Avsnitt
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Journalist Alex Renton is shown a secret document, containing the names and addresses of people signed up to a pro-paedophile group called the Paedophile Information Exchange, or PIE, which was active in the 1970s and 80s.
That’s not all: weeks after getting the membership list Alex meets a contact who gives him bags full of documents, crammed with reports, contact details, letters.
As Alex starts following up on leads; detail of the criminal activities committed by some of PIE’s members, and those connected with them, begins to emerge.
It’s a lot to take in. Alex is not only a journalist, he’s a survivor of child sexual abuse. All of this information about PIE; it feels like a heavy weight to carry. Are children still at risk?
Alex sets off on a dizzying journey into the dark history of the Paedophile Information Exchange and uncovers abuses committed by PIE's members: teachers, clergy, social workers, government advisors.
As Alex finds out more, he starts to wonder: where are all those hundreds of members now?
He meets the former deputy editor of Private Eye, journalist Francis Wheen: he has a long memory for news and a nose for stories that people in power want to keep secret. What does he know about PIE?
Archive credits: Newsnight, BBC, August 1983
Details of organisations offering information and support for victims of child sexual abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline
Presenter: Alex RentonProducer: Caitlin SmithResearchers: Claire Harris and Marisha CurrieExecutive producers: Gail Champion and Gillian WheelanWritten by Alex Renton, Caitlin Smith, Jack Kibble White and Kirsty WilliamsSound designer: Jon NichollsTheme tune composed by Jeremy Warmsley
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Journalist Alex Renton attended three traditional private schools. When he was eight he left home and boarded at Ashdown House, where he was sexually abused by a teacher. It wasn't until 2014 that Alex felt able to face his demons. He began writing about his experiences and that's when emails and letters started pouring in from other boarding school survivors, from around the country. The scale was breathtaking.
In summer 2022 Alex presented the series 'In Dark Corners', in which he followed the path of predatory teachers as they made their way through Britain's most elite schools, where the abuse was either ignored or enabled. Few were charged. Many fled the country.
In this fourth episode Alex picks up the stories of two teachers covered earlier in the series. 'Hubert' from episode 1 was a teacher at Ashdown House; an exclusive all boys school in Sussex, which includes Boris Johnson amongst its alumni. 'Edgar' from episode 2 taught broadcaster Nicky Campbell, amongst many others, at Edinburgh Academy and Fettes College in Edinburgh.
Both teachers have numerous allegations of sexual abuse against them spanning decades and continents. Both are now in South Africa. Will they ever be brought back to Britain to be tried in court?
BBC Action Line support: Child sexual abuse:https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/22VVM5LPrf3pjYdKqctmMXn/information-and-support-sexual-abuse-and-violence
Producer: Caitlin SmithPresenter: Alex RentonEditors: Gail Champion and Heather Kane-DarlingResearch in South Africa: Carol Albertyn ChristieSound design: Jon Nicholls
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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Alex Renton attended three traditional private schools. When he was eight he left home and boarded at Ashdown House, a prep school in East Sussex; a feeder school to Eton College.
Within weeks of his arrival he was sexually abused by a teacher. The teacher was never charged or even sacked. He died in 2011, a free man.
The assault, compounded by the physical and emotional abuse so often a feature of boarding school life, has stayed with Alex. And like a great number of the million Britons alive today who attended these institutions, he spent the subsequent years trying to forget what had happened to him there.
Then, in 2014, Alex finally decided he had to face his demons. He wrote a book, Stiff Upper Lip, about public schools and about the experiences he and others had within them. That’s when the emails and letters started pouring in. Former pupils, men and women, from all around the country, shared with him their stories of sexual and physical abuse. The scale was breathtaking.
Now, years later, Alex Renton has unfinished business with Britain’s elite schooling system.
In the last episode of this three series Alex heads north to Aberlour and Gordonstoun. Aberlour is a feeder school for Gordonstoun, where many of the Royal family were educated. The novelist William Boyd, a contemporary of Prince Charles called it 'a type of penal servitude'.
Alex tells the story of two former pupils; both sexually assaulted by different teachers in the early nineties, and follows their struggle for peace and recompense.
