Westminster child abuse claims: what do we know?
Police are investigating possible murders linked to Elm Guest House in south-west London after claims of a cover-up
Matthew Weaver Wednesday 19 November 2014
What do we know about politicians and child abuse at Westminster?
A number of allegations have been made. So far the only politician to have been implicated is the Liberal MP Cyril Smith, who died in 2010, but other unnamed politicians were also alleged to have been involved in a Westminster paedophile ring. Smith is alleged to have abused boys at Knowl View residential school in Rochdale and at Elm Guest House, in Barnes in south-west London, in the 1970s and 80s. Greater Manchester police are investigating allegations of abuse by Smith at Knowl View, where Smith was a governor. Other MPs were said to have attended the Elm Guest House. After claims made by the Labour MP Tom Watson in 2012, the Metropolitan police launched Operation Fairbank into child abuse at the guesthouse. Watson said there was “clear intelligence suggesting a powerful paedophile network linked to parliament and No 10”.
A dossier of evidence of an alleged paedophile ring, involving several MPs, including Smith, and other public figures, was handed to the Home Office in 1983, by the Conservative MP Geoffrey Dickens, who died in 1995. The 40-page dossier has since been destroyed or lost, according to a Home Office review. The Crown Prosecution Service has conceded that Smith should have been prosecuted after rejecting claims against him in 1970, 1998 and 1999.
What happened at Elm Guest House?
At least three MPs were reported to have been questioned in 1982 after a police raid on the guesthouse. It was reported at the time that it was being used as a brothel where children as young as 10 were abused. Two children living in the house were taken into care. The guesthouse was reported to have been used as a brothel for two years before it was raided. Officers found whips, chains and ropes. “They catered for every kind of perversion,” an officer told the News of World at the time. The owners of Elm Guest House, Haroon and Carol Kasir, were subsequently convicted of running a brothel....
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/19/westminster-child-abuse-claims-elm-guest-house
Sasha Wass QC, prosecutor in Rolf Harris trial, to lead island sex abuse inquiry
Sasha Wass QC, has been brought into to head an investigation into an alleged cover-up on St Helena and Ascension Paul Peachey crime correspondent Thursday 20 November 2014
....Sasha Wass QC, has been brought in after a review of child safety on St Helena and Ascension – two tiny and remote islands in the South Atlantic with a combined population of some 5,500 – revealed that a number of paedophiles had escaped prosecution amid claims of police incompetence and corruption.
The Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, said yesterday that Ms Wass would travel to the island to investigate a series of claims by whistleblowers against senior police, some brought over from Britain to run the tiny force.
Social workers said they raised concerns about a paedophile officer but were snubbed and told not to rock the boat and “enjoy the view” on St Helena, famous as the island prison of Napoleon.
The announcement by Mr Hammond came a week before the start of what could be a protracted employment tribunal starting in London brought by two of the whistleblowers who say they were hounded off the island. One of them had her home searched by police and was threatened with prosecution for perjury.
They have said that entrenched abuse on the island was worse than the scandal on Pitcairn, another isolated and tiny British territory, where six men jailed for child sex abuse in 2004.
....Experts from the child protection charity, the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, said in a report there had been a “malaise” in the upper ranks of the police force. It criticised its handling of child sex abuse allegations and highlighted how victims were often castigated when coming forward to make claims. It said there were “a number of ‘serial’ offenders, a number of ‘serial’ victims, and a number of women whose children were very much at risk of repeat victimisation.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/sasha-wass-qc-prosecutor-in-rolf-harris-trial-to-lead-island-sex-abuse-inquiry-9873772.html
Showing posts with label Elm Guest House. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elm Guest House. Show all posts
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
UK police arrest 660 suspected paedophiles, Cyril Smith: 'evidence of sex abuse' was overruled CPS report shows, Santa Rosa diocese pays $3.5 million to settle sex abuse case
UK police arrest 660 suspected paedophiles
National Crime Agency detains suspected child abusers, including doctors and teachers, and takes more than 400 children into care
Josh Halliday and Hatty Collier
theguardian.com, Wednesday 16 July 2014
More than 600 suspected paedophiles, including doctors and teachers, have been arrested across Britain after a six-month investigation led by the National Crime Agency.
The agency, dubbed Britain's FBI, announced on Wednesday it had arrested 660 suspected child abusers and taken more than 400 children into care in the first nationwide investigation of its kind.
Of the 660 arrested, 39 were registered sex offenders but the vast majority of suspected paedophiles were off the police's radar. Those arrested include doctors, teachers, scout leaders, care workers and former police officers.
