Grafton Close Children's Home was run by [[Richmond Council]] in the Richmond area of London during the early 1980s. The home became infamous for its role in supplying children to the [[Elm Guest House]] VIP pedophile network. According to testimony from social worker [[Mary Moss]] during the 1990 inquest into the death of [[Carole Kasir]], the former owner of Elm Guest House, Kasir had approached her in 1989 with evidence that boys from Grafton Close Children's Home were supplied as prostitutes to VIP guests of the Elm Guest House back in the early 1980s. Mary Moss stated, "It was alleged the home, run by Richmond Council, supplied boys under the age of 14 to the gay guest house during the early 1980s said to be frequented often by top MPs and judges." According to Moss, Carole Kasir had been involved with a group of child pornographers linked to the foster home's management and was in fear for her life in the lead up to her death from an insulin overdose in July 1990.[^1] ### Management and Criminal Activities The manager of Grafton Close Children's Home at the time was a man named [[John Stingemore]], who would later be charged in 2014 for sexual abuse of the children there. Stingemore died before his trial could commence, but a priest named [[Anthony McSweeney]] who worked with Stingemore at the home was convicted over the same charges in 2015. The home's management was directly involved in the systematic abuse and trafficking of children in their care. Mary Moss provided detailed testimony about the home's role in the larger network, stating that when asked who visited the Elm Guest House, she responded: "MPs. All sorts of prominent people...It was a child porn racket. I don't think that necessarily anyone would be accused of just simply being perverts. This was a money-making business." Her testimony revealed that the operation was not merely about individual perversion but was organized criminal activity designed for profit through the sexual exploitation of children.[^1] Moss described specific cases that came to her attention, stating: "One of my cases that walked into the office was a young boy who had been abused there. And another case...was a boy who had been abused in another children's home and it all linked up. In a nutshell he [the abuse victim] was abused at Grafton Close children's home and procured for the Elm Guest House where they were filmed to make child porn, which was then distributed."[^1] ### Investigation and Legal Proceedings The information about Grafton Close Children's Home became part of [[Operation Fernbridge]], launched by Metropolitan Police in February 2013 to investigate allegations of VIP child abuse at Elm Guest House. Documents and notes compiled by Mary Moss from her conversations with Carole Kasir were leaked online in January 2013 shortly before being seized by police, leading to the arrest of "the two aforementioned heads of Grafton Close Children's Home."[^1] ### Footnotes [^1]: Dovey, S. (2023). Eye of the Chickenhawk. United States: Thehotstar.