years of ‘appalling abuse’
Ampleforth College and Downside School ‘prioritised the monks and their own reputations over the protection of children’, finds inquiry
09 August 2018
The “appalling” abuse suffered by pupils across two “secretive” Catholic boarding schools over a 40-year period has been set out in a damning report today.
The abuse was inflicted on children as young as seven at Ampleforth College, in North Yorkshire, and 11 at Downside School, in Somerset, according to the report by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
Both schools “prioritised the monks and their own reputations over the protection of children, manoeuvring monks away from the schools in order to avoid scandal”, the report said.
Inquiry chair, Professor Alexis Jay, said: “For decades Ampleforth and Downside tried to avoid giving any information about child sexual abuse to police and social services.
“Instead, monks in both institutions were very often secretive, evasive and suspicious of anyone outside the English Benedictine Congregation.
“Safeguarding children was less important than the reputation of the Church and the wellbeing of the abusive monks.
“Even after new procedures were introduced in 2001, when monks gave the appearance of co-operation and trust, their approach could be summarised as a ‘tell them nothing’ attitude.”
Ten individuals connected to the schools, mostly monks, have been convicted or cautioned in relation to offences involving sexual activity with a large number of children, or pornography.
But the true scale of the abuse is likely to be “considerably higher”, according to the report.
The inquiry found that many perpetrators did not hide their sexual interests from the boys they taught.
At Ampleforth, this included communal activities, both outdoors and indoors, involving fondling of children, mutual and group masturbation.
The report said that for decades, monks in both institutions “tried to avoid giving information to the statutory authorities, other than that specifically requested, which might have helped investigations into the abuse of children in their care”.
In both schools, abbots designated people from within the order to carry out a form of “risk-assessment” of known or alleged abusers despite them having no expertise or relevant experience.
The results of these “assessments” were often biased, the inquiry found, meaning abusers were tolerated and behaviours were indulged as “one-off” slips with no foundations for reaching such conclusions.
The inquiry recommended a strict separation between the governance of the abbeys and schools to ensure safeguarding is not undermined by “the often-conflicting priorities of the abbeys”.
It found: “This took too long to achieve at Ampleforth. And more than eight years after Downside’s governing body began considering the issue, it is still working towards the school becoming both legally and financially separate and independent of the monastery.
“Whilst some steps have been taken, neither Ampleforth nor Downside has formally established a comprehensive redress scheme, financial or otherwise, and other than in the context of this inquiry, no public apology has been made.”
In a joint statement, Downside Abbey and School said: “We would like to reiterate our sincere and unreserved apology to all victims and survivors of sexual abuse suffered as a result of the actions of some within the Downside community.
“The abbey and school fully acknowledges the serious failings and mistakes made in both protecting those within our care and responding to safeguarding concerns. We have reflected deeply and will continue to listen with the ear of the heart going forward to ensure that the mistakes of the past are never repeated.”
A number of steps are being taken to improve safeguarding: monks no longer hold key positions in the school; plans for a new independent school trust “are underway”; a new lay headmaster has been appointed; and new school trustees are being appointed.
A spokesperson for Ampleforth College said: “We are committed to providing the highest possible standards when it comes to looking after those entrusted to our care and have welcomed the opportunity to work with IICSA on this wide-ranging inquiry into the best ways to protect children.
“We have publicly accepted responsibility for past failings on many occasions, and the Ampleforth of today has never been afraid to learn difficult lessons.”
The school is developing a Safeguarding Charter, working with a national expert.
The spokesperson added: “We would also like to once again offer our heartfelt apology to anyone who suffered abuse while in the care of our schools, parishes or other ministries.”
Last month, the Department for Education ordered Ampleforth College to produce an action plan setting out how it will address serious safeguarding failings uncovered by inspectors.
https://www.tes.com/news/how-two-top-boarding-schools-tried-cover-40-years-appalling-abuse
‘It’s still not over’: Alleged victims of DJ Jonathan King threaten to sue him after bungling detectives have claims he groomed 11 young boys thrown out
- King’s trial at Southwark Crown Court collapsed after police hid key evidence
- Music mogul is accused of grooming 11 starstuck boys including Kirk McIntyre
- Mr McIntyre is said to be devastated after the trial collapsed earlier this week
Alleged victims of Jonathan King yesterday threatened to start a private prosecution against him.
