CHILD Protection & Rights > ECPAT UK, Press Statement

July 23rd 2008

Media Contact: Christine Beddoe 07906 341 889 or 020 72339887

The Bombay High Court today acquitted two British nationals Duncan GRANT and Allan WATERS on appeal of the 2006 convictions related to sexually abusing children at the Anchorage orphanage in India, set up and run by Grant over many years. Citing lack of evidence by the prosecution, the appeal courts have failed to recognise the children's testimonies.

ECPAT UK is extremely disappointed in this verdict and is now calling on the British Government to fully investigate the two men and ensure that they are returned to the UK and remain in the UK while those investigations are undertaken.

ECPAT UK reported on this case in our 2006 report called The End of The Line for Child Exploitation and has previously written to the Home Office Minister for a full investigation into allegations related to the funding of the Anchorage Orphanage - originally a UK registered charity. (see background story below)

Christine Beddoe, Director of ECPAT UK said today on hearing the news that 'Child sex tourism will never stop while governments refuse to share information and cooperate with each other. Right from the beginning of this case the British government could have done more to support the Indian authorities with evidence collection.'

The UK has laws to prosecute British nationals for offences committed abroad but essential to the effectiveness of this is the willingness to work alongside other police forces in cooperation on investigations. The UK has only prosecuted a handful of sex tourism cases since the laws were implemented in 1997 and lags behind other nations such as Australia and the USA with similar laws.

Notes for Editor:

ECPAT UK stands for End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes

ECPAT UK is a UK registered Charity

www.ecpat.org.uk

Background story

The Anchorage Orphanages: India March, 2006

**

Two British men were found guilty under Sections 373, 374 and 377 of the Indian Penal Code, fined $35,000 each and sentenced to six years imprisonment for the sexual abuse of children at the Anchorage Orphanage in Mumbai. This case exposed the complexity of investigation and judicial process when the accused are foreign nationals. One of the men, DUNCAN GRANT, had set up the Anchorage orphanage for street children in 1995 and had ran the orphanage with funds raised in the UK under a separate charity. ALLAN WATERS was known to be a visitor and volunteer at the orphanage over several years. In 1999 one boy made a complaint during an investigation of a German national and gave evidence that he lived at the Anchorage shelter and had sex with several foreigners who would visit. No follow up was done at
this time.

In 2001 the Indian children's organisation ChildLine received the first formal complaint from other boys at the orphanage. Police began to investigate and charges were laid but DUNCAN GRANT and co-accused ALLAN WATERS were already back in the UK. At the same time official Indian government inspectors reported the terrible conditions in the orphanage and allegations of children being beaten.

In 2002 Indian police issued international arrest warrants through an Interpol Red Corner notice. The following month DUNCAN GRANT travelled from the UK to Kenya to investigate setting up an orphanage, then later moved to Tanzania and was successful in setting up orphanages in Dar es Salaam and Bagamoyo, a small coastal town. DUNCAN GRANT continued to raise funds in the UK for these so-called philanthropic activities in both Tanzania and India - he also travelled to other countries in this period - never being apprehended despite the Interpol Red Corner Notice for his arrest.

In 2003 ALLAN WATERS was travelling to Bermuda via the USA and was apprehended by American authorities due to the international arrest warrant and they eventually deported him to India. In 2004 a British newspaper investigation revealed that DUNCAN GRANT had set up the orphanages in Tanzania and exposed both of the accused. Soon after the Indian government requested Tanzania to extradite DUNCAN GRANT to face charges but the case failed in 2005 as there is no extradition treaty between India and Tanzania.

Not long after DUNCAN GRANT is deported from Tanzania to Britain but in June 2005 British police failed to arrest him on his arrival in the UK. The same British newspaper exposed that DUNCAN GRANT has been staying with his sister in London for several weeks. In July 2005 DUNCAN GRANT voluntarily returned to Mumbai to challenge the charges against him. The Indian courts were successful in reaching a conviction of the two men and an appeal was overturned.

In December 2003 a formal inquiry was held by the UK Charities Commission into the British charity responsible for raising funds for the Anchorage orphanage in India. The inquiry was set up only to look at fiscal accountability. The inquiry results are published on the Charities Commission website and confirm that: Funds raised by the Charity for use by the Anchorage Shelter were transferred to an offshore bank account in Jersey. The offshore account was under the control of one of the trustees who worked for the Anchorage Shelter in India.

The Commission found that the offshore account had been opened in the Charity's name, but only one trustee had control of it and the remainder of the trustees were not. That particular trustee was DUNCAN GRANT. Funds from the Charity continued to be paid into the offshore account until August 2003. The trustee in control of the offshore account was unable to provide a full account of the expenditure of funds. Due to the lack of information on charitable expenditure and in order to expedite the Inquiry, the Charities Commission visited the Anchorage Shelters in Tanzania.

By undertaking a detailed examination of the cash transactions and interviews held with various employees, it was established that grants from the Charity were being utilised to benefit 'street children' in Dar es Salaam and Bagmayo. DUNCAN GRANT resigned as a Trustee of the UK based charity during the Inquiry. The Inquiry was closed in January 2005 and made no formal statements on the allegations of abuse even though the outstanding Interpol Red Corner notice on DUNCAN GRANT, the Trustee and founder of Anchorage orphanages, was active at the time of their investigation.

*On 20 March 2006 ECPAT UK wrote to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Home Office asking for a full investigation into the reasons why DUNCAN GRANT was not apprehended when he returned to the UK in June 2005 even though there was an Interpol Red Corner Notice issued. ECPAT UK also asked the government for an investigation into the money trail in the UK that supported the Anchorage orphanages between 1995 and 2006. During the
case several Indian newspapers reported that Indian government officials expressed their frustration that the British authorities had no done more to apprehend DUNCAN GRANT.*

Christine Beddoe
Director

ECPAT UK

Grosvenor Gardens House
35-37 Grosvenor Gardens
London SW1W 0BS
Tel: +44 (0)20 7233 9887
Fax: +44 (0)20 7233 9869
c.beddoe@ecpat.org.uk
www.ecpat.org.uk

Registered Charity 1104948