Edward Heath: Britain's paedophile Prime Minister?
Senior police officer will publish findings into allegations against Heath, in next few weeks
By Isabelle Gerretsen
A national sex abuse inquiry will investigate claims in a police report that former British Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath was a paedophile.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), which was set up after reports surfaced of sex abuse cases in public institutions including the BBC and NHS, will review the outcome of Operation Conifer, the Wiltshire police probe into sex abuse allegations against Heath.
The findings of Operation Conifer, led by Wiltshire Chief Constable Mike Veale, is due to be published in the next few weeks.
"The inquiry will be interested to see and consider the outcome of Wiltshire Police's investigation into allegations against Sir Edward Heath," a spokesperson for the IICSA told the Mail on Sunday (MoS).
More than 30 people have come forward and accused the former prime minister, who died in 2005 at the age of 89, of sex abuse.
Heath, who never married, served as British Prime Minister from 1970 to 1974 and was Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. He was considered "completely asexual" by friends and colleagues.
One of the accusations is that Heath raped a 12-year-old boy in 1961. He has also been accused of abusing a prison officer in North Yorkshire.
Veale is allegedly "120%" convinced that the allegations are true, according to a source close to the investigation.
"There are very close similarities in the accounts given by those who have come forward. The same names used for him, the same places and same type of incidents keep coming up. What stands out is that the people giving these accounts are not connected but the stories and the details dovetail," the source told the MoS earlier this year.
Veale faced pressure to call off the investigation after the Metropolitan Police was forced to close its inquiry into the so-called Westminster VIP paedophile ring due to a lack of evidence.
James Gray, the Conservative MP for North Wiltshire, branded the £2 million inquiry an "idiotic waste of public money" and a "pretty pointless investigation."
But Tory MP Andrew Bridgen urged Veale to continue with his probe and said there were "powerful voices who would like to silence Operation Conifer."
"Veale must be allowed to complete his investigation, free of abuse, intimidation or pressure," Bridgen wrote in the MoS. "There should be no cover-up, regardless of any embarrassment to the Conservatives – or anyone else," he said.
Wiltshire, UK
Woman ticks off horror item from her bucket list as she dies from terminal cancer
A WOMAN wrote a bucket list as she was dying from a terminal illness. But what she had on it was truly horrific.
Olivia Lambert
KAYE’S daughter was just a child when she was abused by her uncle, but she only reported it to police 42 years after the disturbing crime.
She grew up battling with the horror — and couldn’t even bring herself to tell her own mother until she was 19. Kaye desperately wanted to go to the police, but her daughter did nothing until she fell terminally ill years later. Reporting the sexual abuse then became her daughter’s dying wish.
Kaye, who did not reveal her last name, tells of her daughter’s fight for justice in a new podcast by Victoria Police, Unspeakable, which encourages victims of sexual offences to report them.
When Kaye's daughter was 19 she returned from an overseas trip and made the dreaded call to her mother about what happened to her as a child. “She’d been overseas and she came back and she rang me one night, it was a Saturday night, and told me about it. She said ‘Oh mum, you’re not going to like what I’ve got to tell you’,” Kaye revealed in the podcast.
“As soon as she said it I believed her and I said ‘what do you want to do about it’ and she said ‘I don’t want to do anything at the moment, I want you to know about it, I don’t want to do anything about it’. “She said she didn’t want granny to know, that’s my mum.”
After her daughter told her of the nightmare she suffered at the hands of her uncle, Kaye tried to report the crime herself. “I got on the phone and rang the Boronia Police and they said to me ‘look, there’s nothing we can do’,” she said.
“In those days there really was no support from anybody, nowhere to go, I’ve never felt so alone in my whole life and I went through a marriage breakup. This was just awful. I didn’t know where to go or who to turn to.”
Decades later, Kaye’s daughter was diagnosed with a terminal illness and had just weeks to live. It was at that point she wrote a bucket list and on the top of it was reporting her uncle for the sexual abuse. She told police 42 years after she became a victim.
Detective Leading Senior Constable Christine Robinson was working in the Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team unit when Kaye and her daughter rang to report the abuse. “I was on response that day and allocated the task. I called the victim and I arranged to, within the next hour, to attend her address,” she said.
She set up a video camera at the home and filmed Kaye’s daughter as she detailed the horror.
“She gave me some indication of her illness, that she didn’t have much time left. Her reporting this was on her bucket list. It had affected her for the last 42 years of her life and she needed to report it before she passed away,” Detective Robinson said.
She launched an investigation right away and typed up the statement.
Shortly after, Kaye’s daughter was admitted to hospital and another Detective Leading Senior Constable, Amber Coutts, took her statement and the video camera to the hospital so the daughter could read her statement in case she died before the case got to trial.