Producer: Caitlin SmithSound Design: Jon Nicholls Editors: Gail Champion and Heather Kane-Darling
Photo: Alex at eight
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Alex Renton attended three traditional private schools. When he was eight he left home and boarded at Ashdown House, a prep school in East Sussex; a feeder school to Eton College.
Within weeks of his arrival he was sexually abused by a teacher. The teacher was never charged or even sacked. He died in 2011, a free man.
The assault, compounded by the physical and emotional abuse so often a feature of boarding school life, has stayed with Alex. And like a great number of the million Britons alive today who attended these institutions, he spent the subsequent years trying to forget what had happened to him there.
Then, in 2014, Alex finally decided he had to face his demons. He wrote a book, Stiff Upper Lip, about public schools and about the experiences he and others had within them. That’s when the emails and letters started pouring in. Former pupils, men and women, from all around the country, shared with him their stories of sexual and physical abuse. The scale was breathtaking.
Now, years later, Alex Renton has unfinished business with Britain’s elite schooling system.
In the second of a three part series, Alex tracks how a prolific abuser was able to make his way through some of the UK's most elite schools - from Shrewsbury, to Bradfield and from Eton College to Fettes College in Edinburgh. Alex discovers that in the 1970s a number of paedophiles were operating at the same time in Fettes. One is still alive today.
Producer: Caitlin SmithResearcher: Claire HarrisSound Design: Jon NichollsEditors: Gail Champion and Heather Kane-Darling
Photo: Alex at eight years old
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Alex Renton attended three traditional private schools. When he was eight he left home and boarded at Ashdown House, a prep school in East Sussex; a feeder school to Eton College.
Within weeks of his arrival he was sexually abused by a teacher. The teacher was never charged or even sacked. He died in 2011, a free man.
The assault, compounded by the physical and emotional abuse so often a feature of boarding school life, has stayed with Alex. And like a great number of the million Britons alive today who attended these institutions, he spent the subsequent years trying to forget what had happened to him there.
Then, in 2014, Alex finally decided he had to face his demons. He wrote a book, Stiff Upper Lip, about public schools and about the experiences he and others had within them. That’s when the emails and letters started pouring in. Former pupils, men and women, from all around the country, shared with him their stories of sexual and physical abuse. The scale was breathtaking.
Now, years later, Alex Renton has unfinished business with Britain’s elite schooling system.
In the first episode of a three part series, Alex returns to Ashdown House, where some of Britain's most powerful figures, including Boris Johnson and the Queen's nephew David Linley, were educated.
From Sussex to South Africa, Alex tells the story of how a group of men, all subjected to horrendous sexual abuse, are still fighting to bring their abusers to justice.
Producer: Caitlin SmithAdditional Research: Claire Harris Reporting in South Africa: Nceba Ezra Singapi Sound Design: Jon NichollsEditors: Gail Champion and Heather Kane-Darling
Photo: Alex at eight years old
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In 2022, journalist Alex Renton told the story of sexual abuse and cover up in Britain’s elite schools, including his own. After the Radio 4 series aired, his inbox exploded; with people sharing their personal accounts of abuse.
Last spring, and anothr email. This one came with an attachment: a scanned copy of a membership list for a pro-paedophile campaign group active in the 1970s and 80s. The group's name was the Paedophile Information Exchange, or PIE for short.
The PIE List sets Alex - himself a survivor of child sexual abuse - on a dizzying journey into the group’s dark history.
As he digs further, a source gets in touch; could Alex travel to meet him? During that meeting he hands him other secret documents, which build a picture of the criminal activities of some of PIE’s members: teachers, clergymen, social workers, government advisors.
Alex begins to wonder: where are all those hundreds of PIE members now? Are children still at risk?
Presenter: Alex RentonProducer: Caitlin SmithResearchers: Claire Harris and Marisha CurrieExecutive producers: Gail Champion and Gillian WheelanStory Consultants: Jack Kibble White and Kirsty WilliamsWritten by Alex Renton, Caitlin Smith, Jack Kibble White and Kirsty WilliamsSound designer: Jon NichollsTheme tune composed by Jeremy WarmsleyCommissioning executive: Tracy WilliamsCommissioner: Dan Clarke
