Notorious British paedophile Richard Huckle, recently convicted of raping and sexually abusing numerous children in Malaysia, allegedly visited a Bengaluru orphanage posing as a volunteer. According to the Huffington Post, he visited the orphanage to take photos and videos of kids.

“God bless your ministry”

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Huckle reportedly approached Indian pastor George Fernandes to visi his ‘New Hope for Children Orphanage’ in June, 2013. The pastor didn’t know of Huckle’s past, and allowed him to visit, Huckle had written to the pastor, introducing himself "originally from UK but am studying an IT Degree in Malaysia". "I'm very much interested in visiting your orphanages in Bangalore and Ambur. It would be a great experience for me to visit your orphanages, meet and help the children, and would be more than happy to use my photography and video editing skills to help make some promotional material for your ministry. God bless your ministry and I look forward to hearing back from you," he wrote.

Fernandes allowed Huckle to stay at his house, but he was never left with the children unsupervised during his 2 day stay, and he is not believed to have abused any children at the orphanage.

Fernandes remembered that there was something off about Huckle: “...he seemed disoriented and won't look straight into our eyes ever during his short stay."

Huckle also wanted to marry a young Indian girl at a Christian home in Malaysia

“The manager said Huckle was a troublemaker. He was volunteering there and had caused many arguments among them (the volunteers and social workers). When I asked why the manager was screaming and cursing at Huckle, he told me that the Englishman wanted to marry one of the Indian girls there. He had asked to marry her many times… I think she may have still been underage at that time,” the eyewitness, named as Siva (not his real name), told the New Straight Times.

Huckle’s sordid past

Huckle was arrested in London when he was returning home for Christmas in 2014. He began exploiting children and documenting his activities in 2005 when he first visited Malaysia. His victims were aged between six months and 12 years, according to a British court document. Media reports said Huckle had gained the trust of people in Christian-dominated communities in Muslim-majority Malaysia and also lived in churches in the capital, Kuala Lumpur.

He was charged with 91 offences, including 14 counts of rape of a child under 13 years old. His victims included five children aged between 3 and 12 at the time of the abuse, and a baby believed to be six months old, the document said. He is believed to have abused up to 200 children, the BBC reported.