“Her doing that was such a relief. She felt that finally it was a weight off her shoulders. She told her story, put it in someone else’s hands to investigate and from that point it moved very fast,” Detective Robinson said.
Kaye told Unspeakable it felt as if their heads were spinning, as Detective Robinson arrested a man in the western suburbs within one or two days of it being reported.
“I arrested the offender and interviewed him, quite a lengthy interview, and obtained admissions from him about what had happened. I charged him that day and summoned him to court within a week, which is a very short time frame — we normally give ourselves a month or two,” she said.
Police got a victim impact statement from Kaye’s daughter before she died and she passed away before she got to see her abuser punished for what he’d done.
He ended up pleading guilty in court but due to the age of the offence, old legislation was used. He received a suspended sentence of five months in prison and was placed on the sex offenders registry.
“She would’ve been blown away. She was hoping for a good result. She said ‘It’s fine mum, I can die now knowing he’s going on the sex offenders list’. I was pretty confident we would but she was sure we’d get the outcome we did,” Kaye said.
Survivors of sexual abuse take an average of 22 years to admit what happened to them, and even longer to finally report it to police.
Last year there were almost 13,000 sexual offences reported in Victoria, about 4000 more than 2010. Police believe it is because more people are confident in coming forward. Anybody wanting to report sexual abuse should phone their local police station.
Scandal of child sex victim denied compensation because officials rule she 'consented' to abuse
Robert Mendick, chief reporter
The child sex victim of an Asian grooming gang was told by a government body she was not entitled to compensation because she had “consented” to her abuse.
Sammy Woodhouse, who was just 14 when she was first groomed, has disclosed how the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) initially refused to make a payment to her.
In a letter turning down her request for compensation, the CICA official told Ms Woodhouse:
“I am not satisfied that your consent was falsely given as a result of being groomed by the offender.
“The evidence does not indicate that you were manipulated or progressively lured into a false relationship.”
Amazing! It was exactly that attitude that allowed the Pakistani abuse of 1400 Rotherham girls to go on for decades without interference from police or social services.
Ms Woodhouse said the letter had made her feel suicidal. “It’s disgusting,” she told The Telegraph,
“I could have killed myself when I read that. They were saying it was my fault that I was a victim of rape and abuse from the age of 14.”
Arshid Hussain, Basharat Hussain and Bannaras Hussain: ringleaders of the Rotherham child grooming gang
An investigation by leading charities has shown how
almost 700 child victims of sexual abuse were turned down for payments since November 2012 when the latest scheme was introduced. Of those, 28 were refused compensation on grounds they had “consented”.
The CICA, which is a taxpayer-funded scheme, is under mounting criticism.
The Telegraph has disclosed how it had made huge compensation payments of up to £50,000 to a fantasist called Nick, who had falsely claimed he had been the victim of a paedophile gang that included a former prime minister, a home secretary, a general and spy chiefs.
Nick is now under investigation for fraud although the CICA has no simple mechanism for reclaiming the money paid out.
In contrast, Ms Woodhouse, who has waived her right to anonymity, was a genuine victim of a child sex gang. Ms Woodhouse was abused from the age of 14 by Arshid Hussain, one of three brothers behind a Rotherham gang that abused more than 50 girls. Hussain was finally jailed for 35 years in 2016 for 23 offences including rape and indecent assault.
Ms Woodhouse, now 32 and a campaigner who helped to expose the Rotherham scandal, said:
“If an adult can privately think that it’s a child’s fault for being abused, beaten, raped, abducted, I think you’re in the wrong job.”
She appealed the CICA decision to refuse her compensation, was then offered a reduced amount and finally - after a series of exchanges - a payment close to the total to which she was entitled.
Miss Woodhouse said it was “staggering” that while she was being refused compensation, ‘Nick’ was being given tens of thousands of pounds for false claims.
“It is utterly bizarre they are giving money to people who make it up,” said Ms Woodhouse.
David Greenwood, her solicitor, said:
“I am utterly shocked by the notion that decision-makers in a government organisation can consider that 14 or 15-year-old girls can consent to sex with adults.”
Charities have lambasted the CICA for declining payments to genuine victims of child sex abuse.
Barnardo’s Chief Executive, Javed Khan said:
“For children to be denied compensation on the grounds that they ‘consented’ to the abuse they have suffered is nothing short of scandalous.”
Mark Castle, Victim Support’s Chief Executive, said: “It is ridiculous, nonsensical and morally wrong to pretend that a child has consented to sexual abuse and to then use this as an excuse not to pay compensation.”
A CICA spokesman said: “Child sexual abuse is abhorrent. Our guidelines are designed to make sure that controlling and abusive behaviour is taken into account when handling compensation applications.
“We want to be sure that we never get these decisions wrong. That’s why we are reviewing our staff guidance to make sure that we identify every instance where grooming could be a factor.”
