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Another held in Peats child abuse case in Goa

Sandesh Prabhudesai in Panjim

British national Raymond Andrew Varley, the fourth accused in the decade-old Freddy Peats case of an international child abuse racket run from Goa, has been arrested by Interpol.

Eightyone-year-old Peats, who ran the orphanage Gurukul, near Colva beach in south Goa since 1974, had been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1996, after his 20-year-old racket was busted in April 1991.

But three associates from Australia, Sweden and Germany are still moving about freely, while 61-year-old Frenchman Dominique Sabire, arrested in Delhi while in transit to Nepal in 1998, had managed to jump bail in February this year.

Sixty-year-old New Zealander E C McBride alias Owens, an undertrial here, had been convicted twice in his country, for sexually abusing children.

All seven accused have been chargesheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation in New Delhi, under six sections of the Indian Penal Code and Juvenile Justice Act for hiring young children for sexual abuse and prostitution, and for being involved in unnatural offences and conspiracy.

Besides being involved in child abuse, they allegedly ran the racket through Peats, 'supplying' orphans for sexual pleasure, to paedophiles the world over.

The paedophilic activities reportedly continued after Peats' arrest in 1991. The local authorities preferred terming the racket as an 'isolated case', till the high court ordered the CBI to investigate Peats' international links, following the intervention of Bombay-based child rights activist Sheela Barse in 1995.

Varley, arrested in London, was in Thailand since 1992. Records unearthed by the CBI reveal that he visited Goa in 1994, while Peats was under trial. Even his associates visited the state till 1995.

"The prosecution of Varley will begin once he is extradited to India," said S B Faria, public prosecutor appearing for the CBI. He is awaiting a high court order, as he had challenged the dropping of some charges against McBride, by a lower court. Interpol had nabbed 61-year-old McBride in New Zealand.

While Sabire jumped bail from Calangute, Brinkman Helmut, a German paedophile arrested in another child abuse case, escaped from India in October last year, allegedly due to negligence by the police and Delhi's immigration authorities.

Brinkman was arrested in August 1998 for sexually harassing a 12-year-old Bombayite in a hotel here. While sentenced in February last year to six years rigorous imprisonment, he was later acquitted by another court. Even before the state could challenge it in the high court, he escaped from Delhi airport.

The CBI and Interpol are on the lookout for Brinkman, Warner Wolf Ingo from Australia, Nills Oscar Johnson from Sweden and 40-year-old Zell Jurgen Andrea alias Yogi from Germany, also linked to the Peats case.

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