Visakhapatnam: In a significant development in the long pending case of an Australian, Paul Henry Dean, who was booked under paedophile charges, the victims — orphans in an orphanage run by him — for the first time deposed before the court.

No one had testified against Dean for 14 years, and government advocates were worried that the victims and witnesses could turn hostile. At this juncture, the four victims were examined in an in-camera proceeding.

Dean was arrested in the city by the III Town police on August 22, 2001, for allegedly sexually abusing 12 orphans and street children living in the New Hope orphanage run by him.

“It had become very difficult to get the victims and witnesses on board for questioning. After continuous persuasion for some time, we could finally examine four victims. They explained in detail how they were sexually abused. To make them comfortable while deposing, we ensured there was no one in the court except the judge and a few others. We have recorded everything in the presence of the judge,” public prosecutor Botcha Prameela said.

According to the victims, Dean used to give them money and sometimes used to threaten them that he would throw them out of the orphanage, she said. Ms Prameela had earlier written a letter to the police on the slow process of identifying the victims which had been delaying the case in court. It had become a tough task to locate the victims who left the orphanage after Dean was arrested.