Men on secret 1970s pro-paedophile list could still work with children today

A concealed database of much than 300 radical who belonged to a web that called publically for the legalisation of enactment with children has been handed to the BBC.

A tiny fig of those named connected the database whitethorn inactive person interaction with children done paid enactment oregon volunteering, the BBC has discovered.

They were each members of a radical called the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE).

The Metropolitan Police had the database for astir 20 years from the precocious 1970s, a BBC Radio 4 podcast squad has been told.

Spread crossed respective twelve pages, with a pinkish screen leafage added by constabulary successful the aboriginal 1980s, the typed database contains 316 names - each but a fistful men, astir with addresses alongside.

Most PIE members were based successful the UK - but determination are besides details of radical successful different parts of occidental Europe, Australia and the US.

The BBC has established that a tiny fig of the men are inactive live and whitethorn presently beryllium successful interaction with, oregon person attraction of, children done paid enactment oregon volunteering. The BBC has recovered nary grounds immoderate of them has carried retired abuse.

The Met told america it was incapable to supply circumstantial accusation astir its humanities investigations into the Paedophile Information Exchange - but volition inactive analyse crimes if capable grounds exists and alleged perpetrators are inactive alive.

PIE was formed successful 1974 - erstwhile the state was going done accelerated transformative societal change. Its leaders sought to further their origin by attempting to align themselves with feminist, anti-racist and cheery rights movements. It was not an amerciable organisation and outgo £4 a twelvemonth to join, and to person its members' magazine.

Over a decade, PIE spokesmen gave interviews to the media arguing that adults and children had a quality close to person enactment with each other. Four years old, they argued, was an property astatine which astir children could springiness consent.

However, portion PIE's leaders whitethorn person been blessed to talk publicly, the names of rank-and-file members were precise overmuch kept secret.

The database - and dozens of different documents relating to PIE members - were fixed to the BBC squad and writer Alex Renton, who has written extensively astir humanities organization kid intersexual maltreatment and presents the BBC podcast, In Dark Corners.

We past searched for the names successful media archives, transgression reports and decease registry listings from the past 50 years.

They recovered records oregon further accusation for 45% of the radical connected the database - with a tenable grade of certainty - and discovered that fractional of them had been convicted oregon cautioned (or had been charged and died earlier trial) for intersexual offences against children. Charges included distributing maltreatment images, kidnap and rape.

Of the tiny fig of men who whitethorn inactive beryllium successful interaction with children professionally, nary has immoderate transgression condemnation that the BBC has been capable to find - meaning they could person passed in-depth inheritance checks erstwhile applying for jobs.

Those men are portion of a wider radical of astir 70 connected the list, who the BBC squad has identified arsenic having been successful enactment apt to bring them into interaction with minors.

Teachers marque up fractional that radical - enactment addresses are typed alongside immoderate of the names connected the list. The remainder see societal workers, sports coaches, younker workers, doctors, clergy, laic preachers and subject officers progressive successful younker activities.

The podcast squad tried to interaction each those radical inactive live and moving - astir of whom are believed to beryllium surviving successful the UK.

One claimed his sanction was connected the database due to the fact that of PIE's links successful the 1970s with a cheery younker enactment group.

A 2nd admitted helium had been a member, but lone due to the fact that helium had agreed with PIE that the disparity successful the property of consent laws was unjust. Men successful England and Wales had to beryllium 21 to person enactment with different men anterior to 1994 - erstwhile the ineligible property was lowered to 18. Six years aboriginal it was reduced to 16, successful enactment with consecutive sex. The antheral told the BBC helium was not and ne'er had been a paedophile.

A 3rd man, presently teaching children successful a backstage schoolhouse extracurricular of the UK, refused to talk immoderate further aft PIE was mentioned to him.

No-one other has truthful acold responded to approaches by the BBC.

The BBC squad obtained the PIE database from a erstwhile elder societal idiosyncratic - Peter McKelvie - who handed implicit a buying container afloat of humanities documents, letters, interior memos and aged paper cuttings spanning 3 decades.

Through his work, Mr McKelvie had started seeing connections betwixt kid abusers successful the accusation helium collected done his enactment - but gradually became frustrated astir the abilities of constabulary oregon societal services to halt paedophile networks.

The PIE database came into his possession successful 1998. Until then, for astir 20 years, it had been successful the hands of the Metropolitan Police's Obscene Publications Unit, known internally arsenic "The Dirty Squad".

The erstwhile serviceman who handed it over, Dave Flanagan, told the BBC helium believed the database whitethorn primitively person been seized successful a constabulary raid successful the precocious 1970s.

The papers fixed to the BBC has scribbled notes successful the margins - and Mr Flanagan, a detective constable astatine the time, says helium wrote immoderate of them.

He besides attached and dated the pinkish screen leafage - arsenic helium and colleagues added much up-to-date PIE quality during the 1980s.

Police raided plentifulness of radical connected the list, helium says - but, connected its own, it was unusable arsenic accusation for a hunt warrant.

"You couldn't spell successful beforehand of a magistrate and say: 'Look, we judge he's a paedophile. We judge there'll beryllium indecent photographs of children due to the fact that he's connected the PIE list.'"

Legally, being a subordinate of a pro-paedophile radical didn't marque idiosyncratic a enactment offender.

Police did negociate to adjacent successful connected PIE successful the aboriginal 1980s - focusing connected 3 elder members who each had links to interaction adverts successful the members' magazine, Magpie.

The men were prosecuted nether a 17th Century instrumentality of "conspiracy to corrupt nationalist morals". Two received conditional discharges, portion the 3rd was jailed for 2 years.

Publicly, PIE ceased to beryllium successful 1984.

Dave Flanagan says his team's detective enactment connected the rank database besides crushed to a halt.

"Information was passed to different constabulary forces and they did what they did with it - we had nary power implicit immoderate of that."

The BBC understands the PIE database was digitised successful 1994 by a constabulary squad that nary longer exists. The National Crime Agency, which was formed successful 2013 and whose officers woody with kid maltreatment cases, told america it has "no cognition of receiving the [digitised] list".

Dave Flanagan kept the archetypal successful his briefcase until helium retired successful 1998, erstwhile helium handed it to Peter McKelvie.

Mr McKelvie told the BBC that implicit the past 30 years helium had pushed police, a Labour MP and a Conservative authorities curate to look astatine PIE members linked to societal services and peculiar schools, but without success.

He wrote to the Department of Health successful 1993 outlining his concerns. His missive began: "The infiltration of the societal enactment assemblage by paedophiles appears to beryllium an extended and superior problem..."

He suggested the enactment of a specializer squad of societal workers and constabulary to way down each subordinate of PIE moving successful societal care. The missive got nary response, helium says.

The Department for Health and Social Care told the BBC it could not remark connected "individual historical cases".

On Monday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said those who screen up oregon neglect to study kid intersexual maltreatment could look nonrecreational oregon transgression sanctions nether a caller offence to beryllium introduced this year.

The connection was 1 of 20 recommendations made by Prof Alexis Jay pursuing her seven-year enquiry into kid enactment abuse, which concluded successful 2022. The Independent Inquiry Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) was acceptable up successful effect to concerns that immoderate organisations had failed to support children.

In a statement, Det Supt Nicola Franklin, from the Met's Central Specialist Command, said the unit was "committed to tackling" paedophilia, "an abhorrent crime".

"If anyone has accusation that should beryllium shared with constabulary we would impulse them to bash so. Despite the transition of time, we volition inactive analyse provided capable grounds exists to bash truthful and the perpetrator is inactive alive."