Deceased former-Rochdale MP Sir Cyril Smith did visit a guest house currently investigated for alleged child sexual abuse, according to the Metropolitan police.
Smith, who died in 2010 aged 82, was confirmed to have visited Elm Guest House in West London where two men have been charged with alleged sexual abuse.
After his death, Lancashire police investigated allegations that Smith indecently assaulted eight boys at Cambridge House, a privately-run hostel in Rochdale in the 1960s, after current Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk called for an inquiry into the alleged abuse.
Smith is also suspected of raping several boys at Knowl View School in Rochdale and the Crown prosecution service has admitted that Smith should have been prosecuted for the abuse in the 1960s.
Mr Danczuk said: “We now know from other victims (of Cambridge House) that indecent assault is what he would have been prosecuted with but his abuse went on from there.
“There is no doubt about it from the witnesses that have come forward that rape would have been included in the allegations against him, absolutely.
“That is what is alleged by people who were at Knowl View, which is a special school within Rochdale local authority area, and that is where it is alleged – and it is openly out there – that he raped children.”
Smith was the Labour councillor from 1952 to 1966 and later a Liberal Democrat MP for Rochdale from 1972 to 1992.
Twelve men have now come forward to accuse Smith of sexually abusing them, with eight of them making claims in the 1960s, two more in 1999, and another two following last year’s media coverage.
Although he faced no action following inquiries in 1970 and the 1990s, the Crown Prosecution Service said procedural changes meant a prosecution would have been pursued today.
Evidence first came to light in a file compiled by Lancashire Constabulary in 1970 with allegations from eight men who claimed they had been the victims of Smith’s abuse.
A one-page letter from Director of Public Prosecutions Norman Skelhorn, written to the Chief Constable of Lancashire on March 19 1970, stated: “I do not consider that if proceedings for indecent assault were to be taken against Smith, there would be a reasonable prospect of conviction.”
Nazir Afzal, chief prosecutor for the CPS in the North West, said this ‘way of thinking bears little resemblance to how such cases are assessed today’.
“The decision made in 1970 would not be made by the CPS today,” he said.
In a statement, Sir Cyril’s family said they were ‘deeply saddened and concerned’ by the allegations that were ‘made so long after Sir Cyril’s death and at a time when he is no longer able to defend himself’.
Picture courtesy of Rodhullandemu via Wikipedia Commons.
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