Murray Denis Ward

NEW DELHI: The British national arrested for sexually assaulting three children at a blind school in south Delhi is suspected to have victimised 34 other kids from different parts of the country, police said.

The chat history of the accused, Murray Denis Ward, 54, indicate he was in touch with more than two dozen teenagers, both male and female, whom he sent explicit messages, cops said. The identities of these teenagers are yet to be verified. Police sources said investigators found more than 100 pictures and videos in Ward's mobile phone of children being sexually assaulted by adults, some shot from his phone and others downloaded from the internet.

Ward was taken into police custody and interrogated on Monday evening, during which he claimed to have sexually assaulted many of these children. Ward has been staying in India since 2000.

He worked as a senior manager with several telecom companies and travelled to Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai, during which he claimed to be associated with philanthropic work where he met his victims. He also had the names of the victims saved in coded language, which he has revealed to the cops. Joint commissioner R P Upadhyay said teams have been formed to reach out to each of the other alleged survivors and record their statements. Police were trying to find out whether other cases had been registered against Ward.

Cops are also probing if Ward was linked to an international pedophile racket, since he was found to be part of online chat groups that shared videos and photos of children being sexually abused. He has been taken on a two-day police remand.



In Video: Delhi: ‘Paedophile’ foreigner arrested