MPs and VIPs took teenagers to ‘abuse parties’ at luxury apartments, two witnesses say
By Mark Conrad and David Pallister | 12 July 2014
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MPs held parties at a block of luxury apartments near Westminster where they and other VIPs sexually assaulted children, according to two abuse survivors.
Two men came forward separately to Exaro several months ago to tell how they were taken as boys to a series of parties at Dolphin Square, a block where many MPs have their London flats. According to the block’s managers, as many as 59 MPs lived there at the same time.
There, the two men allege, they were raped.
Their claims come as the government was rocked last week – the result of a series of reports by Exaro over nearly two years – by allegations of a paedophile network at Westminster. Theresa May, home secretary, went to the House of Commons on Monday to announce an overarching inquiry into the sexual abuse of children in various institutions in the UK over many years – including political parties.
One witness, whom we are calling “Nick”, identified several powerful figures as his alleged abusers at Dolphin Square, including two former Conservative MPs, one an ex-cabinet minister. Nick described how both politicians raped and physically beat him after he was forced to drink alcohol.
Nick recalled that he was taken to Dolphin Square around 10 times over a period of two to three years either side of 1980. He was around 11 years old when the visits began, and he went to several “Christmas parties” there, he said.
“We were asked if we wanted a drink, but there was not really a choice. It was always whisky. Both MPs were brutal. I was raped over a bathtub, while my head was submerged beneath the water.
“One [MP] attempted to get me to beat another boy with a baton,” he said.
A separate witness said that he was around 13 when an MP took him to a “dinner party” for about 12 people at one apartment in the block with “lots of artwork”. This was in the early 1980’s.
After dinner, he said, several people left. But a small group of men – who had brought children with them – remained.
According to the witness, he was taken to parties at Dolphin Square to be sexually abused two or three times.
He has given details of these parties at this location and elsewhere to ‘Operation Fernbridge’, the investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service into MPs and others who are alleged to have sexually abused children.
Nick has talked to police. But he says that he does not trust the police enough to detail his allegations about politicians and other VIPs. He approached Exaro instead.
Many features of their accounts are remarkably similar. It is possible that they met as boys, as they were trafficked around the VIP party-circuit in London to be sexually abused.
The two witnesses said that “abuse parties” were hosted in various apartments at Dolphin Square, which is known for the intrigue that surrounds it.
Meanwhile, detectives have investigated a separate property in central London, where boys were allegedly taken and sexually abused by MPs and other VIPs.
Nick described it as a “grand” town house. He identified the same two MPs who raped him at Dolphin Square also sexually abused him at the town house. He also said that a former Labour MP sexually assaulted him at this property.
The house is understood to have been under police surveillance as part of a wide investigation into paedophiles during the 1980’s.
To detectives’ surprise, they captured on film senior politicians and other high-profile figures among the men who entered and left the house.
However, the police did not pursue investigations into any of the prominent people at the time.
Both witnesses are prepared to give evidence in private to the panel inquiry into child sex abuse that was announced last week. They strongly welcomed May’s setting up of the independent inquiry.
One said: “I will do what I can to help, but only if the inquiry is prepared to pursue high-profile abusers.”
Related Stories: Child sex abuse, ‘Fernbridge’ and ‘Fairbank’: Exaro story thread
