Barry McCloud ‘befriended’ poor family in Goa to carry out sickening attacks
A MAN has admitted a series of sex offences after abusing a girl in India, police said.
Barry McCloud has pleaded guilty to raping a child under 13 and administering a stupefying drug to his victim to abuse her, Hertfordshire Police said.
The force said the case was the first time in Hertfordshire that someone had been charged with sexually abusing a child who lives overseas.
Police said McCloud, from Watford, befriended the girl’s family in Goa and took advantage of their vulnerability, abusing her on a number of occasions when he travelled to India. The offences date back to 2005-2007.
The 53-year-old has pleaded guilty to a series of offences at St Albans Crown Court and will be sentenced at a later date.
Hertfordshire Police said they led the probe, supported by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and a non-government agency in India called Justice and Care.
CPS District Crown Prosecutor Tamsyn Wilcox said: “Barry McCloud abused the trust of a family living in extreme poverty in Goa.
“He befriended and sponsored the eldest son, and he used his position of trust to gain access to one of the younger sisters, the victim in this case.”
She continued: “McCloud was charged under Section 72 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 which allows prosecutors to charge a person with an offence committed abroad if they are a British citizen or resident, and the crime would be an offence in the country in which it is committed, as well as here.”
Detective Inspector Paul Doran, senior investigating officer, said the investigation had secured safety and justice for the victim but also reassurance that “this dangerous predator no longer poses a risk within our community”.