They spoke out after prosecutors abandoned proceedings against the 73-year-old former music mogul.
He had gone on trial in June accused of grooming 11 starstruck young boys for sex. But the trial collapsed when it emerged that police hid key evidence and misled the court.
One alleged victim came forward as long ago as 2002 after King was convicted of sex offences against five youngsters aged 14 and 15.
He said he was meeting a solicitor to consider civil action, adding: ‘It is still not over as far as I am concerned.’
1983 – DJ and comedian Kenny Everett with former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and director Michael Winner at a Conservative Youth Rally.
The man told police that King used his fame to groom him, introducing him to DJ Kenny Everett and raping him at the age of 14.
Surrey Police did not act on his allegations until an independent review of the case by Merseyside Police revealed they had missed investigative opportunities. Another accuser, who reported King to police in 2001, was said yesterday to be devastated by the collapse of the case.
Kirk McIntyre, 62, told police he was in awe of King’s celebrity status and white Daimler when he met him at the age of 15.
He claims King plied him with drink before raping him.
In 2005 when King was released from jail after serving just three and a half years, Mr McIntyre confronted him in a hotel telling him: ‘I’ve been in a mental prison for 35 years because of your abuse.’
A year later he suffered a stroke that made him unable to give evidence. His wife, who did not wish to be identified, said: ‘He is devastated. I could tell from the look on his face when I told him the news. He has been waiting 17 years for justice.
‘We have been in limbo, waiting for closure. The police kept his evidence on file so they had something to use against King if he did anything again.’
Another complainant said he was angry that police had not acted sooner. The man reported King to police in 2002, telling officers that he had groomed him when he was a 15-year-old schoolboy in 1986.
King took him to smart restaurants and drove him around in a Rolls Royce before abusing him, he said. Yesterday he told the Mail: ‘Of course I’m going to be angry. How come it has taken so long for something to be done and then this happens? It’s not fair.’
King yesterday taunted his accusers by claiming he had been cleared. In reality, the 23 sexual abuse charges he faced have been stayed, which means the case will not go ahead but the allegations have not been disproved.
On Twitter, King also took the opportunity of plugging his film Vile Pervert, which tells the story of a television celebrity brought down by malicious abuse allegations.
The bizarre homemade film opens with an entirely nude King, flashing the camera, before he goes on to sing: ‘There’s nothing wrong with b****** boys.’
Truthseeker @thewakeupcall09
Kenny Everett knew Chris Denning was a paedophile, which raises questions about himself.
During past spells in prison in Britain, he could rely on letters from his old Radio 1 pal, Kenny Everett. ‘But now Kenny’s dead,’ he says. ‘People at Radio 1 are still pleasant to me, but we’re not in close contact.’
Why was Kenny Everett writing letters to convicted paedophile Chris Denning, whilst he was in prison for sexually abusing and raping boys ?
https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1999/may/04/features11.g23
Savile was an early admirer and supporter of Kenny. Savile gave him masses of fabulous advice.
Apartheid’s paedophiles: ‘Magnus Malan and others in sex orgies with young boys’
General Magnus Malan, who in the 1980s was the most powerful man in South Africa after apartheid state president PW Botha, was a paedophile who took part in sex orgies with young boys during “fishing excursions” on Bird Island near Port Elizabeth.
This stunning allegation against the former minister of defence is made in the book, The Lost Boys of Bird Island, which hits the shelves today.
The book was written by former narcotics branch policeman Mark Minnie and investigative journalist Chris Steyn.
The writers say another prominent minister, who was at that time viewed as “a possible presidential candidate” was also part of the Malan paedophile ring.
Unlike Malan – who died aged 81 of a heart attack in 2001 – this minister is still alive.
His name is being withheld in the book on legal advice.
Magnus Malan, the apartheid minister of defence, preyed on young boys who called him a ‘cruel uncle’ and nicknamed him ‘Ears’.
For more than 30 years and completely independently of each other, Minnie from Port Elizabeth and Steyn from Cape Town had been investigating allegations of paedophiles in the upper echelons of the National Party.