Kiwis need to 'realise' child sex trafficking
'is pervasive in NZ'
before the issue can be properly tackled, says researcher
1 NEWS
Natalie Thorburn, a Wellington researcher completing her Ph.D, says the issue of child trafficking in New Zealand can't be properly dealt with until we face up to our problem and define the issue.
Speaking to TVNZ1's Breakfast host Hilary Barry today, Ms Thorburn said the issue is more prevalent here than we think.
"Until we have a shared definition to speak about the issue and realise it's pervasive in New Zealand, we aren't going to be able to provide services or give assistance to the people who need it most," Ms Thorbubrn said.
She went on to say the clients who take advantage of underage girls are usually middle class white-collar men. "For whatever reason they end up seeking underage girls instead of adult ones," she said.
Many of the victims do try and seek help Ms Thorburn said, but because of their age and not often being able to articulate what has happened to them, that help is not being given.
Another reason why the issue needs to be discussed and defined in New Zealand according to Ms Thorburn.
Sex abuse counsellor Tania Blomfield and researcher Natalie Thorburn say child sex trafficking is a growth industry in New Zealand.
Source: 1 NEWS
The Ministry for Vulnerable children says it works closely with the police and other agencies in response to underage sex workers.
But Ms Thorburn believes, as bad as it is, that young girls choose to work in the sex industry and says there's not enough focus on those forced to sell their bodies.
"New Zealand is repeatedly refusing to see it or to to label it or acknowledge it for what it actually is, which is trafficking," she said.
But in what's believed to be one of the first prosecutions of its type in the country, an Auckland couple are awaiting trial on charges including dealing a person under 18 for sex and forced labour, and receiving the earnings from those sexual services.
Australia cracks whip on online child sex abuse
SYDNEY
New offences and tougher penalties targeting live-streamed child abuse and online grooming were announced in Australia on Tuesday in a bid to crack down on the growing role of technology in paedophilia.
The new laws, to be introduced in parliament this week, will also impose harsher fines on internet service providers if they do not report abusive material to police and increase jail terms for paedophilia crimes.
“This represents the strongest crackdown on paedophiles in a generation,” Justice Minister Michael Keenan told reporters in Canberra, without releasing details of the higher penalties and new offences.
“Specifically, these reforms are intended to criminalise emerging forms of child sexual abuse.”
The Herald Sun reported that internet providers and sites that host content such as Facebook would see potential fines jump from Aus$21,000 (US$16,800) to Aus$168,000.
Keenan expressed frustration at the “manifestly inadequate” levels of current jail terms for those convicted of paedophilia crimes, saying the new legislation would also include mandatory minimum sentences “for the worst and repeat offenders”.
“Since 2012, only 58 per cent of convicted Commonwealth child sex offenders have spent time in prison,” Keenan said, adding that the common period of time behind bars was just six months.
Good grief! How sickening!
“This represents a staggering and unacceptable number of offenders who are released into the community without them being monitored, posing an unacceptable risk to our children.”
The announcement came months after Canberra introduced tough new laws hailed as a “world first” to cancel the passports of convicted paedophiles, preventing them from travelling overseas.
The Australian Institute of Criminology said in January there was limited data on the extent of online child sexual exploitation.
Agence France-Presse
Prince William meets child sex abuse survivors
to learn how sport clubs can help victims
THE Duke of Cambridge has said football clubs need to do more to help players with their mental well-being.
By RICHARD PALMER
William, who is President of the Football Association, also said it was “damning on all of us" that many young men struggled for so long to talk about their problems and feelings.
The second in line to the throne made his comments during a visit to meet staff and beneficiaries of the charity Sporting Chance, which works with former players suffering from mental health issues, including many who are victims of historical sex abuse in football.
William said it was "fantastic" more was now being done for players' mental health.
But he added: "We need to normalise this a lot more in stadiums around the country whenever we can and people, fans, players, need to see that, the clubs in particular have a huge role in promoting that message.”
He mentioned the death of former Welsh international Gary Speed, who was found hanged in 2011.
He said: "My understanding is following the tragic circumstances of Gary Speed, that started the ball rolling about people talking about their struggles and their problems, going 'wow, if Gary Speed has these problems then I need to go see someone', and it's great news in that sense if from something so horrendous something so positive has come from that.
"But equally it's very damning on all of us that this has been brewing under there for a long time, these young men do not feel comfortable about some of this stuff."
"I've always felt those young men get put into the situation where they have amazing feet, their skill with the ball is unquestionable, but everyone forgets about the rest of the body. They forget about the head, they forget about how they have been brought up, about what they have been through.
"And it's extraordinary in a business where you invest that amount of money into something you want to know what you are getting and you want to know everything, you want to look after what you have got. I do think the clubs do need to understand that better.
