VIP abuse police raid home of shamed Tory
THE investigation into claims of a VIP paedophile sex ring widened dramatically yesterday after police raided the home of a disgraced Tory MP.
Harvey Proctor, 68, had been named on a list of politicians passed to police by campaigning Labour MP John Mann.
Scotland Yard officers spent two days searching his grace-and-favour home at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire after a police team arrived on the estate on Wednesday.
Former Essex MP Proctor, who quit Parliament in 1987 after admitting ‘spanking sessions’ with rent boys, was forced to deny any knowledge of the abuse and deaths of three young boys. He said he did not attend Westminster ‘sex parties’ at an exclusive address near Parliament and claimed to be trapped in a ‘Kafka-esque fantasy’.
It is understood that investigators now have up to nine current and former senior politicians on Mr Mann’s list in their sights as the sensitive inquiry gathers pace.
Speaking last night, Mr Mann said he was pleased at the progress of the investigation and insisted that ‘no stone must be left unturned’.
‘It is encouraging to see that the Met are continuing to fully investigate allegations of child abuse and prominent people,’ he added.
Proctor faces being interviewed under caution within weeks by detectives with the Met’s Operation Midland squad – which was set up in November to investigate claims of a VIP Westminster child sex abuse ring in the 1970s and 1980s.
Victims have come forward to claim that men in powerful positions abused boys at the luxury Dolphin Square in Pimlico. They are also examining allegations that figures in politics, the military and law enforcement abused children at other locations.
At the centre of the inquiry is an
‘Kafka-esque fantasy’
eyewitness described by police as ‘credible’ who claims three of those abused were murdered.
In addition, detectives are examining a list passed to them by Mr Mann last December which identifies 22 potential suspects across the political spectrum. It is believed that Proctor’s name has been repeatedly given to police by at least two alleged victims.
On Wednesday, detectives arrived at Belvoir Castle near Grantham – the seat of the Duke of Rutland – where Proctor has lived since 2003.
They searched at least two properties on the 16,000-acre estate including a red ramshackle building he moved out of in recent months.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed the search. Proctor quickly proclaimed his innocence yesterday, denying any knowledge of abuse or murders. Standing in the grounds of Belvoir Castle, he said he is ‘helping police with their inquiries’.
Earlier he told BBC Radio 4: ‘I find myself in a very Kafka-esque fantasy situation. I have never attended sex parties at Dolphin Square or anywhere else. I have not been part of any rent-boy ring with Cabinet ministers, other Members of Parliament or generals or the military.’
He added: ‘I was a discreet person and regarded in the House of Commons as a very independent MP and a loner.’ Proctor also said he was keen to be interviewed by police as soon as possible to clear his name. He added: ‘I believe the number of victims grows by the day, and the number of alleged perpetrators – through death – diminishes. That is a problem. It’s certainly a problem for me. My problem is that I am still very much alive.
Proctor, who represented Basildon and nearby Billericay, was an outspoken hard-right Tory but left Parliament after pleading guilty to gross indecency. The MP – who was given the nickname ‘Wacko’ – would order rent boys as young as 17 to call him ‘Sir’ or ‘Keith’ and pretend he was a headmaster as he caned them.
He was fined just £1,450 and but the case signalled the end of his career as his confession followed years of vehement denials.
Two months before his court appearance it was revealed how Proctor was caught by security staff on holiday in Morocco with a naked 15-year- old local boy hiding under his bed.
He later went to work for the Duke of Rutland as his private secretary and in recent years has been responsible for ‘public and park events’.
The 1987 offences would no longer be crimes under current laws after the age of consent for homosexual activity changed from 21 to 16.