Powerful players in their respective organisations ensured that their efforts came to naught.
But now, three decades later, the two are telling their stories in The Lost Boys of Bird Island.
The common denominator that brought the paedophile ring to light was two strange and sensational “suicides” early in 1987.
The bodies of Dave Allen (37), a well-known and wealthy unmarried Port Elizabeth businessman and police reservist, and John Wiley (60), a National Party minister, were found within weeks of each other with bullet wounds to the head.
Wiley, a good friend of Malan, was married and lived in Cape Town. Wiley and Allen had been close friends since 1977.
For more than 30 years and completely independently of each other, Minnie from Port Elizabeth and Steyn from Cape Town had been investigating allegations of paedophiles in the upper echelons of the National Party.
Powerful players in their respective organisations ensured that their efforts came to naught.
But now, three decades later, the two are telling their stories in The Lost Boys of Bird Island.
The common denominator that brought the paedophile ring to light was two strange and sensational “suicides” early in 1987.
The bodies of Dave Allen (37), a well-known and wealthy unmarried Port Elizabeth businessman and police reservist, and John Wiley (60), a National Party minister, were found within weeks of each other with bullet wounds to the head.
Wiley, a good friend of Malan, was married and lived in Cape Town. Wiley and Allen had been close friends since 1977.
Among the writers’ shocking revelations are that:
• The boys, who were mostly coloured and in their early teens, were – with Malan, Wiley and Allen – flown to Bird Island in helicopters belonging to the then SA Defence Force (SADF). Once there, they would be plied with braaied meat and alcohol, after which they were sexually abused by the men;
• On one such occasion, a pistol was allegedly inserted into the anus of one of the boys. A shot was fired – their sources say by Malan – and the critically injured boy was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Port Elizabeth;
• Men in suits stood guard while the coloured child was secretly treated in the white side of the government hospital. His family and the hospital matron were paid for their silence. ;
• Malan was described as an especially “cruel uncle” by the boys, who called him “Ears” because of his prominent ears;
• Apart from Bird Island, the paedophile ring of senior National Party officials also took boys to Allen’s luxurious house in Schoenmakerskop near Port Elizabeth and to a beach house in Witelsbos in the Tsitsikamma forest, 82km west of Jefferys Bay; and
• According to Steyn’s sources, which included two army agents and a retired policeman, Malan was the “most likely contractor” of the hitmen who murdered Wiley and Allen. One of the sources claimed that the third minister who was “seen as a possible presidential candidate” should not be overlooked for his role in the deaths.
Minnie carefully compiled a file – including statements and tape recordings – to take Malan to court.
But this file was removed from his office one day without his knowledge by a “Brigadier Schnetler” and “two highly placed officers from head office in Pretoria”.
Minnie did not get it back and his investigation was scuppered.
But even before the file was taken, the chief state prosecutor in Port Elizabeth warned Minnie in “fat red letters” written on the docket: “Any investigation into this matter should be discontinued immediately.” Signed: “John Scott.”
Minnie, then a warrant officer, continued his investigation in secret. He later resigned and started working undercover as a paid police informant. Eventually, he left the police.
The former policeman reveals a deep personal secret in the book – that he was raped at the age of 12 by 16-year-old twin brothers.
This was, he says, what drove him to write the book about the paedophile ministers, despite interference from on high, threats and an attempt on his life.
Minnie identified Allen as the kingpin of the paedophile ring, thanks to information he received from a young white boy who was also hospitalised with injuries to his lower body.
The day Allen died, he was due to appear in the magistrates’ court. Minnie had arrested him in his home in Schoenmakerskop the previous day.
After arresting Allen, Minnie drove him in his car to a police station to register a case of sex with minors – statutory rape – and possession of child pornography.
During the ride Allen, he wrote, “sang like a canary”.
“And then he drops a bombshell: he mentions a name. And not just any name, but the name of a very powerful Cabinet minister. I’m taken aback, then he names two more Cabinet ministers. He threatens to open the whole can of worms. Is this guy for real? He’s clearly not prepared to take the fall on his own,” writes Minnie.
“He offers me a bribe to make everything go away; R100 000 to be precise.”
