46 The Mail on Sunday^ September 1^ •^2019
A chArity for child abuse vic
tims has suspended its founder
after he admitted a drunken sexual
encounter with a woman he knew
was molested as a youngster.
the Mail on Sunday revealed
last week that Peter Saunders,
61, of the National Association for
People Abused in childhood, was
arrested on suspicion of rape after
the incident in 2008. however, he
was never charged after the cPS
decided there was insufficient
evidence to prosecute.
Ahead of the Mail on Sunday
report, Mr Saunders stepped down
from his position on the inde
pendent inquiry into child Sexual
Abuse, the national investigation
into abuse at schools, churches
and other institutions.
his charity, which receives
£350,000 a year from taxpayers,
initially stood by him, with chair
man John Bakker saying trustees
learnt of the incident in 2008 and
had ‘dealt with the matter prop
erly’. But last week the charity
changed its position and said: ‘it is
with regret the board of trustees
has suspended Pete Saunders from
his role as founder and spokes
person with immediate effect. thisperiod of suspension will allow a
process of investigation into the
issues raised by a story published
on 25 August 2019 [in the MoS].’
Mr Bakker would not say why
Mr Saunders had been suspended
after the charity had insisted thematter was closed. Mr Saunders
declined to comment. As the MoS
reported, the 2008 incident at a
Manchester restaurant took place
after Mr Saunders arranged to meet
a woman he knew was a victim of
childhood sexual abuse to discuss if
she might work with his charity.
Mr Saunders bought several
bottles of wine during their lunch
with the woman and her female
friend, using his charity’s credit
card. he told the MoS he had encoun
tered the woman outside the restau
rant toilets. ‘She pretty much took
me into a cubicle and she performed
what they call a sex act on me. i was
too drunk to stop it,’ he said.
he denied sexually assaulting
her, saying: ‘the incident was not
as [the woman] alleged. it was a
totally consensual, albeit drunken
encounter, the shame of which i
will live with for the rest of my life.
it was instigated by her.’
he added that he was ‘deeply
sorry’ about the incident.Thompson
TWO-THIRDS of women pack
more than 30 outfits for a
fortnight-long holiday.
And one in ten takes between
50 and 100 outfits – up to seven
sets of clothes for every day of
their break – according to a poll
of 2,000 women. But on average,
each holidaymaker wore only
half the items they packed.
Pressure to create the perfect
Instagram post was one reason
given for taking too many clothes.
‘It’s sad to see how many women
feel under-confident because of
social media,’ said Samantha Ryder,
of breast lift tape firm Perky
Pear, which conducted the survey.
‘Holidaymakers should concentrate
on getting away from it all.’Women take
30 outfits
on holiday
By David Rose
SHAME: Peter Saunders, right, was
backed after last week’s report, aboveCharity chief
quits child sex
abuse inquiry
over drunken
lunch tryst
with ex-victim
Child abuse charity
suspends chief over
tryst with ex-victim
EPA