Canada has finally stripped an aid worker of one of the nation’s highest civilian honors years after the former charity founder was convicted in Nepal of using his international work with impoverished children to sexually exploit them.
Governor General Mary Simon announced on Friday that she had approved the termination of Peter Dalglish’s membership in the Order of Canada — but seven years after the once lauded “humanitarian” was sentenced to prison over raping two boys aged 11 and 14, the Daily Mail reported.
Dalglish co-founded the children’s charity Street Kids International and was later appointed to the Order of Canada in 2016.
However, years later he was convicted in Nepal of raping two boys aged 11 and 14 and was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2019.
The case stemmed from a raid on his home where police discovered the boys there as part of an investigation which had monitored Dalglish for weeks.
“A Nepalese law enforcement official previously accused Dalglish of targeting vulnerable boys from impoverished families by offering promises of education, jobs, and travel opportunities before he sexually abused them,” the Mail reported.
The Nepal court also ordered Dalglish to pay roughly $9,100 in compensation to the victims. According to the Mail:
Activists in Nepal said the conviction sent a major message in a country that has struggled with child exploitation cases and weak enforcement against sexual predators targeting poor families.
Nepal has faced mounting scrutiny in recent years over cases involving foreign predators accused of exploiting vulnerable children while operating under the cover of humanitarian or aid work.
Dalglish first drew attention through his charity efforts with street children and child laborers, co-founding Street Kids International in the 1980s. The organization later merged with Save the Children.
He also held senior positions with multiple international humanitarian agencies linked to the United Nations.
Veteran crime writer Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true crime best seller House of Secrets , which documents one of the worst cases of child sex abuse in U.S. history, and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.