Pedophilia case against Australian drags

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, Jan 8, 2013: At a time when entire nation is demanding for stricter laws and faster trail in rape and other cases of sexual offences, a case related to an Australian, who was accused of sexually abusing city based orphan boys way back in 2001, is still pending in courts. The case is expected to be further delayed due to varied reasons. 

Amid growing concern that the longer the case drags on, the greater the chance that the witnesses may back down, of the 12 boys who were said to be victims of the 67 year old Paul Henry Dean, none testified against him until now.

The III town police is also finding it difficult to serve summons to witnesses and victims.  

Paul Henry Dean was a travel agent of Bunbury a small town south of Perth in Australia and was also accused to have travelled to India on a fake passport under the name of Alan Herbert Rose, in early 1977.

He was arrested in the city by the III town police on August 22, 2001, for allegedly sexually abusing orphans and street children living in New Hope orphanage.

Later he said to have jumped bail and moved to neighbouring Odisha where he allegedly committed the same crimes and was caught by the police there in 2008.

Dean was booked under Section 377, for having unnatural sex, Section 292 relating to obscenity and other sections relating to passport violations. He was then known as Dr Pervi Raj or Tatagaru as the children at the New Hope called him. . “It’s more than 11 years and most of the victims who were in teens at that time are all grown up and now scattered here and there in search of living. Only two of the witnesses could be examined until now. We need a coordinated effort from all departments concerned especially police in this case,” an advocate who was dealing with the case told this correspondent.

 Hearing in Paul’s case is expected to come up next week in a city court. It was in July, 2009 that Paul’s trail was resumed since then the case is being posted week after week for the victims to be testified or due to the requests by both the parties. Meanwhile the case was recently shifted from one court to the other.