TASTE FOR LITTLE GIRLS DOWNFALL OF SPY CENTRE MOLE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP96B01172R000300030019-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 14, 2007
• Sequence Number: 19
• Content Type: NSPR

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TASTE. F: LITTLE GIRLS
DONEALL OF
SPA CENTRE MOLE
By IAN HENRY Old Bailey Correspondent'
GEOFFREY PRIME, 44, a former employee
of the Government's secret communica-
tions headquarters at Cheltenham, jailed
yesterday for spying for the Russians, was
only caught because of his taste for sex with
little girls.
After he confessed to three 'sex atti_;ks police
searched his home and discovered " material which
suggested he was involved in activities even more
grave," said, Sir MICHAEL HAVERS;. Q C, Attorney-
General, prosecuting, at the
Old Bailey.
In his wallet, they found a
code-pad, a document ex-
plaining '. how to handle
micro-dots, details of, radio
frequencies, and a top secret
memorandum. ?
.The police also took posses-
sion of, a powerful radio, two
recording tapes, a black brief-
case, ? a carrier bag containing
notebooks; and. 26 _ .envelo,pes
pre-addressed to .East Berlin.
Sir Michael said that in the
course of Prime's employment,
both in the RAF and in the
Government service= he came
to have access to information
ranging from the simply sen-
sitive to matters oaf the "very
highest"' secrecy. '
Over a period of 15 years he
had admitted passing secrets
Editorial Comment-P18
in' Berlin, Vienna; Potsdam and
London that had caused " excep-
tdional grave ;'damage."
At one stage, , the Press and
public were, excluded for 20
minutes while. Sir- Michael told
The court, in camera, "the deep
gravity of what Prime did."
Before doing so, Sir Michael.
said: "There has been much
wild speculation, most of which
is unsupported by the evidence
about the nature of -the damage
:for' which : he' is responsible,
especially in relation to nuclear
warheads and endanger?,ingc the
lives' of agents. . '
it I repeat there is no evidence
:to.support speculations -of this
r p ying and
sex charges
PRIME faced seven
spying charges' under
Section One of the
Officials ,Secrets Act:
They were, that for purposes
prejudicial to the safety and
interest of,the State, be com-'
municated information which
was calculated to, be, might
be, or: was f intended 'to be,
directly or.. indirectly useful
to an enemy:.
In Berlin, between :- Dec:. 31,
1967, and Aug., 1968;
Between Sept. 30, 1968 and
April 29, 1982;
Between May 1-31, 1970, in
Abbey Wood, London;
In' Vienna, between Sept, ' 1.30,
1975; , ,
In Vienna, between May 1.31,
1976; .
In ;Vienna, 'between May. 1.31,
1980;
And in Potsdam, East Germany,
between Nov. 1.30, 1981.
Prime also faced three charges
of indecently assaulting girls
on' April"10, 1980; on' May
28, 1981, and on April 21,
1982.
>3eporting of their-names was
prohibited by an order under
Section 39' of the Children
and Young Persons Act.
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, ever eit'd!CtnL * I
in brief case,
Prime was first interviewed
about his espionage activities
in June this year; but he simply
told police: "I don't. know
where you ,got that information
from, but that certainly isn't
true, I can assure you:'
But four:hours tof
gomin g. During he admitted re-
ceiving gnin#2000 from the
n
Russians, but claimed he never
got any further than considering
working for them.
At a later interview he ex-
plained that in September 1977
he had booked flights to Hel-
sinki on two occasions with a
view to living in Russia, but his
regard for his wife and her
children prevented him from
going through with the plan.
During t, hat interview with
the police. Prime said that in
1974 he had been given, via his
sister, a briefcase with a secret
compartment containing spying
equipment.
The plain black briefcase and
its secret compartment were
produced in court and the
method of opening it,,.removidg"
two screws in the handle, was
demonstrated.
Prime was interviewed twice
more, said Sir Michael, but he
repeated his denials. Then,
there was a"dramatic change."
Suddenly, he told two offi-
cers: "Yes, at 4 . o'clock today
June 26, .1982, 1 now wish to
tell you the whole truth,of this
tragic affair. I cahnot go--on
talking about my wife' whilst I
am continuing to tell:lies.