When Allen was not in the magistrate’s court at 09:00 the next day, a warrant for his arrest was issued.
A shocked Minnie later found out from a colleague that Allen was found on the beach at Schoenmakerskop with a bullet wound to the forehead.
His Walther Parabellum PPK pistol, a pistol with a powerful recoil, was still in his hand, according to the person who discovered his body.
There were no gunpowder burns on the skin around the wound.
Wiley, the minister of environmental affairs, and bosom friend of Malan, was found dead in his house in Noordhoek, Cape Town, with a bullet wound to the right temple a few weeks later.
Steyn writes: “Paedophiles, extortion, an imminent Cabinet scandal of epic proportions and the urgent need to protect certain famous politicians played a role in Dave Allen’s and John Wiley’s deaths.”
Both Allen’s and Wiley’s inquests ruled out foul play. But Minnie and Steyn believe a lot of contradictions and conflicting evidence indicate assassinations carried out to make them look like suicides.
Steyn believes members of a security branch, such as the former Civil Cooperation Bureau of the SADF, were the hitmen.
After Wiley’s mysterious death shortly after Allen’s, Steyn investigated the cases and the connection between them for seven weeks. But her newspaper, the Cape Times, was lukewarm about the story and her reports were significantly watered down.
Before writing the book, Steyn and Minnie’s paths crossed fleetingly in Port Elizabeth in 1987 when Minnie was a member of the police’s narcotics bureau. Sparks flew.
As part of her investigation into the two suicides, Steyn went to Port Elizabeth where she met Minnie in the Elizabeth Hotel.
According to a former Cape Times colleague, Steyn was an “extremely meticulous, determined journalist who wore high heels and carried a briefcase”.
She thought she was making progress with Minnie when she mentioned the name of the “most senior Cabinet member” who was allegedly involved in the paedophile ring.
Minnie, who was called Max by his colleagues, after Mad Max, was a hard drinker who didn’t shy away from bloody bar brawls. He jumped up and, before storming out in fury, spat: “F*** off you b***h. Are you trying to get me killed?”
He didn’t trust her one bit and suspected she was working for the security police. It was only while the book was being written that Steyn learnt that Minnie ordered police snipers to “take her out” if he died an unnatural death.
Last year Steyn learnt from the publishers of The Lost Boys of Bird Island that Minnie was writing a book about his investigation. Minnie asked her for forgiveness for his behaviour with a note and flowers.
Minnie emigrated in 2007 at the age of 47 to start a new career. He is teaching English in China.
Steyn, who also worked for the Rand Daily Mail and The Star newspapers, is the co-owner and manager of a bookshop in a coastal town.
“This book is the voice the victims never had,” she said on Friday. “This book is their truth that they could never tell. It is the justice they never saw.”
Minnie said: “Shock accusations of this kind against prominent people initially sound incredible. .”
He is calling on all those with information about what happened and how it was covered up to come forward, even anonymously, by emailing hermanmoby@gmail.com.
https://city-press.news24.com/News/apartheids-paedophiles-20180804
The Lost Boys of Bird Island: three apartheid ministers named in paedophilia ring
Magnus Malan is one of the ministers who was named as a central figure in the trafficking and sexual abuse of children of colour in Bird Island.
News24 has released information about three ministers who were central figures in a paedophilia ring during the apartheid era.
Magnus Malan, John Wiley and a third minister of the National Party were labelled as paedophiles in a book titled, The Lost Boys of Bird Island.
Authors, former policeman Mark Minnie and ex-journalist Chris Steyn, saw the country go into a frenzy over the damning allegations contained in their book when it hit the shelves on Sunday.
What do we know about the three ministers involved in paedophilia ring?
Magnus Malan, who died in July 2011, was the Minister of Defence during P.W Botha’s tenor as president of South Africa.
His firm hand in using the military to instil order during apartheid made him one of the most feared members of the National Party.
He was also the one who helped devise Botha’s “total strategy” against the liberation movements.
John Wiley, after disbanding his political party, the South African Party (SAP), in 1980, he served as the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism under P.W Botha’s leadership.
He died in 1987 of a gunshot wound to the head, and the case involving his death remains unsolved. His son, Mark Wiley, currently serves as the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) legislator in the Western Cape.
