Australian man convicted of raping orphan boys in India released from jail

A court in Visakhapatnam had sentenced Dean to three years’ simple imprisonment but granted him bail shortly afterwards, media reports said.

A 75-year-old Australian who raped minor boys and young men in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha over several years was released from jail immediately after his conviction last month, media reports said on Friday.

After most of the victims turned hostile during the court proceedings, the man was convicted on the basis of only one victim, a visually impaired boy. (AFP File/Getty Images)

Paul Henry Dean posed as a priest and a doctor to sexually abuse young boys and men at an orphanage for children with visual, speech and hearing impairments in Visakhapatnam as well as in several places in Odisha.

A court in Visakhapatnam had sentenced Dean to three years’ simple imprisonment but granted him bail shortly afterwards, the reports said.

The Guardian quoted a police official, S Naidu, as saying that Dean was released after he filed an appeal.

After most of the victims turned hostile during the court proceedings, Dean was convicted on the basis of only one victim, a visually impaired boy.

One alleged victim, a 15-year-old with hearing and speech impairments, committed suicide in 1985 after accusing Dean of sexual abuse.

Dean, addressed as ‘tataguru’ (grandfather) by his victims, Dean, has lived in India for more than four decades after fleeing Australia on a fake passport in 1976. He

“Dean vanished from Australia using a fake passport after allegedly stealing AU$100,000 from a travel company, according to a 2009 investigation by ABC’s Four Corners,” the Guardian said.