Peter Righton was a social services director and the top UK government adviser on child protection services. He held a senior post with the National Children's Bureau and was described as "a respected figure in the child care field." Righton had been a member of the [[Pedophile Information Exchange]] (PIE), which was named in the VIP pedophile dossier from 1983 that [[Geoffrey Dickens]] handed to Home Secretary [[Leon Brittan]]. The dossier contained allegations about members of parliament and the Queen's royal staff being part of a VIP pedophile ring with ties to PIE. Righton's position as a government adviser on child protection services gave him unprecedented access to child protection policies and children's homes across the UK, allowing him to operate within the very system designed to protect vulnerable children.[^1] ### Arrests and Criminal Activities In 1992, Peter Righton was arrested after customs officials intercepted child pornography addressed to him from Amsterdam. This arrest occurred following an inquiry into the death of Carole Kasir, the former owner of [[Elm Guest House]], during which Righton was identified as one of the VIPs captured on video at the hotel. Two years later in 1994, Righton was arrested once more during a Scotland Yard investigation into allegations of historic sexual abuse at children's homes. At age 68, he was described as "a leading consultant on children's homes" and was questioned in connection with indecent assaults on children in the London area. The 1994 arrest was part of a nationwide abuse inquiry that followed the closure of [[New Barns]], a school for emotionally-disturbed children in Gloucestershire, where staff were facing abuse charges.[^1] During the 1990 inquest into Carole Kasir's death, testimony was given that a "social services director" was among those captured on video at the Elm Guest House with naked boys. This testimony directly implicated Peter Righton as a visitor to the Elm Guest House, which was allegedly used as a venue for child sexual abuse and pornography production involving VIPs including MPs, judges, and other prominent figures. Righton's dual role as both a government expert on child protection and an active member of a pedophile organization represented a profound betrayal of public trust and positioned him perfectly to facilitate abuse within the care system while simultaneously shaping the policies meant to prevent it.[^1] The VIP pedophile dossier that Righton was mentioned in was resurrected in October 2012 when Labour MP [[Tom Watson]] asked Prime Minister [[David Cameron]] in parliament to investigate evidence of "a powerful paedophile network linked to parliament and No 10." Watson specifically requested that "a dossier of information used in 1992 to convict a notorious paedophile called Peter Righton was examined thoroughly," stating he believed the file would provide evidence of the powerful network. Watson's parliamentary question led to the launch of [[Operation Fernbridge]] in February 2013, a full criminal investigation into allegations that prominent people, including politicians, abused boys at the Elm Guest House in Barnes, south-west London during the early 1980s.[^1] ### Footnotes [^1]: Dovey, S. (2023). Eye of the Chickenhawk. United States: Thehotstar.