A British national, accused of sexually assaulting three visually-impaired minors, used to have chats with "sexual undertones" with over 25 other inmates of the National Association for the Blind in south Delhi's R K Puram, police said on Wednesday.
On Sunday, 54-year-old Murray Denis Ward was arrested for inappropriately touching the minor inmates on 2 September.
A case has been registered under The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences – POCSO – Act 2012, under which sexual exploitation of children is punishable with an imprisonment for a term not less than ten years, and may extend to life imprisonment.
The police said that the accused's phone and laptop were seized by the cyber cell and their contents were being examined.
Some objectionable clips were found in them, and we are verifying whether the clips also feature the victims, said a senior police officer. He allegedly had reprehensible conversations on WhatsApp and other online chat platforms with 27 children from India, according to reports.
During the investigation, it was found that the accused was in touch with 28 other students of the institute and would often send them messages with sexual references. He used to interact with the students through a specially designed mobile application for the visually impaired.Police officer to PTI
The police have roped in an NGO to counsel the victims and help them open up about their ordeal.
“We are refraining from interacting directly with the children. We will take help from child psychologists to get information related to our probe. This will help us find out if more children at the centre were assaulted by Ward.”Upadhyay, Joint Commissioner of Police (south-eastern range) told Hindustan Times
‘Educating Minors About Sex’
A caretaker of the institute had made a short video of the accused and has handed it over to the police.
The accused reportedly told the police that he was educating the inmates about sexual intercourse.
It is being probed whether the British national was part of any group involved in sharing material pertaining to paedophilia, said another officer.
Ward, a native of Gloucestershire, the United Kingdom, had been working with Sterlite Technology Limited in Gurgaon till April. He had suffered a paralytic attack in February and has been under treatment since then. He was staying alone in New Delhi while his family is in the UK.
The accused was associated with the National Association for the Blind as a regular donor for almost nine years.
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