"You have to be careful you do not over professionalise the industry. People's mental well being and lives...go beyond football.”
William, 35, nodded when he heard from FA and Sporting Change staff how many young men and boys perceive talking about their feeling as a weakness. He asked what could be done to tackle that.
During his visit to the Sporting Chance headquarters on the site of the Champney's Spa in Liphook, Hampshire, the future King also met three survivors of historic sex abuse.
The charity is working in partnership with the FA which approached it last year to fund a specialist support programme for victims of sex abuse.
The FA took the decision after it became clear there was a widespread problem of historical sex abuse in the game with young players alleged to have been victims of adult coaches.
Victims have so far been identified from more than 240 clubs and Sporting Chance has worked with around 70 survivors.
Child sex abuse: Maneka, Javadekar to hold meet on safety protocol in schools
The two ministries will develop a set of guidelines and protocols for schools to ensure that children are “protected from any kind of abuse or physical and mental harm”.
Press Trust of India, New Delhi
Union ministers Maneka Gandhi and Prakash Javadekar will hold a high-level meeting on Wednesday to develop a protocol for educational institutions to ensure safety of students following incidents of child sexual abuse in schools, a government official said.
Officials of the ministries of women and child development and human resource development as well as representative of the National Commission of Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), CBSE, NCERT, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan will be a part of this meeting.
The conference comes in backdrop of the murder of a Class II student inside Ryan International School in Gurgaon for allegedly resisting sexual assault and the rape of a five- year-old girl in a private school in Shahdara.
The two ministries will develop a set of guidelines and protocols for schools to ensure that children are “protected from any kind of abuse or physical and mental harm”, a WCD spokesperson said.
WCD Minister Maneka Gandhi has also discussed the matter with HRD minister Prakash Javadekar over phone and recommended that women be employed as support staff, including bus drivers and conductors.
She also stressed on the need to have strict norms for employing non-teaching staff, according to the official.
The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Centre and the Haryana police on a plea by the father of the Ryan student seeking a CBI probe into the murder as well as framing of guidelines to ensure safety of children.
The father, Barun Chandra Thakur, has sought laying down of guidelines by which “liability, responsibility and accountability of the management of the school” across the country can be fixed in matters relating to safety and security of children at educational institutions.
Court proceedings in child sex abuse cases
suffering ‘excessive delays’
Cari says therapy services ‘hugely under-resourced’
despite increase in appointments offered
Elaine EdwardsCourt proceedings involving children who have been sexually abused are suffering “excessive delays” and taking an average of five years from the date of the crime to the end of criminal proceedings, a specialist support charity has said.
The 2016 annual report of Cari, which provides specialist support for children and families affected by sexual abuse, reveals that part-time outreach services also had to close last year due to a lack of funding. The therapy services in Galway, Cork and Tralee all had long waiting lists at the time they closed.
Cari provides various supports to abused children and non-offending family members, including therapy, accompaniment to sexual assault treatment units, and court accompaniment if cases go to prosecution.
The court accompaniment service provided support for 252 children and families through the criminal justice system last year.
Cari said the trial “can be a very difficult space to negotiate both emotionally and practically”.
Family members
This was particularly so in cases where the defendant was a family member, which was the case with 50 per cent of the children supported last year.
Manager of Cari’s national helpline, Eve Farrelly, said supporting children before, during and after the criminal trial had shown the organisation that children’s cases were “still subject to excessive delays at different stages in the criminal proceedings”.
“We analysed 23 cases that we supported in 2016. We found that children wait on average five years from the date of the crime to the end of the criminal proceedings,” she said.
“It is our view that a five-year time span out of a child’s
life is too long and it behoves all those involved in the
administration of justice to prioritise and expedite
children’s cases as far as possible while having
regard for due process and rights of the accused.”
This is deplorable! Countries like India and Malaysia are light-years ahead of Ireland on processing child sex abuse cases. They have formed special courts to deal specifically with CSA cases and unnecessary delays are not tolerated.
Last year the charity also supported 239 children and 472 adults across its therapy and child accompaniment services. The therapy department made more than 2,500 appointments available – a 43 per cent increase on the previous year.
Most of the children accompanied to the specialist child and adolescent support and treatment service (CASATS) in Galway – the only 24-hour, dedicated service of its kind in Ireland – were aged between three and 12. Some 66 children were treated at the centre last year.
Cari chief executive Mary Flaherty said that despite an increase in therapeutic hours offered in 2016, waiting lists and waiting times continued to grow as more referrals were received.
“In December 2016, there were 97 children waiting for Cari therapy services,” Ms Flaherty said. She said the charity was “actively seeking public and private funding to meet their needs”.
“Cari covers a wide geographical area and families are travelling long distances for the service. This is not sustainable for families and causes huge disruption in the family life,” it said.
Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan will launch the report on Monday.
