Officer involved in 1992 child porn arrest said five suitcases stuffed with letters suggested links to establishment and senior clergy

Terry Shutt says letters were found at Righton's Worcestershire property



Claims they pointed to a child abuse ring involving establishment figures

Shutt says senior members of the clergy and public officials were named



But former West Mercia police officer says the leads were not investigated

Righton was a founder member of the Paedophile Information Exchange

He was convicted of child porn offences in 1992 but died a free man in 2007

Righton was once considered to be a leading authority on child care



A former police officer involved in the 1992 arrest of notorious paedophile Peter Righton claims letters found at his home pointed to a child abuse network involving public officials and clergy.

Terry Shutt, a former detective constable with West Mercia Police, said five suitcases stuffed with letters found at the property in Evesham, Worcestershire suggested Righton was in touch with an extensive network of individuals who wanted to abuse children.

Righton, who died in 2007, was a social work expert and founder member of the Paedophile Information Exchange, who campaigned to decriminalise sex with children.

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Claims: A former detective constable involved in the 1992 arrest of notorious paedophile Peter Righton (pictured) says letters found at his home pointed to a paedophile network involving public officials and clergy

Mr Shutt was working as a detective constable when officers raided the home of paedophile Righton - who was once considered to be one of the country’s most respected authorities on child care.



As well as images of child abuse, they found five suitcases full of letters, which Mr Shutt says pointed to be him belonging to a much wider paedophile network.

‘In amongst all the other documentation, there was a definite link to establishment figures, including senior members of the clergy,’ he told BBC’s Today programme this morning.

‘So for me there was a definite feel that this was something bigger than we were looking at locally and that it should have been investigated further,’ he added.

Yesterday campaigner Peter McKelvie said he told police in 2012 that West Mercia Police were storing seven boxes of potential evidence about Righton

The Metropolitan Police did investigate the letters, but the now retired Mr Shutt says many of the most important leads were not followed up.

He claims it was seen to be more important to protect the establishment.

A confidential Hereford and Worcester Social Service report from the 1990s said the letters from Righton’s home suggested links to clergy, civil servants, social services and and education staff, according to the BBC.



The Met Police last night it couldn’t comment on the case, but a police source told from the time told the BBC that claims the investigation was deliberately shut down were ‘nonsense’.

Yesterday Peter McKelvie, a campaigner who first raised the alarm about prominent individuals engaged in child sex abuse two years ago, said he told police in 2012 that seven boxes of potential evidence about Righton were being stored by West Mercia Police.

He claims he told officers these boxes might contain evidence of further abuse by senior members of the establishment.