Labour peer accused of 12 'horrendous' attacks on men when they were children
- The peer has not been arrested or questioned in connection with the claims
- Preliminary file containing details of accusations passed to prosecutors
- Prosecutors are expected to make recommendations to police in autumn
At least 12 men have come forward to accuse a Labour peer of abusing them when they were children, it emerged yesterday.
The
historical allegations against the man span several decades and include
accusations of rape and other serious sexual assaults.
A
source familiar with the police investigation said at least 12 men had
contacted officers to say they were abused by the peer, making a number
of ‘horrendous’ allegations.
The
peer, who the Daily Mail is not naming for legal reasons, has not been
arrested or questioned in connection with the claims.
Enlarge
A Labour peer is being investigated after 12 men made allegations of historical child abuse against him
But
it is understood that a preliminary file containing details of the
accusations has been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Prosecutors are expected to make recommendations to police in the autumn on how the inquiry should proceed.
Another
source told the Mail on Sunday: ‘The sexual abuse that the peer has
been accused of is extremely worrying. The allegations are harrowing and
must have affected the vulnerable boys significantly in later life.
‘It
is becoming clear there is a problem with historic sex abuse in
Parliament and the police have to be allowed access to all the
information needed to investigate these allegations.
‘It is beginning to look like Westminster is above the law. It is important that these allegations are investigated thoroughly.’
Deeply troubling: One source said the
allegations were 'horrific'. Pictured is the Lords Chamber at the House
of Lords where the peer sits
Last month, part of the House of Lords was searched by police investigating historical child sex abuse claims.
In a highly unusual move, up to eight officers swooped as part of an ongoing inquiry linked to children’s homes.
Officers
took the highly unusual step of entering Parliament to raid an office
and seize computer equipment weeks before submitting a dossier on the
peer to the Crown Prosecution Service.
The move came after police spent several days searching a politician’s home in December.
Google
has removed links to pages relating to former Home Secretary Leon
Brittan from its British search engine, it emerged last night.
One
combination of terms including the Tory peer’s name brings up a message
saying that five results have been excised because of a ‘legal
request’.
Even a simple search for ‘Leon Brittan’ on Google.co.uk prompts a
warning on the third page of results that one link has been taken down.
But there are no such alerts if the same searches are carried out on the US version of the site, Google.com.
But there are no such alerts if the same searches are carried out on the US version of the site, Google.com.
Alongside
the notice that some results have been erased for legal reasons, Google
provides a link to ChillingEffects.org, which documents attempts to
censor online material.
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