The third minister alleged to be a central figure in the paedophilia ring was not named in the book after publishers were warned against it by their legal advisors.
It is speculated that he resides in a holiday home in the Eastern Cape and that he was on course to become P.W Botha’s successor.
The disturbing acts of cruelty the children were subjected to at Bird Island
In the book, Minnie and Steyn detail how the three ministers, including John Allen, the dishonoured businessman from Port Elizabeth, would take children of colour to Bird Island, in Algoa Bay, and molest them.
The perverted men were said to have forced these children to satisfy their sexual fantasies. It is alleged that one boy was sent to the hospital in a critical condition after a gunshot was released into his anus.
At the time, it is alleged that Malan, who went by the nickname Ore, used the military’s air force helicopters to traffick the children to the island. Allen was said to be responsible for recruiting the children.
Tafelberg Publishers speaks out about the importance of the book
Wiley, who was the only English-speaking member of Botha’s National Party, and Allen died under suspicious circumstances after they were meant to appear in court on charges related to the possession of pornography.
Steyn and Minnie were active in the case of the children being trafficked by Malan and his cohorts. Minnie was forced to resign from the police. Steyn’s investigative articles that revealed a lot about the ministers were never published by the Cape Times.
The controversial book is published by Tafelberg Publishers, and Maryna Lamprecht highlighted the importance of exposing the depravity of the apartheid system. She stated that,
“it dehumanised people in every possible way, even to the point of exploiting vulnerable children sexually to satisfy the needs of powerful politicians.”
General Magnus André De Merindol Malan was the Minister of Defence in the cabinet of President P W Botha and Chief of the South African Defence Force (SADF). Magnus Malan founded the Civil Cooperation Bureau (CCB) which murdered anti-apartheid activists. Revelations about the CCB‘s activities led in 1993 to Malan’s demotion and retirement, and in 1995 to his unsuccessful prosecution for murder.[1]
Former diplomat Patrick Haseldine has alleged that Magnus Malan was personally involved in the Lockerbie Bombing, suggesting that the target on Pan Am Flight 103 was United Nations Commissioner for Namibia, Bernt Carlsson, on his way to the signing ceremony at United Nations headquarters of an agreement granting independence to Namibia.[2]
https://wikispooks.com/wiki/Magnus_Malan
https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/sunday-times/20130811/282007555030204
https://www.scotsman.com/news/police-chief-lockerbie-evidence-was-faked-1-1403341
Lord Cullen led inquiries into the Dunblane shootings, and in March 2002 led the five-judge tribunal which heard the failed appeal of the alleged Lockerbie bomber.
A former senior judge / aangirfan: Dunblane / aangirfan: Lockerbie – who were the key players in the trial?”
Lockerbie – who were the key players in the trial?
http://aangirfan.blogspot.com/2007/09/lockerbie-who-were-key-players-in-trial.html
Colin Tucker, steward to Fiona Woolf, Fettesgate and the Scottish ‘Magic Circle’ Affair, and Wider Networks – Part 1
Tucker’s defence counsel, the late Robert Henderson QC. Henderson has been in the news again since his daughter Susie has claimed that she was abused by both him and the late former Scottish Solicitor General Sir Nicholas Fairbairn (Emma Cowing and Graham Grant, ‘I was raped aged 4 by top aide to Thatcher: Woman claims she was abused by senior Conservative MP who visited notorious guest house with paedophile Cyril Smith’, Daily Mail, August 14th, 2014), who has also been alleged to have been a visitor to the notorious Elm Guest House in Barnes, a key location for VIP guests to abuse young boys, said to have been delivered from care homes
Tucker is also listed as a partner in a company entitled ‘LD Inns’, address 24 Howe Street, Edinburgh EH3 6TG, from March 9th 1988 to July 17th, 1989, together with a Burnett Walker and David Ben Aryeah. It turns out this was the notorious Laughing Duck gay bar (see Rory Knight Bruce, ‘Below the Law: It is a short walk from Edinburgh’s Court of Session to the Laughing Duck’, Spectator, January 27th, 1990), mentioned at various points in the 1993 report, and listed with a three star rating in the 1982 edition of Spartacus International Gay Guide for Gay Men; membership of Spartacus, which was run by Roman Catholic priest John Stamford, who was later convicted of sending pornographic material through the post, also notoriously gave discounts for stays at Elm Guest House, and championed PIE; Stamford also published PAN: A Magazine about Boy-Love
Tucker was also for seven years an elder at St Cuthbert’s, next to Edinburgh Castle (Bruce McKain, ‘Solicitor tells fraud trial his partner had hold over him’, Glasgow Herald, December 16th, 1989). Burnett Walker was also a director of a delicatessen, Victors of Edinburgh; Edinburgh-born David Ben-Aryeah worked for the Israeli military, as a travel agent, and was one of the first journalists to report on the Lockerbie disaster
Sheriff who let off teen child sex abuser exposed himself at party
Sheriff Gerard Sinclair’s decision not to punish aspiring dentist Christopher Daniel was met with fury this week.
