The Paedophile Doctor Spotlight

I formed the impression at first that children were fairly resilient

and didn't suffer very much.

The caring side of child

psychiatrist Dr Morris Fraser hides a sexual predator.

He had been abused?

Yes.

By Morris Fraser?

By Morris Fraser.

But even after being convicted, the paedophile doctor was not struck

off by the General Medical Council.

Why was he not struck off?

I don't know.

He should have been.

He absolutely should have been struck off.

Tonight, the face of a dangerous doctor.

A paedophile allowed to continue practising medicine for decades

in spite of four convictions and two spells behind bars.

As the Northern Ireland conflict gathered momentum in 1971

a celebrity doctor emerged to champion the cause

of the children of the troubles.

The truth is that a lot of children in these areas, the vast

majority of them have had symptoms of some kind.

Psychiatrist Dr Morris Fraser witnessed children in conflict

first-hand where he worked at the Royal Belfast Hospital

for Sick Children on the Falls Road.

He soon became the expert on how the growing street disorder

affected young lives.

His seminal book, Children in Conflict, was lauded

here and in the United States.

His celebrity status grew on both sides of the Atlantic.

Evidence was published in a recent issue of the British Journal

of Psychiatry by Dr Morris Fraser, a 29-year-old psychiatrist who sees

about 30 young of patients a week in his Belfast clinic.

Children who have been seriously emotionally disturbed as a result

Children who have been seriously emotionally disturbed as a result

of a first-hand experience of violence.

This facade of concern masked Morris Fraser's real reasons

for his interest in children.

Publicly, Fraser wanted to use a Scout troop he'd set up in north

Belfast in 1966 to help young boys escape street violence.

Privately, he had other intentions.

In 1971, Dr Morris Fraser arrived at this block of apartments

in London for the weekend.

With him, he brought a 13-year-old schoolboy from Belfast whose parents

were told he was on a scouting trip in County Down.

What happened to the boy inside these apartments

eventually led a year later to Dr Fraser appearing

at Bow Street Magistrates Court where he admitted charges

of sexually assaulting the boy.

Fraser's guilty plea meant the full facts of the case

were not revealed in court.

But Spotlight has spoken to the RUC officer who was part

of the investigation.

For security reasons, he didn't want his face to be seen.

The boy was quite disturbed, that's the best way to describe,

it and his father described to me that he had been away

with the scouts for a weekend.

He returned with pains in his rectum and his father was a bit perturbed

about this and wanted to involve the police.

Medical evidence confirmed the sexual assault.

My recollection was that it was was described as a funnel shaped rectum.

Certainly penetration by a penis or something of that nature had

certainly taken place.

Maybe more than one.

On more than one occasion.

You got from the boy that he had intercourse?

Yes, he had been abused yes.

By Morris Fraser?

By Morris Fraser.

And he told you that in his statement?

Oh, he did, yes That was in his statement.

Yes.

Fraser pleaded guilty and was fined ?50.

The Scout Movement took swift action and banished Fraser for life

immediately he was arrested and before he was convicted.

By contrast however, even after Fraser was convicted,

the body meant to regulate doctors and protect the public -

the General Medical Council, the GMC, allowed him to carry

on as a child psychiatrist.

Peter Walsh fights for patients' rights.

It would seem in this instance, they quite woefully failed

to protect patients, failed to take action against this

doctor to ensure that he wasn't going to be in the position

where he could prey on vulnerable patients.

Neil Anderson, chief executive of the children's charity

the NSPCC is horrified by the GMC's lack of action.

One of the most glaring failures is in the dealing

with his offences under the General Medical Council's

disciplinary committee.

Because his continued professional registration, as a result of that

failure, allowed him to continue to have access to children.

The current chief executive of the GMC is Niall Dickson.

He was convicted of an offence against a 13-year-old boy in 1972.

Why was he not struck off?

I don't know.

He should have been.

He absolutely should have been struck off.

It's very difficult to get into the mindsets of those

who took that decision.

There were different procedures at that time.

There were different attitudes at that time.

There were undoubtedly different approaches.

But none of that, none of that excuses the fact that this

organisation allowed that doctor to go on practising

after that conviction.

After Fraser's first conviction, he still had access to children.

Like Richard Kerr.

He remembers when he 10-years-old in 1972 being taken to see Dr Fraser

at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.

He was there to discuss his disruptive behaviour

at his care home.

I was sitting on the chair.

I remember having sandals on and shorts on.

I just remember being asked to remove them down.

He took I think some kind of photograph.

I was shocked.

He said he was a doctor and not to worry.

But there was plenty to worry about.

