Australian child molester's case adjourned till 27 April

Visakhapatnam: The second additional district and sessions judge once again adjourned the case of Paul Henry Dean, accused of sexually abusing several children in Visakhapatnam, to 27 April. This was the second time the case has been adjourned.

The Railway court in Vizag had sentenced the 75-year-old Paul Dean to three-years imprisonment. Paul was charged under Section 377 of the IPC (unnatural act), Section 12 of the Passport Act 1967, and Section 14 of the Foreigners Act for living in India for the last four decades without passport and visa. The accused had pleaded mercy and sought minimum punishment. The court had also imposed a fine of Rs. 32, 000 in March 2018.

The Australian was convicted and sentenced based on the statement of the lone witness and victim, a blind man. Paul had obtained a bail immediately and filed an appeal in the second additional district and sessions judge.

According to reports, Paul fled Australia after stealing $170,000 from a travel firm in 1977. He moved to Vizag where he joined New Hope Children's Home to serve the orphans. He moved to an apartment at RK Beach owned by the Home. He visited the Home at Madhuravada and another one in Kothavalasa in Vizianagaram district. He allegedly sexually molested the orphans in his apartment. He was arrested after one of the victims leaked the news to the media.

Paul masqueraded as a priest, missionary, and a doctor, Allan Rose alias Parviraj. The orphans used to call him Tatagaru. The Vizag police arrested him in 2001. After he was released from the prison on bail, he moved to Odisha where he committed the same offenses in Muniguda village. One of his victims committed suicide unable to bear the harassment.