Colombo, Jan 19: Sri Lankan police have raided a holiday home of a leading British television presenter, Mathew Kelly, after his name emerged during a high-profile child sex investigation in Britain, officials said today.
The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) carried out the raid yesterday, during which they seized video tapes and computer and questioned a caretaker of Kelly's coastal retreat at the village of Pamunugama, 20 kms north of the capital Colombo, they said. The raid come two days after kelly, 52, was freed on bail after 20 hours of questioning by police in Kent in southern England probing allegations of sex abuse against young boys, a charge he emphatically denied.
"We should have been alerted by the British police, instead it was some journalists who gave us the information and we immediately acted on it," NCPA chairman Harendra de Silva said adding that they seized 54 videotapes and a computer and was currently going through the material. "We are now going through the videos. On the face of it, the covers look innocent -- they are all Walt Disney productions," De Silva said. "We are getting in touch with British police too on this case."
While noting that there was no strong evidence against Kelly, the host of the "stars in their eyes" talent show, De Silva said information from the locals suggested Kelly used to entertain village boys during his visits to Sri Lanka.
In a raid in the home of two Dutch nationals here two weeks ago, police rescued 11 boys who were allegedly being used in filming a pornographic video. The two fled the country before they could be nabbed.
Bureau Report