Friday 22 October 2010
BRITISH MAN CHARGED IN CAMBODIA AS ORPHANAGE IS INVESTIGATED
UK’S Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre assists Cambodian National Police investigation into alleged orphanage abuse.
A 52 year old British man, Nicholas Griffin, has been charged in Cambodia and an orphanage is being investigated following collaboration between the UK’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre, the Cambodian National Police (CNP), renowned NGO APLE (Action Pour Les Enfants) and the local investigating judge.
The charges relate to an indecent act against a minor under 15 years. The development follows intelligence received from members of CEOP’s International Child Protection Network (ICPN). A second man, a Cambodian national, has also been charged with unlawful removal of a minor.
CEOP’s support for the Cambodian police investigation forms part of Operation Relentless Pursuit, a central strand of ICPN activity. The network brings together law enforcement, NGO’s, child protection specialists and industry to deliver long-term benefits to children in the region.
The orphanage in question caters for between 59 and 69 children.
Working with specialist police teams, NGOs and prosecutors in Cambodia, CEOP is supporting both the investigation and the coordination of a safeguarding strategy for the orphanage to support the children’s welfare during the investigation. Officers based in Cambodia have liaised continually with an operational support centre back at CEOP’s headquarters in London to support the CNP activity on the ground.
Alongside operational activity, CEOP’s partnership work in the region has seen the creation of Advisory Panels in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam and the delivery of child protection training to specialists.
CEOP's Chief Executive Jim Gamble, said:
“This operation clearly demonstrates the value of the CEOP’s International Child Protection Network because this development has come about as a direct consequence of intelligence passed to CEOP through that network.
“Working alongside our NGO and child protection partners in Cambodia, CEOP is currently supporting colleagues in the Cambodian National Police with an investigation into allegations of institutional abuse within an orphanage. The operation is ongoing and our focus is on delivering operational support and child protection advice to assist the CNP.
“Joint working with the diverse range of local and national NGO, law enforcement and child protection specialists who make up the ICPN enables us to build an intelligence picture of the threat that child sex offenders pose to children from in the region. The UK and Cambodia may have different legal systems and law enforcement practises, but we share a clear, joint commitment: to prevent harm to children.”
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