British Army Sheltering Child Abusers

international | miscellaneous | other press Sunday April 05, 2009 13:38 by Bazooka Joe

A recent case involving a paedophile in the Black Watch has revealed how the British Army is sheltering many child abusers.

Callum Sandeman the Black Watch Paedophile

Private Callum Sandeman (22) from Dundee pleaded guilty at Inverness Sheriff Court of indecently assaulting two children while they slept in their home last November. Sandeman was due to go to Afghanistan and Senior commanders in the Black Watch regiment tried to persuade a sheriff not to send the self-confessed paedophile to jail so that he might deploy.

What became apparent during this case is that convicted sex offenders have a safe haven in the armed forces. Unbelieveably senior officers, including the CO of the 3rd Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS), Lt Col Stephen Cartwright, as well as a captain, two majors and a lieutenant, wrote letters of support for Sandeman, together with an NCO, describing him as an excellent soldier and offering to monitor his conduct if he was allowed to continue to serve in the regiment.

Furthermore while attempting to show Sandeman would be 'supervised' in Afghanistan, even when 'coming into contact with children', an MoD spokesperson revealed that the British Army is harbouring 32 sex offenders.

"I don't think it's necessarily harder to keep track when they're in Afghanistan. There is a structure and a daily routine, it's not as if they're wandering around unguarded so don't see what being out there makes any difference. Yes, they will come into contact with children on patrol, but they wouldn't be alone. You have to look at the wider context. There are 180,000 serving in the British military, and only 32 are registered sex offenders."

British soldiers in Afghanistan serve in the International Security Assistance Force alongside Irish soldiers, with the authorisation of the Irish Government. They say you know a person by the friends they keep.

Further details at these links:

http://www.highland-news.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/5....html

http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/uk-world-ne....html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_a...7.stm

http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var...l.php

http://fr.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=2547722566

http://www.perthshireadvertiser.co.uk/perthshire-news/l....html

Private Callum ready for Afghanistan