"it will take: a long- time;
could we have d short break,.
'then I'll start from `JanuarYY
1968, when this affair started.'
The statement which followed
was so long it was taken over
two days.
-Handed a note
at checkpoint
The salient features, which
emerged, were' that his first
'contact with Russian agents was
not in 1974, but in January.
.1968, when he was stationed in
'Berlin. .
"According to that statement
Prime began to feel sympathy
for the Soviet regime in the
mid-60s, and when returning
from leave banded a note to a
Soviet officer manning a check-
point into West Berlin indicat-
ing that he wished to make
contact."
Later he found a metallic
cylinder attached to the door
of his car. It contained a note
directing him to Friedrich.
strasse station, where he was
met by Russian agents. He ex-
plained that he wanted to give
them any information they
wanted.
"Thereafter Prime met his
contacts Igor and Valya regu-
'.larly until July 1968 when he
left the R A F. He told them
i the nature of his work and re-
vealed all the information
which was available to him.
"He used a miniature
camera to photograph R A F
Gatow's telephone directory
and delivered photographs to-
gether with a sample of classi-
fied material to his Russian
controller.
"Prime told his controller
that he was thinking of apply-
ing -for employment as a lin-
guist in the Civil Service and
was encouraged to pursue his
application,
"He returned to England in
July 1968, and was successful
in his job application being told
to report for duty in London
on Sept. 30, 1968
"Before starting work he
returned to East Berlin and
received extensive training in
the arts of the spy. He was
taught the method of secret
writing which allows invisible
messages in code to be over-
written on seemingly innocuous
letters.
"He was taught how to use
a miniature camera for photo.
graphing documents He was
taught how to receive coded
radio transmissions and how to
receive and handle microdots.
He was told the dead letter
box procedure. for conveying
information."
When . 'rime returned to
England he brought with him
the briefcase containing the
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,code pads ;for. deciphering mes-
sages sent to him by radio, and
to encipher messages sent back
to the Russians; secret`wi?iting
paper on ' which to write
encoded . messages; East. Ger.
man_v addressed envelopes, to
carry the secret messages in
invisible code; and #400;sterlir~g:
He was - given-tifie codename
Rowlands,-and p.password to be
used whentmeeting coutaets. In
reply to the contact saying: " I,
believe' we, met in -Pittsburgh in
1968,"_ Prime '.was to reply.
" l~To, at that time 1 was - in
Berlin,":. (. ..... . '
Sir - Michael continued:
Once he , started.. work , in
London, Prime-..,regularly' con-
veyed information -to the
Russians and received informa-
? tion from them usually by
radio:
In autumn ]969,'he ))vas?'tdld
by radio message''td go 'to a
.secret. hiding placd ,iq Esher;
near a lake. Ile ;w 'nt; and
received a few hundred' pounds?
in sterling, and _a ; letter. con
gratulattng,'.Ihim, _on':.Iris; pro-.
greys.
In May 1970, he.took"photo`
graphs of documents which' he
'had taken with the., miniature
camera, ;to; 'Abbey Wood 'in
London and 'left them at a
secret hiding'place in, a wood.. ,
?`" In the "simmer of 1971; he
collected more money.and more
spying materials at' a ' pick=up
point near Banstead'Station in
Surrey. '
Lost his
'code s pads,. " In 1972 or 1973, he mislaid
his one-time pads (code pads)
and was forced to' send a- letter
to East Germany in invisible
writing, in plain text, explaining
the loss.
"According to Prime contact
.was ' lost, uptti~ } 197,4 when
.
Soviet 'aigents t left a -briefcase.
at. hi?s. sister's hofne. This part
of Prime's statement is- con.
firmed by his sister who
remembers a?mian:and a woman
who :sppke in/broken :English
deliveritig a parcel.- ?
.,."She opened ,the pare 1, and
saw the briefcase, whic 'was
apparently, empty. In fact it
was the replica of,?the briefcase
Prime .. had'.:. `.given,- i'nw
Aiugust 1968, and had spying.
equipment ;ands #400; in ; the
secret'. c6tnpdri;4en e
"-In? the spring of 1975, whilst
still in London, Prime was.
given a ? briefing by leis em.
ployers' in older, to, receive and
understan'1, -fresh material of a ?
higher senur.ity classification.
