Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to navigation
Esther Baker
Baker waived her right to anonymity in May to speak about the alleged ordeal in an interview with Sky News. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian
Baker waived her right to anonymity in May to speak about the alleged ordeal in an interview with Sky News. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

Former MP interviewed in Staffordshire paedophile ring investigation

This article is more than 8 years old

VIP paedophile group alleged to have operated with police complicity said to include peer and judge as well as 55-year-old former MP

A former MP has been interviewed under caution by police over claims he was a member of a paedophile ring who sexually assaulted a young girl decades ago.

Staffordshire police has spoken to the 55-year-old as part of their investigation into a group of men who reportedly met in the woods in Cannock Chase and raped the alleged victim, Esther Baker, during the 1980s and 90s. He strongly denies the allegations and he has not been arrested.

“On Monday 12 October 2015 a 55-year-old male was questioned by detectives as part of an ongoing investigation into non-current sexual abuse,” a Staffordshire police spokesman said.

“It is the policy of Staffordshire police never to confirm in any way the identity or any other personal details of those subject to any investigation until charge.”

Baker waived her right to anonymity in May to speak about the alleged ordeal in an interview with Sky News and claimed the group included a peer and a judge.

Baker has alleged the abuse in the woods took place when she was aged between four and six, and claimed police officers had stood guard to make sure no one had happened upon the gang.

She alleged that she was sexually abused at a flat in London, which she now believes to be Dolphin Square – the location at the centre of the Metropolitan police’s Operation Midland inquiry.

In August, Baker said: “Who the perpetrators are will shock people but I think the ripple effect will be quite far.”

Last month, the former MP said in response to the police inquiry: “I am ready to refute the allegations with documentary evidence which proves I was rarely in Staffordshire at the time in question.

“I have communicated to police I believe there is an attempt to pervert the course of justice going on.”

The case has been referred to Operation Hydrant, a national team coordinating the investigations that was set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile revelations and the increase in reporting of child sexual abuse which followed.

Separately, a 64-year-old man has been arrested and released on police bail as part of the inquiry.

Explore more on these topics

Most viewed

Most viewed