The operation, which had remained secret until Wednesday, targeted people accessing indecent images of children online....
One of those arrested and subsequently charged was a doctor who allegedly kept more than 1m images of child abuse on his computers and had arranged to meet boys....
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jul/16/660-suspected-paedophiles-arrested-uk
Cyril Smith: 'evidence of sex abuse' was overruled CPS report shows
Detective told chief constable in 1970 there was prima facie evidence of guilt – but DPP advised against prosecution
Rajeev Syal
theguardian.com, Wednesday 16 July 2014
A senior detective investigating sex abuse claims against Cyril Smith told the force there was prima facie evidence of the late MP's guilt in 1970 – but this claim was overruled, newly released documents show.
The detective's report in 1970 to the chief constable of Lancashire said the Liberal MP would have been "at the mercy of a competent counsel".
The 14-page report also revealed "veiled threats" from a friend of Smith, thought to be a fellow senior Liberal. The director of public prosecution later advised against prosecuting. Smith died in 2010 aged 82.
The documents were released on Wednesday night by the Crown Prosecution Service following a ruling by the information rights tribunal.
Simon Danczuk, the Rochdale Labour MP, who first named Smith as a child abuser, said that the documents were another indication of the cover-up that had protected Smith from being disclosed as a paedophile.
"This shows that police officers were certain of his guilt," Danczuk said. "If they had been allowed to do their job they would have saved many more boys from being abused. We know that Cyril went on to abuse many more boys at Knowl View residential school, Elm guest house, and other places, during the 70s and 80s."....
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/16/cyril-smith-sex-abuse-cps-1970-report-lancashire-dpp
Santa Rosa diocese pays $3.5 million to settle sex abuse case
BY JEREMY HAY THE PRESS DEMOCRAT July 15, 2014
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa has paid $3.5 million to a teenager who was molested by a Lakeport priest, one of the largest settlements paid out by the North Coast diocese in a series of sexual abuse cases that spanned more than two decades.
An attorney for the victim attributed the settlement’s size partly to the church’s failure to protect children from the Rev. Ted Oswald, even though it was aware he had abused others. Oswald molested the boy, then 12, in 2010, the same year the priest died, with some of the incidents taking place in the Lakeport parish church.
“But for the diocese’s actions, it is entirely possible that this 12-year-old boy would never have been molested,” said Skye Daley, the victim’s attorney.
Bishop Robert F. Vasa, who has led the diocese since 2011, was on vacation Tuesday and unavailable for comment. Diocese spokesman Brian O’Neel rejected Daley’s assertion.
“When the diocese became aware of this most recent allegation, they removed Father Oswald from ministry and reported the situation to civil authorities,” O’Neel said. “The diocese could not do more than the civil authorities could.”....
In a statement, Vasa apologized to the boy and other victims who suffered at the hands of pedophiles in the church.
“I humbly apologize to this young person on behalf of the Church that failed to protect them. I also take this occasion to apologize to all victims for the harm done to them. This perversity, though prevalent in all parts of society, was allowed to persist in the Church for too long,” Vasa said.
The diocese, which serves about 160,000 Catholics from Petaluma to the Oregon border, has paid about $25 million to sex abuse victims since 1990....
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/2394971-181/santa-rosa-diocese-pays-35
National Crime Agency detains suspected child abusers, including doctors and teachers, and takes more than 400 children into care
Josh Halliday and Hatty Collier
theguardian.com, Wednesday 16 July 2014
More than 600 suspected paedophiles, including doctors and teachers, have been arrested across Britain after a six-month investigation led by the National Crime Agency.
The agency, dubbed Britain's FBI, announced on Wednesday it had arrested 660 suspected child abusers and taken more than 400 children into care in the first nationwide investigation of its kind.
Of the 660 arrested, 39 were registered sex offenders but the vast majority of suspected paedophiles were off the police's radar. Those arrested include doctors, teachers, scout leaders, care workers and former police officers.
The operation, which had remained secret until Wednesday, targeted people accessing indecent images of children online....
One of those arrested and subsequently charged was a doctor who allegedly kept more than 1m images of child abuse on his computers and had arranged to meet boys....
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jul/16/660-suspected-paedophiles-arrested-uk
Cyril Smith: 'evidence of sex abuse' was overruled CPS report shows
Detective told chief constable in 1970 there was prima facie evidence of guilt – but DPP advised against prosecution
Rajeev Syal
theguardian.com, Wednesday 16 July 2014
A senior detective investigating sex abuse claims against Cyril Smith told the force there was prima facie evidence of the late MP's guilt in 1970 – but this claim was overruled, newly released documents show.