A convicted paedophile was still free to treat up to 30

children a week.

According to Richard Kerr, Dr Fraser came to visit him

at his Children's Home Williamson House.

He would just call out my name and I would be down on the floor

He would just call out my name and I would be down on the floor

playing with my toys.

And in the play room there was a table and it was about five

feet from the floor.

And I remember him getting me under the table and there was a wall

and he would wrestle with me.

He would tickle my belly, make me laugh and while he was doing that,

he would start to move his hands kind of around my

private areas.

Yes.

Just as his conviction didn't prevent him having access

to children, his public profile didn't appear to be affected.

Here he is in February 1973 appearing on BBC television

with David Dimbleby.

Do you think that there is long term damage being done that will prevent

the next generation being a moderate generation in the way that everyone

here would them to be?

It's inevitable as well as utterly deplorable that they are going to be

affected by what they see around them by living in guerrilla warfare.

Three months after this television interview,

Morris Fraser was again arrested - this time in New York

as part of an international paedophile network.

Newspaper reports here and in the United States revealed

that Dr Fraser's arrest along with seven other men concluded a two

year police investigation.

A court heard that on 19 different occasions the eight defendants

were observed gathering at a house at Long Island,

New York State.

There, the court was told, they engaged in acts of sexual

abuse of 15 children in the 10-15 age group.

The indictment specified one count of conspiracy,

19 counts of sodomy and seven of sexual abuse

against each defendant.

At the time, Dr Fraser told newspapers: "My innocence

is beyond question.

I want to assure the parents of children that I have treated

about that." Fraser was released on bail and returned

to Northern Ireland to face the first of a series of GMC

disciplinary hearings related to his 1972 London conviction.

Despite reports of his arrest in America leading to his sacking

by the NI Hospitals Authority, the GMC did not remove him

from their medical register.

He remained a celebrity doctor, with the publication of his book

serialised by the Sunday Times.

Niall Meehan is head of the journalism faculty

at Griffith College in Dublin.

He became fascinated by the Fraser story and the apparent

leniency of the GMC.

He learned from a Freedom of Information request that

Fraser had been allowed to give his evidence to the GMC

in camera, that is in secret.

And that effectively the proceedings had been turned into

a trial of the victim.

It appeared as though the tables were turned and that the innocent

doctor clinically trained psychiatrist had been corrupted

by a 13-year-old boy.

In fact, the boy appeared to be the author of the doctor's

depravity, which seems to me to be a grave charge against the GMC that

instead of protecting the public against this child abusing doctor,

they protected the doctor against his victim.

This is how his defence was reported in the British Medical

Journal at the time.

The boy came from a broken home and apparently he had problems

with drugs and had had some homosexual experiences.

It was one isolated incident with a sophisticated boy - a boy not

corrupted by the doctor.

To describe victims of child abuse in that way,

is just completely unacceptable.

Completely unacceptable.

There is no excuse for it.

Of course social mores would have been different at that time,

people behaved in different ways, people looked at things

in different ways.

But that doesn't excuse it.

They didn't strike Fraser off, but by the end of that first

disciplinary hearing the GMC had at least reached a judgement.

The committee have accordingly judged you to have been guilty

of serious professional misconduct in relation to the facts proved

against you in the charge.

But did the GMC strike Dr Fraser off the medical register?

No.

Instead they sent him to a psychiatrist for treatment

and deferred any judgement for at least eight months.

Morris Fraser had built up a public profile since the outset

of the troubles, becoming a regular on television and radio

here and in the United States, offering insights into children

traumatised by the conflict.

Here's one picture, for example, by a boy from a republican area,

in which he depicts himself as a soldier in

traditional Irish garb.

And on the other side of the coin we have a picture

by a Protestant boy.

He has drawn a picture of his street and large streaks of red running

down between the houses.

And he says that this red is Catholic blood.

Niall Meehan believes Fraser was protected because his public

statements about the conflict suited the authorities.

There was a suggestion that children were being used actively by those

who were opposing the British government and the British army

and that seemed to be part of the propaganda to paint those

against whom the British army was fighting in as negative a manner

as possible and in a sophisticated manner as possible and what was more

sophisticated than getting a child psychiatrist to talk

about the testimony that was delivered by his child clients.

But is there another simpler explanation as to why Fraser

was treated so leniently?

Psychiatrist Dr Alex Lyons was a contemporary of Dr Fraser

and had worked with him.

In the medical world there was a system known

as the three wise men, when three very senior doctors

would meet and discuss the future of any doctor that got into any type

of difficulties and the outcome was very often that they were

advised to leave the country, that there wouldn't be any future

for them in the country and I would think that that's

probably what happened to Morris Fraser.

