Cambodia paedophile Nick Griffin accused of raping boy while working in Wales

Mar 20 2011
By Darren Devine
Wales On Sunday

PAEDOPHILE Nick Griffin, who used a Cambodian orphanage as a front for his sick urges, repeatedly raped a young boy while running a Scout group in North Wales, it was claimed today.

His alleged victim, now aged 23, told Wales on Sunday that Griffin – jailed earlier this month after being convicted of abusing children – attacked him over a two year period.

His shocking accusation – which is now being investigated by police – came as those who worked with the Griffin in Cambodia revealed they raised concerns about his relationship with young boys long before his arrest but were not heeded by authorities there.

Griffin, 53, was finally unmasked as a sex monster only last week when he was convicted of abusing young boys in the Cambodian orphanage he set up and ran for five years. He was jailed for two years for offences against children.

We warned authorities about Nick Griffin, volunteers say

Mar 20 2011
By Julia McWatt
Wales On Sunday

CHARITY volunteers who worked with Nick Griffin in Cambodia told Wales on Sunday of the disturbing behaviour they witnessed.

Griffin abused boys under the age of 15 at the orphanage he set up in Siem Reap but was only convicted last week – five years after he founded the institution.

Staff who worked alongside Griffin complained about him first in 2008 but the complaints were never proven and it was not until last year that he was arrested.

Sally Sayer, regional director of Volunteer Project Overseas, lives in Siem Reap and said she had become concerned about 53-year-old Griffin and the orphanage more than a year ago.

Orphanage owner charged

Saturday, October 23, 2010
BigPondNews (Australia)

The British owner of an orphanage in Cambodia has been charged with a sex attack on a young boy in his care.

UK investigators joined dozens of police in a dawn raid on the centre where up to 100 children were rescued and moved to a safe home.

Nicholas Griffin, 52, was lead away for questioning as detectives and child protection specialists searched the orphanage, a fortress-like new building in countryside near Siem Reap.

The suspect had been under investigation by Britain's Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) centre for more than two years.

Welshman Griffin, who denies any wrongdoing, says he spent 'many years in social work, housing management and community work'.

He moved to Cambodia three years ago and set up several centres to help deprived and vulnerable children in what is one of the poorest countries in south-east Asia.

Griffin quickly established his Cambodia Orphan Fund, appealing for and receiving donations from the UK and elsewhere.

He was held, initially, on suspicion of flouting child labour laws and a breach of his orphanage licence.

The police interviewed the children and orphanage workers in a search for evidence that will now lead to a trial in Cambodia and a possible 10-year jail sentence.

CEOP's Andy Wells said, 'we got intelligence that this man was looking after children and he was assessed as extremely high-risk individual, so we asked a local child protection group to investigate.

'You only have to look at this new orphanage, in the middle of nowhere with a high wall around it. It looks more like a prison and you have to ask why.'

Cambodia is still emerging from the shadow of the bloody Khmer Rouge regime in which nearly two million people were killed.

Poverty, corruption and a lax legal system mean many children in the country are vulnerable to sex abuse, especially at the hands of Western paedophiles.

Griffin was being kept in custody to await a trial while his orphanage was effectively closed down.

His orphanage manager, a Cambodian man, was charged with the illegal removal of a child from its home to the orphanage.

CEOP staff are now involved in finding new accommodation for the orphans.

Briton on child sex abuse charge in Cambodia orphanage

22 October 2010
BBC News

He was originally held on suspicion of breaking child labour laws and his orphanage licence. The British founder of a Cambodian orphanage is facing prosecution for sexually assaulting a boy in his care.

Nicholas Griffin, 52, was held when police raided his isolated base in countryside near Siem Reap, in the north-west of the country.

Up to 100 children were moved to a safe house in an operation that involved British and local investigators.

Mr Griffin, originally from Wales, left Britain in 2006 before founding the Cambodia Orphan Fund, one year later.

He faces a potential 10-year jail sentence over a claim he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old boy.

Fortress-like building

He was originally held on suspicion of breaking child labour laws and his orphanage licence.

The orphanage manager, a Cambodian man, has been charged with the illegal removal of a child to the orphanage.

Jim Gamble, of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop), said Cambodian police are now examining claims of "institutional abuse" within the orphanage, which occupies an unusual fortress-like building.

Mr Gamble added: "The UK and Cambodia may have different legal systems and law enforcement practices, but we share a clear, joint commitment: to prevent harm to children."

He said the operation demonstrated the value of the organisation's international child protection network.

Three foreigners arrested over Cambodian drug haul

Sunday, June 29, 2008
ABC Radio Australia

Police say three foreigners have been arrested in Cambodia for trying to smuggle 750 grammes of drugs out of the country.

A Briton, a Pakistani and a Taiwanese-American were arrested at midnight Friday in a hotel room.

Police say they were discovered with 450 grammes of crystal amphetamines, known as "ice", and 300 grammes of a white powder used to produce the drug.

Police say they'd been monitoring them for almost three months and are still trying to discover where they were smuggling the drugs.

The three men are being detained while they await trial.