The detective's report in 1970 to the chief constable of Lancashire said the Liberal MP would have been "at the mercy of a competent counsel".
The 14-page report also revealed "veiled threats" from a friend of Smith, thought to be a fellow senior Liberal. The director of public prosecution later advised against prosecuting. Smith died in 2010 aged 82.
The documents were released on Wednesday night by the Crown Prosecution Service following a ruling by the information rights tribunal.
Simon Danczuk, the Rochdale Labour MP, who first named Smith as a child abuser, said that the documents were another indication of the cover-up that had protected Smith from being disclosed as a paedophile.
"This shows that police officers were certain of his guilt," Danczuk said. "If they had been allowed to do their job they would have saved many more boys from being abused. We know that Cyril went on to abuse many more boys at Knowl View residential school, Elm guest house, and other places, during the 70s and 80s."....
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/16/cyril-smith-sex-abuse-cps-1970-report-lancashire-dpp
Santa Rosa diocese pays $3.5 million to settle sex abuse case
BY JEREMY HAY THE PRESS DEMOCRAT July 15, 2014
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa has paid $3.5 million to a teenager who was molested by a Lakeport priest, one of the largest settlements paid out by the North Coast diocese in a series of sexual abuse cases that spanned more than two decades.
An attorney for the victim attributed the settlement’s size partly to the church’s failure to protect children from the Rev. Ted Oswald, even though it was aware he had abused others. Oswald molested the boy, then 12, in 2010, the same year the priest died, with some of the incidents taking place in the Lakeport parish church.
“But for the diocese’s actions, it is entirely possible that this 12-year-old boy would never have been molested,” said Skye Daley, the victim’s attorney.
Bishop Robert F. Vasa, who has led the diocese since 2011, was on vacation Tuesday and unavailable for comment. Diocese spokesman Brian O’Neel rejected Daley’s assertion.
“When the diocese became aware of this most recent allegation, they removed Father Oswald from ministry and reported the situation to civil authorities,” O’Neel said. “The diocese could not do more than the civil authorities could.”....
In a statement, Vasa apologized to the boy and other victims who suffered at the hands of pedophiles in the church.
“I humbly apologize to this young person on behalf of the Church that failed to protect them. I also take this occasion to apologize to all victims for the harm done to them. This perversity, though prevalent in all parts of society, was allowed to persist in the Church for too long,” Vasa said.
The diocese, which serves about 160,000 Catholics from Petaluma to the Oregon border, has paid about $25 million to sex abuse victims since 1990....
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/2394971-181/santa-rosa-diocese-pays-35
Sunday, October 20, 2013
'Police gunman told me to ignore paedophiles’, says ex-child protection officer
'Police gunman told me to ignore paedophiles’, says ex-child protection officer
A FORMER child protection officer claimed last night a Special Branch detective held a gun to his head to stop him investigating a VIP paedophile ring.
James Fielding Sun, October 20, 2013
Chris Fay said he was pinned to a wall and throttled before being given a chilling warning to “back away” from allegations surrounding the notorious Elm Guest House in Barnes, south-west London.
Young boys in care were allegedly taken there in the Eighties to be abused by high-profile MPs and other powerful establishment figures.
Mr Fay, who worked for the now-defunct National Association of Young People In Care, accused the Metropolitan Police of acting like “gangsters” when news of the scandal broke in 1990. He revealed how some Special Branch members routinely threatened him and his colleagues and even victims over a three-month period of intimidation.
His shocking claims come as West Yorkshire Police faces accusations that the force protected paedophile Jimmy Savile....
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/437954/Police-gunman-told-me-to-ignore-paedophiles-says-ex-child-protection-officer
A FORMER child protection officer claimed last night a Special Branch detective held a gun to his head to stop him investigating a VIP paedophile ring.
James Fielding Sun, October 20, 2013
Chris Fay said he was pinned to a wall and throttled before being given a chilling warning to “back away” from allegations surrounding the notorious Elm Guest House in Barnes, south-west London.
Young boys in care were allegedly taken there in the Eighties to be abused by high-profile MPs and other powerful establishment figures.
Mr Fay, who worked for the now-defunct National Association of Young People In Care, accused the Metropolitan Police of acting like “gangsters” when news of the scandal broke in 1990. He revealed how some Special Branch members routinely threatened him and his colleagues and even victims over a three-month period of intimidation.
His shocking claims come as West Yorkshire Police faces accusations that the force protected paedophile Jimmy Savile....
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/437954/Police-gunman-told-me-to-ignore-paedophiles-says-ex-child-protection-officer
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