What motivation would there be for anyone in the medical

profession to cover up?

Yes, well, there's two reasons, one is to be, to be kind

to the person themselves and try to save them from some

exposure and the second reason would be to save the image

of your profession.

In July 1974, Fraser returned to America to plead guilty to three

counts of attempted sodomy.

Again, the guilty plea prevented details of his offences

coming out in open court.

He was deported back to the United Kingdom.

Just in time to attend his third disciplinary GMC hearing

to review his psychiatric treatment.

The GMC's disciplinary committee didn't consider offences

that he was convicted for in the United States,

in New York.

They only considered the London conviction.

So, it wasn't an isolated incident.

There appears to have been a deference to Morris Fraser's

celebrity and status as a practitioner and an author

and also through his increasing media profile.

And still the GMC could not decide what to do.

The July 1974 meeting was adjourned for a year.

"You will be asked to furnish the Council with the names

of professional colleagues and other persons of standing

to whom the Council may apply for information, to be

given confidentially, as to your conduct in the interval."

They said that Dr Fraser had received testimonials, they never

stated who the testimonials were from, but it seems

in all cases, that the GMC was part of a kind of railroad,

to railroad Dr Fraser to a position whereby he could practice medicine

again without anybody paying too much attention.

Finally, in 1975, the GMC reached a conclusion.

And it was a stunning one.

Even though they were aware of the American conviction,

they ruled that Fraser could carry on as a doctor in child psychiatry.

"The evidence as to your continued response to treatment since July

1974 which has enabled the committee to feel satisfied that it will now

be proper to discharge your case.

Your case is accordingly concluded." As he left the hearing Fraser told

reporters he was free to carry on working as a psychiatrist.

Without restriction.

Fraser's lawyer is quoted in one newspaper as saying: "...if his name

was erased from the register, the people of Northern Ireland

would lose someone who was doing a lot of good at a critical time."

Sacked by the Northern Ireland Hospitals Authority in 1973,

Fraser was having to find work outside NI.

But where exactly?

We asked the GMC.

They said they have no idea which hospitals he worked in

or if he had worked with children.

We know Fraser had moved to London and he seemed happy

to have a public profile.

I was totally surprised.

I saw him maybe five years later on the BBC Songs of Praise

and he was playing the organ in St Martin in the Fields Church.

I was totally and absolutely shocked to see him sitting playing the organ

in a place of worship.

In 1992, Fraser's secret life in London as a paedophile

was uncovered by police during a search at the home

of Fraser's close friend Peter Righton.

Peter McKelvie - a child protection officer -

was working with the police.

He found incriminating documents showing that Righton, a child care

expert who was an adviser to the government, was a paedophile.

He led a double life, he was a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Yes, he had a very, very influential role

within the social work profession, but in his private life

he was an active paedophile.

He had worked as a government advisor, he was seen as perhaps one

of, if not the expert on residential childcare the UK.

The Police and Customs Search uncovered six suitcases full

of letters and documents that revealed a paedophile network.

There were letters from key paedophiles, to Peter Righton

from people that were on the Paedophile

Information Exchange list.

They were known paedophiles, not necessarily convicted,

people like Morris Fraser, people like Charles Napier.

Paedophile Information Exchange was set up in 1974 and for 10 years

openly campaigned to have the law changed to allow adult sex

with children as young as two.

Fraser and Righton were founding members.

Teacher Charles Napier was the Treasurer.

Napier was banned from teaching in the UK from as early as 1972

for child sex offences.

But Peter McKelvie found disturbing evidence of how members

of the paedophile ring used positions of power and influence

to protect and support each other.

Peter Righton had written to the Department of Education,

saying that he'd counselled a paedophile by the name of

Charles Napier and that he was now a reformed character and was no

longer a risk to children and could return to teaching

from which he'd been banned after a conviction in 1972.

And what Peter Righton did was said 'Well, to be absolutely certain,

don't just go on my opinion, I recommend a consultant child

psychiatrist who will give you a second opinion' and that child

psychiatrist was Morris Fraser.

Napier was jailed for 13 years in 2014 for raping young boys.

So, it would appear Morris Fraser who should have been struck off

as a doctor was using his position to support a fellow paedophile.

But Fraser had connections with other paedophile networks.

One involving this man, Michael Johnson - a teacher

and youth leader who would later be convicted and jailed for sex

offences against boys.

From his base in London in 1988 Fraser began regularly making

the long trek to Cornwall.

His destination?

The picture postcard harbour at Fowey.

