British activist beats cops in suit

Leo Adamson was awarded damages totaling 1,131 pounds (about $1,700) on November 16 for trespass and wrongful interference with goods by a jury of seven women and one man at Westminster County Court in England. The case arose out of the sledgehammer entry to Adamson's home and his subsequent arrest in July 1988 by police investigating the murder of Barry Lewis, who was abducted and killed in 1985. The six-year-old may have been sexually assaulted by his killer. Adamson said, "I brought the case because I believed the only reason the murder inquiry took an interest in me was that I am a gay pedophile. I have always been quite open about that, and was a leading member of the campaigning and social support group PIE (Pedophile Information Exchange) until it folded five years ago.

"I am delighted with this outcome, which demonstrates so clearly that the police are not entitled to arrest pedophiles as automatic suspects in such an inquiry. The fact that the murder was particularly horrific and sad cannot justify arbitrary and oppressive police action against a vulnerable minority. "This is the first time anyone in the country has fought a civil case as a declared pedophile. But I am sure this type of harassment is quite common, and I hope others will be encouraged by my success, and that the police will not get away with it quite so easily in the future." Adamson is a leading member of CHE (Campaign for Homosexual Equality).

source: 'British Activist Beats Cops in Suit'; NAMBLA Bulletin, vol.11, n. 1; January/February 1990