December 2004
JAILED PERVERT GETS CHARITY CHILD PICS
A CONVICTED paedophile was sent pictures of youngsters by a children’s charity he sponsored from his secure unit.
Drunken pervert Geoffrey Strike, 59, donated £150 a month for nine months to the global charity World Vision which aims to stop child poverty and abuse. In return, he received images and stickers of children with which he decorated the walls of his rehabilitation unit.
It is claimed unit staff were aware of his sponsorship but did nothing to stop it. Letters from World Vision to Strike were marked with his membership number and the note “staff to look at this”.
It was only when Strike halted his membership last month that the pictures stopped arriving. A source told the Mirror: “A lot of staff were unhappy this was going on and that apparently nothing was done.
“When mail comes to the unit, it is supposed to be vetted. If people know someone with Strike’s history is getting pictures of children then something is seriously wrong.”
Strike – who has a shocking record of assaults on youngsters – is locked up in Charles House, Salford, Greater Manchester.
Craegmoor Healthcare, which runs the unit, said: “In the interests of confidentiality, it is not our policy to comment on individuals.
“We have looked into these concerns and taken appropriate action.”
World Vision was unaware of Strike’s fantasies. A calendar sent to him contained images of smiling boys and girls for nearly every month.
Sharon McLeod, Head of Supporter Care, told him in a letter: “I just wanted to say ‘thank you’.
“My hope is that it will bring to life how much you as a child sponsor are changing the world for children just like the ones shown on the pictures.”
Former soldier Strike indecently assaulted a boy of six in 1975. He admitted he felt no shame.
In 1983, he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act. Two years later, he was jailed for three months at Bolton for assaulting a girl of 10.
In 1991, Strike was convicted of gross indecency on a boy. He was jailed again for six months in 1994 for threatening police with a sword before being moved to a secure unit.
Despite his record, he has been allowed out of the unit without escort.
Strike went AWOL for five weeks in August. He was found in a tent near a playground with a tub of vaseline, 300 cigarettes and a bottle of alcopop.
He is still allowed out of the unit on escorted leave.
World Vision said: “Our procedures are designed to prevent misuse of the sponsorship programme.”
