Sex Abuse Probe Will Not Look at the Claims on an Mp Rape "Fantasist" after Doubts Emerged about Her Story

By Stephen Wright
Daily Mail
May 14, 2018

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5728571/Sex-abuse-probe-NOT-look-claims-MP-rape-fantasist.html

Esther Baker (pictured) made allegations which will not be investigated by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

A woman's claims that she was the victim of a Westminster paedophile plot will not be examined by the public inquiry into child sex abuse after doubts emerged about her story.

Four months after the Daily Mail raised questions about Esther Baker's account of supposed VIP abuse, it has been announced that her allegations will not be investigated by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

Inquiry chairman Professor Alexis Jay described Miss Baker's allegations as 'highly contentious' and added that she is the subject of a complaint to police that she had perverted the course of justice.

'I have decided that the inquiry will not investigate the issues that Miss Baker has raised that relate to her own alleged experiences of child sexual abuse,' Professor Jay said.

'Miss Baker's primary concern, as I apprehend it, is that the inquiry should adduce evidence about and make findings of fact that go to the truth or otherwise of her allegations of having been the victim of child sexual abuse.

'That is to misunderstand the inquiry's function, which … is to investigate institutional failings, and not to determine disputed facts on individual cases, and that is a further reason why I have decided to reject the submissions made on behalf of Miss Baker.'

In January there was an outcry after it emerged that Miss Baker, 35, who made unsubstantiated rape allegations against a former Liberal Democrat MP, had been given special status as a core participant at the IICSA.

Core participants are entitled to apply for taxpayer-funded legal representation. They can also make opening and closing statements at hearings, suggest lines of questioning and receive electronic disclosure of evidence.

The decision to give her special status came months after police dropped an investigation into her claims against ex-MP John Hemming, who says his life was ruined by Miss Baker's 'lies'.

Prosecutors ruled there was insufficient evidence to press charges. He and others had been accused by Miss Baker of repeatedly raping her in a forest at Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, in the 1980s and 1990s when she was between the ages of six and 11 – while police kept guard.

She waived her legal right to anonymity in 2015 to give a television interview about her alleged ordeal. Mr Hemming was voluntarily interviewed under caution by Staffordshire Police, but not arrested.

He went on to make a formal allegation to police that Miss Baker had perverted the course of justice. She denies being a fantasist and making up her rape story.

Details of Mr Hemming's claims, which he says support his complaint that Miss Baker perverted the course of justice, appear in legal papers seen by the Daily Mail in January.

Ex-MP John Hemming (pictured with partner Emily Cox) said his life was ruined by Miss Baker's accusations

In a High Court witness statement, part of legal action he is taking against a vociferous supporter of Miss Baker, the former MP claimed that two weeks before she accused him of rape Miss Baker had emailed him and sought his help.

He said: 'She did not accuse me of being a rapist … she said she had been abused as a child in a faith-related paedophile ring.

'Her own MP and the Prime Minister did not assist her so she forwarded the email to me asking for my help. I suggest she contact the police.'

In his statement, Mr Hemming alleged that prior to accusing him she tweeted that she had 'never' met an MP.

'Yet only a few weeks later Baker claimed to have met two politicians – one myself … whom she claimed to have identified as the man who both raped and sexually assaulted her,' he said.

A spokesman for the IICSA said Miss Baker remains a core participant of the inquiry, but did not elaborate.

According to the IICSA's website it is the inquiry chairman who would grant Miss Baker special status in the Westminster part of the inquiry.

Miss Baker said she 'never' asked the IICSA to investigate her allegations. 'That is outside of scope (sic) and they are certainly not qualified to do so,' she said on Twitter.