Chat-show host goes on trial over 'orphan sex ring'

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=586434
By Elizabeth Nash in Madrid
25 November 2004

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Portuguese socialites are among seven people who go on trial in Lisbon today accused of preying upon vulnerable children from state orphanages.

Among those accused in the country's worst scandal for decades are Portugal's best-known media celebrity, the chat show host Carlos Cruz, 63, and Portugal's former ambassador to South Africa, Jorge Ritto, 68.

Also charged is Carlos Silvino, 47, a former caretaker employed by the state-run Casa Pia children's homes, who is accused of 669 acts of child sex abuse and of organising the supply of children for use as sex toys by members of Portugal's social and showbusiness elite.

Evidence emerged two years ago that up to 100 children in state care suffered decades of sexual abuse while senior politicians turned a blind eye

Adolescents went on television to give testimonies of rape by adults they knew only as "Mr Engineer" or "Mr Doctor". They said Mr Silvino, whom they called "Bibi", offered them sweets and visits to football matches, then raped them in lavatories or dark corridors, and recruited them for sex parties with "important friends". When Mr Silvino was approached by a reporter two years ago, his reply prompted suspicion of a top-level conspiracy: "They can't touch me," he said. "There are too many powerful people involved."

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