In 2019, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) reported that an MI6 officer was found in possession of child abuse images on a workplace computer. The discovery, which occurred in 2006, led to the official’s dismissal and a serious investigation by the police. However, the prosecution was ultimately abandoned by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) following an “abuse of process” application, a decision the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) later reported as a matter of “disappointment.”
The inquiry heard horrendous evidence from an anonymous officer who confirmed that, prior to 2015, MI6 had no specific policies for preventing or reporting suspected child abuse. The investigation into the 2006 incident involved an internal search to identify the employee responsible for the vile and sickening digital material. While the CPS initially brought two charges of possessing indecent images of children, the case never reached trial, highlighting serious historical failures in the accountability of intelligence personnel.
The IICSA also reported a 2009 incident involving an MI6 “contact” who admitted to downloading a cache of child sexual abuse images. Although the material was passed to the police’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection command (CEOP), detectives reported there was insufficient evidence to proceed. Furthermore, a disturbing note was unearthed regarding the late diplomat Sir Peter Hayman, a member of the Paedophile Information Exchange, which described him as a “pompous man” who sought to “dandle children on his knee” while serving in Ottawa.
Despite these vicious and “vile” revelations, the anonymous MI6 officer claimed the service found no evidence of a wider “paedophile ring” or government cover-ups within its files. This followed similar testimony from an MI5 lawyer who reported that the security service had been aware of rumours regarding a minister’s “penchant for small boys” in the 1980s but failed to notify the police. These findings underscore a serious historical lack of transparency and a deplorable failure to safeguard children from predatory individuals within high-level government circles.
As a result of these historical failures, MI6 implemented specific child protection policies in 2015 to ensure future allegations of child abuse are handled with the necessary serious oversight. Today, any intelligence officer or contact suspected of vile sexual crimes would be managed under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) if convicted. The IICSA continues to scrutinise how such predatory behaviour was allowed to persist and why serious legal proceedings were so frequently abandoned or avoided in the past.
If you or anyone you know has been affected by the individuals highlighted on this website, please report them to the Police on 101 (999 in an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details on reporting a crime. You can also report to Crimestoppers if you wish to remain completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.