2 FEB 2019
Sheriff Gerard Sinclair let Christopher Daniel walk free from court.
A sheriff who let a teen child abuser walk from court with no criminal record exposed himself in a room full of people at a glitzy bash.
Sheriff Gerard Sinclair’s decision not to punish Christopher Daniel after he was convicted of abusing a six-year-old girl over a two-year period was met with fury this week.
Now we can reveal Sinclair, who is head of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, flashed at a 2001 Gleneagles knees up.
The sheriff raised his kilt for a photo and stuck out his tongue as party-goers looked on.
As chief executive, he is responsible for some of Scotland’s most of high profile cases, such as the Lockerbie bomber.
The SCCRC refused to comment on the incident yesterday, as did the Judicial Office. And the part-time sheriff – who was forced to explain his sentencing decision in the Daniel case to the public this week – is also yet to comment on the images.
The Judicial Office took the unusual move on Thursday of publishing the reasoning behind his sentencing of Daniel – who was 15 when he began abusing his young victim in 2016.
Sinclair, 57, claimed it was based on his immaturity, social awkwardness and the fact his offending level did not escalate.
The sheriff’s deliberations also placed importance on the damage a conviction could do to Daniel’s career as a dentist.
The JOS statement said: “The sheriff considered the offence to be the result of an entirely inappropriate curiosity of an emotionally naive teenager, rather than for the purpose of sexual gratification.”
“As we suspected, the sheriff also confirms his career was deemed to be more important. So if he had not done as well in his exams at school, he would have been put on the sex offenders’ register?”
Sandy Brindley of Rape Crisis Scotland said it was “frustrating” for victims of sexual offences when the criminal justice system appears to place too much emphasis on what the impact will be on the offender.
Asked by Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr on Thursday if there should be “more transparency” around such sentences, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said sentencing matters were for the judiciary “however controversial or difficult they may be for the public”.
The revealing photo of Sinclair first emerged in August 2007, six years after the black tie event to promote the Ryder Cup at the Gleneagles Hotel. It was understood to have been attended by stars such as Stephen Hendry and ex boxer Jim Watt.
He had not yet taken up his role with the SCCRC but despite Sinclair going on to handle some of the country’s biggest cases, he seems unconcerned that the gaffe could have resulted in him being charged with public indecency and put on the sex offenders’ register if complaints were made.
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission said: “The Commission will not be commenting.” The Judicial Office, which is responsible for sheriffs and judges, said it had “no comment to make”.
Sinclair could not be contacted directly.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Questions raised in the media over conduct of SCCRC Chief
No doubt the worthy among us failed to miss the Sun newspaper’s expose earlier this week of Gerard Sinclair, the Chief of theScottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, proving he has some colour at fund raising events .. but did the raising of his kilt raise funds or issues of conduct ?
It’s a good thing this kind of public flashing isn’t catching on in the legal profession …but I’m sure readers may remember the odd story or two of recent lawyers caught in flashing incidents too .. oh, and also perhaps occasional members of the judiciary also at it. Doubtless you will all remember expert testimony in cases as to the causes of flashing …
Since it may only be a matter of time before the issue takes up a regulatory nature, or, according to sources within the Executive, flashers may have to be acted upon, here is a copy of the article appearing in the Sun newspaper for a little light relief …
Legal watchdog Gerard Sinclair stunned guests at a posh bash – by raising his kilt and FLASHING.
