UNITED KINGDOM
Christian Today
Harry Farley JOURNALIST 08 February 2017
John Smyth QC, accused of abusing boys at Christian youth camps, continued his attacks after he fled to Zimbabwe, according to an ongoing investigation by Channel 4.
The barrister left the UK in the early 1980s after an inquiry by the Christian charity the Iwerne Trust uncovered he had beaten boys, prompting one university student to attempt suicide.
But he set up similar Christian youth camps for public school boys, Zambezi Holidays, in Zimbabwe.
Concerns about Smyth’s behaviour at the camps in Zimbabwe were raised as early as 1986, according to Channel 4’s Cathy Newman, with documents revealing how “incidents of nudity and beatings on Zambezi Ministries camps increased”.
An investigation into the camps after a 15-year-old boy died found Smyth “would stand, in the nude, in the vicinity of, or just inside, the shower area”.
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