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Friday, March 7, 2008

 

Teacher who exposed pedophilia at Ethiopian orphanage faces jail

‘A British teacher is facing up to six months in jail after being convicted of defamation for comments she made in exposing pedophiles at a children’s charity in Ethiopia 10 years ago.

Jill Campbell and her husband Gary Campbell compiled evidence in 1999 that helped convict the director of an Ethiopian orphanage run by the Swiss charity Terre Des Hommes-Lausanne. The charity acknowledged the abuse took place, but brought a successful defamation case against the Campbells for their claims that the charity’s senior staff covered up the scandal.

Jill Campbell will be sentenced Friday.

“We asked them to stop defaming us and they said no,” said Colin Tucker, child protection manager for Terre Des Hommes in Switzerland. “Then the court asked them to stop defaming us and she said no again.”

The Campbells, who have lived in Ethiopia for more than a decade, have drawn wide support in Ethiopia. A group formed to support them, Stop Institutional Pedophilia in Ethiopia, said the charity is “forcing Gary and Jill to apologize for blowing the whistle.”‘




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