The 41-year old boss of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission licked his lips as he exposed himself for the sordid snap. The photo was taken at Gleneagles Hotel during a ngiht out packed with celebs, including snooker ace Stephen Hendry, right, and former boxing champ Jim Watt.Former sports and culture minister Alan Wilson MSP was also at the black tie bash, organised to promote the 2014 Ryder Cup at the famous Perthshire golf course.
Singlair heads the SCCRC, which investigates possible miscarriages of justice, including sex offences. He has been resposible for a host of high profile cases such as the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al Megrahi. But our snaps show him flashing his manhood in the hotel bar – a move that could have ended up with him being charged with public indecency and put on the sex offenders register.
Last night one source said “He’s responsible for looking at some of the most serious crimes committed in this country, including sex offences. “It’s inappropriate to say the least that he’s behaved in this manner. It’s not the kind of thing a guy in his position should be doing”
Married Sinclair of East Kilbride, Lanarkshire worked as a solicitor in a private firm for 19 years. He also represented sports stars including coke shame snooker ace Ronnie O’Sullivan. The snap was twaken at the bash in 2001, before Sinclair – who was also a temporary sheriff – took up his current post.
The SCCRC was set up in 1999 to look into possible miscarriages of justice. It’s website says “Our review of cases is completely independent “All cases accepted by us are subject to a robust and thoroughly impartial review before a recision on whether or not to refer to the High Court is taken” Sinclair joined the SCCRC in May 2003.
In June, his office recommended that Lockerbie bomber Megrahi be allowed a second to appeal. The Libyan agent’s defence team claims evidence against him was fabricated. The SCCRC also played a role in the quashing of convictions of wrongly accused Ice Cream War killers Thomas Campbell and Joe Steele
Last night Sinclair refused to comment.
http://scottishlaw.blogspot.com/2007/08/questions-raised-in-media-over-conduct.html
…………
Misc:
Miscellaneous letters from members of the public to Sir Kenneth NEWMAN, Commissioner,…
This record is closed
Opening date: 01 January 2066
| Reference: | MEPO 10/34 |
|---|---|
| Description: | Miscellaneous letters from members of the public to Sir Kenneth NEWMAN, Commissioner, following the proposed re-organisation of the Metropolitan Police |
| Date: | 1983 |
| Held by: | The National Archives, Kew |
| Legal status: | Public Record(s) |
| Closure status: | Closed Or Retained Document, Open Description |
| Access conditions: | Closed For 82 years |
| FOI decision date: | 2014 |
| Exemption: | Personal information where the applicant is a 3rd party |
| Record opening date: | 01 January 2066 |
Sir David McNee rose to become the most powerful policeman in Britain.As Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police between 1977 and the autumn of 1982, he wielded great influence and, by necessity, became privy to secrets which other, less robust men would have taken to their graves long ago. But on the eve of his tenth decade, and 33 years after his retirement from the top job, a cloud — or at least a question mark — has appeared over his time as boss at New Scotland Yard.
It concerns an alleged ‘cover-up’, and in this instance the circumstances are particularly disturbing, given that it would have involved turning a blind eye to the sexual abuse of minors.
Allegations of unchecked VIP paedophile activity in this era are neither new nor rare.
Yet this week, BBC’s Newsnight programme reported an instance of apparent official protection of child sex abusers that was fresh and shocking. The report alleged that in 1981, following a three-month police surveillance operation deploying a secret camera, the prominent Liberal MP Cyril Smith was arrested at a paedophile sex party at a council flat in Lambeth, South London. Boys of around 14 years of age recruited from local care homes were present.
Other figures allegedly identified by the operation were a senior member of the intelligence agencies and two senior police officers.
Smith was reportedly taken to a police station in Westminster. But instead of being remanded in custody and later charged, as the officers on the operation expected, the MP was almost immediately released without bail.
Sir David Blackstock McNee, QPM (born 23 March 1925) was Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police from 1977 to 1982.
McNee’s Law: The Memoirs of Sir David McNee by David McNee
Collins, 256 pp, November 1983, ISBN 0 00 217007 8
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