He is an alleged child sexual offender in Bengaluru. He served a 13 month sentence in a Bengaluru prison for forging documents and now, Paul Meekin, a British citizen, has resurfaced as a teacher in a Kuwaiti school.
The News Minute has accessed pictures of Paul Meekin with school children in Kuwait, which establish the fact that he has rehabilitated himself in the form of a teacher and continues to interact with children in a different country.
Paul Meekin, who was accused of sending lewd messages to a child in the Bengaluru school and behaving inappropriately with an 8 year child in Goa, now uses his alias in Kuwait – Dr Colin Cornes.
These are Paul Meekin alias Dr Colin Cornes’ pictures from the Kuwaiti school that employed him, Universal American School. He is seen posing with children in a class photo in this 2013 year book.
Paul Meekin is clean shaven in these pictures, a change from his bearded avatar in Bengaluru.
In October, The News Minute received an anonymous mail from someone in Kuwait who tipped us off that Meekin was Class 6 social studies teacher at the Universal American School in Kuwait.
Though he was no longer Dr Paul Meekin, but was Dr Colin Cornes, a name he had used when he was in Britain, two teachers raised concerns with us.
On enquiry, we were told that Meekin had joined the school in August 2013, and continued to teach there till the end of the academic year in June 2014
In August 2014, he had joined another school in Kuwait under the same name. At the Hayat Bilingual school too he was called Dr Colin Cornes.
Cases against Paul Meekin in India
In January 2012, news first broke out about a British citizen named Paul Meekin, principal of Trio World School in Bengaluru, also known as the British International School, getting arrested after a parent complained that he had sent a lewd messages to a child on Facebook.
Meekin was arrested, let off on bail the very next day. He was rearrested after three days when police realized that Dr Paul Meekin Ph.D was a fraud and had no Ph.D.
Later, more complaints came to the fore as a parent revealed that Meekin had taken one of the boy students (8 year old) to Goa and behaved inappropriately with him.
Meekin’s case was followed by all media houses. The usual outrage followed and I was one of the reporters who were also shouting back then that the man should be punished for his deeds.
Meekin was convicted for fraud and served a sentence of 13 months of imprisonment and walked out on bail on March 1, 2013.
What is important to note here is that Meekin was convicted only for forging his documents, the more serious case under Section 23 of the Juvenile Justice Act (cruelty to a child) and Section 67 of the IT Act (publishing obscene information in electronic form) are still pending.
It’s been one and half years, and two arrest warrants have been issued against him for not appearing in court, Meekin is still missing.
We have asked the Bengaluru police many times about Paul Meekin. From ‘his case is over’, to ‘he is absconding’ and ‘he is surely in India’, the Bengaluru police have always maintained that they are on top of the case.
Going by the flak the Bengaluru police received in the last few months for the way they handled cases of child sexual abuse, one would safely assume that they would have moved heaven and earth to secure Paul Meekin.
Kuwaiti school’s response to Paul Meekin:
Dr James Moras, Superintendent at the Universal American School, told Mirror: “We had someone work here for six months called Colin Cornes. He provided us with a British passport which looked genuine in the name Colin Cornes and the references he gave us checked out.We were happy with his work here. He was a good teacher but he could not provide the necessary paperwork needed such as teaching certificates and degree papers for his work visa so we had to let him go.”
It was astounding to learn that a man absconding from India, whose passport had been impounded by the local police, has managed to flee and has assumed a dignified life in another country.
Why no red corner notice?
During the second week of November, The News Minute informed Bengaluru Police Commissioner M N Reddi that we have credible information about Paul Meekin in Kuwait. On November 15, as advised by Reddi, an email was sent to DCP crime mentioning the names of the schools.
In spite of repeated follow up, the Bengaluru police never bothered to issue a red corner notice.
The British media picked up on the Kuwait trail based on this information and published stories that Meekin could be in Kuwait just two days ago. Ever since then, Meekin has not turned up at the Hayat School. The Hayat Bilingual school’s director Raja Al-Saleh says they gave Meekin a job as they wanted a social studies teacher, “We were only told about concerns about his past a few days ago.I gave him the job as I was in need of a social studies teacher. I have not seen his passport and I have not had time to check out his references.”
Hayat says they sacked Meekin during the weekend.
The Bengaluru police’s lethargy and diffidence is evident says Vidya Reddy of Tulir. “This case clearly shows the apathetic attitude in understanding travel sexual offenders, and that has made India a magnet for such cases. The Bangalore police told media in September 2014 that they will issue a red corner notice, in October the Assistant Commissioner was quoted saying they are confident Meekin was in India. Bengaluru police clearly do not understand transnational crimes, forget child sexual abuse. In spite of repeated media attention, the Bangalore police were dragging their feet and they allowed a man with history of sexual abuse get away,” says Vidya. (Tulir-Centre for the Prevention and healing of child sexual abuse (CPHCSA) is an NGO that addresses issues of child sexual abuse.)
In August 2014, we had written that Trio World School’s former principal Paul Meekin may have left the country or maybe working as an educator somewhere around the country. Sadly, that has come true. This man shows all the signs of being a sexual predator, precisely why he chooses to work with children, may have fled Kuwait, or may resurface at some other school. Will we ever care?