A British former aid worker has been jailed for 9 years by an Ethiopian court for sexually abusing children in development/aid programs. David Allen, 62, was found guilty and sentenced by the High Court in Addis Ababa in August 2003. Allen was jailed for crimes that took place in 1995 when he ran an orphanage for Swiss charity ‘Terre des Hommes Lausanne’ in the northern Ethiopian village of Jai. The charity sacked him after hearing of the offences but Allen fled to Britain where he changed his name to David Christie and joined another well known international development agency. It took another six years before he was arrested over the offences. Allen was initially apprehended on an international arrest warrant in Zambia where it is said he planned to set up a children’s home. Allen was rearrested by Ethiopian authorities after a plane flying home to London stopped over in Addis Ababa. Allen actively developed networks with paedophiles who infiltrate overseas development programs.
CHILD WISE
ECPAT in Australia
September 2003