The Metropolitan Police has confirmed that there remains an ongoing investigation into serious allegations of historic child sexual abuse which saw a Coulsdon man arrested in January 2022.
The man, reported at the time to be in his 60s, was arrested 18 months ago “on suspicion of rape”, according to a Met statement. He was later released on bail and has not been charged.
Neighbours on Cordrey Gardens spoke of their concerns at the time, as a house was cordoned off by police tape and treated as a crime scene while it was being searched. Blue sheeting screened the rear of the house during the search.
The continuing investigation is being undertaken by the Met’s specialist Child Abuse Investigation Team.
The arrest is believed to be connected with a large number of officers who conducted a search of woods near How Lane. Local allotments were also searched by police.
The police said that they received the allegations of “non-recent sexual abuse”, dating to the early 1990s.
“The allegations relate to two males who were both children at the time of the alleged abuse. Both males are being supported by specially trained officers,” a spokeswoman for the Met told Inside Croydon.
Inside Croydon has also been made aware that the suspect has also been subject to a report to Croydon police over their use of the internet, and websites that they maintain, which have been described as “both sinister and illegal”. Some of the website content dates back at least 10 years.
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Sadly, under the Conservatives, crimes are ignored and criminals go unpunished. The Met should get their finger out and deal with these very serious allegations. Justice delayed is justice denied. Come on Chris Philp, do something!