Together, Johnson and Fraser set up a charity sailing club for deprived

and vulnerable children, the Azimuth Trust.

What they kept hidden from three other trustees was their sinister

ploy to use the trust as a front for yet another paedophile network.

Janek Gwizdala was sexually abused by Johnson and photographed

naked by Fraser.

I was 10 years old, I was almost 11 maybe and it was an adventure you

know, it was billed as an adventure.

It started off as an adventure, it was very exciting,

it was something that I would imagine most 10 or 11 year

olds don't get to see in their entire lives.

At sea, Janek says the boys were urged to remove

all their clothes.

One was encouraged to be a nudist, so there was ample opportunity

for anyone to take photographs of plenty of naked children.

Janek says Fraser used these photographs for an Azimuth

newsletter called Sea Born which Fraser then distributed.

It's obviously a very simple and incredibly effective way

to distribute child pornography to what I imagine is quite a vast

mailing list of paedophiles.

Another of the boys on the boat skippered by Michael Johnson

was Peter Lambert from Penzance.

Fraser took a special interest in Peter who had learning

difficulties caused by Aspergers - at that stage undiagnosed.

At the time Peter's mum Gay appreciated Fraser's

interest and offer of help.

We assumed because as he was a psychiatrist,

we thought he was, you know, what certainly, if anybody

should know that, he had to have a good idea.

What were your thoughts when you first met Morris Fraser?

Well, because there were problems at home, well, I liked him.

I liked Morris.

He was interested in me and I did not have any

friends and he took me out for lunch and...

He was kind?

He was kind, yeah, I thought so at the time.

In fact, Fraser was taking Peter to meet other paedophiles

in the UK and Europe.

One of them was Fraser's close friend from the 70's -

Charles Napier - the convicted sex offender for whom Fraser had

written a reference.

This was a day out, Morris took me to meet his friend Charles Napier,

and this was a boat of Charles'.

And I was to launch the boat, so he gave me a bottle of champagne

to pour over the boat.

So, this is you with the champagne?

I think we must have, well, it looks like we've already drunk

it, I don't know.

I think that may have happened.

So...

Well, what age would you have been in this?

I think I was thirteen.

For Peter's mum, the truth about Fraser only emerged

when the police arrived at her home.

They'd found naked photos of Peter in Fraser's possession.

Fraser had been taking Peter to other paedophiles

to be photographed.

They had come across some pictures, some photographs of Peter

and that is when it started.

They came to see us and then of course I realised

what had been going on.

Peter kept a diary and noted one particular visit with Morris Fraser

to the home of a sculptor.

There was a photographer present as well.

Peter's diary notes that 75 pictures were taken.

He was told he had a good figure and he was paid ?5.

Some of the pictures had been taken in, while he was in Spain,

so there were a few from there and then these other ones

were pictures which were taken when Morris visited these

particular people around sort of the London area.

Peter Lambert's family was unaware that Fraser has just served

a one-year jail sentence in 1992 for having another series of child

pornographic images.

In November 1995 Fraser was convicted of allowing

a paedophile to take indecent pictures of Peter Lambert,

a child in his care.

It was his fourth conviction for child sex offences.

A month later Dr Fraser applied to the GMC to have his name removed

from the medical register.

This time, the GMC acted swiftly, immediately accepting

his application.

I think the ultimate slap in the face for any

victims of Dr Morris Fraser is that he was left himself

to decide to de-register himself from the General Medical Council.

Since then, Fraser moved to Europe, keeping a low profile.

However, he did respond by email to our questions.

He told us: "I only say that I have never heard of any Richard Kerr,

nor of any Williamson House.

It is certainly somewhere I have never been.

Further, I never had an RVH office." In recent years,

Fraser has written a couple of opinion pieces for

the British Medical Journal signing himself as psychiatrist on one

and a retired consultant psychiatrist on another.

But he hasn't confined his writing to medical topics.

Fraser has been secretly writing child erotica stories.

We have discovered 17 online articles written

as recently as August 2015 about his sexual fantasies.

They involve 13-year-old boys being stripped,

spanked and sexually assaulted and some stories feature

boys from Cornwall.

We asked Fraser if these were fantasies based on fact.

He has not responded.

The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry in Banbridge will be given

evidence about the failure to strike off Morris Fraser

from the medical register.

It will come in a report from the GMC itself.

What we will be doing, is passing all this information over

to the historical inquires work that's going on in Northern Ireland.

I mean, I think we can simply say that we believe

that the actions that were taken, at that time, were inexcusable.

The real culpability lies with Morris Fraser.

We asked him if he was sorry for the abuse he had

inflicted on young boys.

He did not reply.