He- reported immediately, to his
controller in East Berlin.
"His controller arranged,, a
serie? .. of meetings . in 'Vienna
which"took 01-ace in September
1975. Prime took with him
photographic, copies of highly
secret material and microfiche
cards of anf',ua,Uy sensitive
fta'tu're.He -received ' #700; -or
#800 in sterling.
",Prime ,ffewto Vienna' iaga'in
in May,1976. 'Between Septem-
ber 1975 and May 1976 he had
been regularly sending details
of top secret information. lie
took with,.-him in May 1976.
more photographed documents
he had hag access to whilst
in London;', and explained ? the
nature of his new job ' at
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STAT
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. Promised pension
and rank of colonel
" He had, in fact, been trans-
ferred from London to Chelten-
ham. in March 1976. At one of
the -meetings in Vienna in May
1976. Prime was informed that
should he ever wish to defect
he would be given a pension
and the rank of Colonel. He
was given : #1,000 before. he
returned to England.
"'Prime was promoted ? ; in
1976, and "on the first: of Novem-
ber 1976 he became section
bead, which gave him access
to a wider and even more sec-
ret range of material.
" As a section head he regu-
larly attended meetings at which
matters of the utmost secrecy
were discussed.
"Between his return from
Vienna in May 1976 and his
resignation on Sept. 28, 1977,
Prime took " 15 rolls of film
amounting to about 500 photo-
graphs of top secret documents.
"Prime claimed that by Sep?
tember . 1977, the pressure of
living a double life got too"
much for him. He bad married
in June 1977 and taken over
the care of his new wife's three
children.
"He decided to defect " by
flying to Helsinki, and indeed
booked flights on Sept. 11 and
Sir"'Micc ael'Have-rs,`Q C.
;Sept. '20,..but" on each occasion
did not go "through with it. ,
" According to Prime he had
no further contact with Russian
agents until he'was telephoned
in April, 1980, and asked. to go
to Vienna. ; : '
"He flew there on Meg' 16
1980j' taking with ,him the 15
rolls; of film 'of ton secret docu-
ments, together with handwrit-
ten . notes. ,
Debriefed. orz
,cruise ship.
He was taken to a Russian
cruise ship on. the Danube for
tw6 ~ or.. three days and 'ques-
tioned at length about the
material he had brought with
'him. "He was given #600 and
flew, back to England.
" In. October,. Prime claimed
that he was again contacted by
. telephone .and agreed to go, to
Berlin for' a further meeting.
He flew to Berlin on Nov. 16
and, was- taken" to Potsdam in
Fast-Germany where he was
closely questioned about Allied
activities which were top secret.
When the debriefing was
finished he was given #4,000
and taken back to Berlin.
"'Prime indicated that the one
time pads and the secret writing
pads which the 'police had seized
_We;e ? given, to. : him' either in
Vienna in 1980 or at Potsdam
in 1981.
" He.claimed he had mot used
any of them, nor had he had any
further contact with Russian
agents." .
Sir Michael said Prime ended
his statement saying: Looking
back-.over the 'entire period I
deeply regret the extent of the
befrayal -manifested by my acti-
vities,-which were in -breach of
-the trust placed in me by my
Govern'rtient
" I" believe , that t first em-
barlced,.on these activities partly
hs a result of a-misplaced ideal-
istic -view of Soviet socialism
which was compounded by basic
psyclielogical' problems within
myself. ., ,
' These - problems had made
to stl ceptible to the type of
propaganda which . I became
aware of during my service in
West Berlin.
?"?`d am: also deeply ashamed
,:and- find ,it difficult to express
my remorse in words in rela-
tion 'to' the angilish. and suffer-
in, which 1 have caused for my
Dan family
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1 "of.ice investi atiort
'masterly'
Before , iequesting -the court
to go into camera, Sir Michael
aid tribute to the officers of
?West ' Mercia, police who inter.
viewed Prime. .
`The` responsible . services
have nothing but praise for the
masterly. way. in which Dot..
Chief Supt: David Cole, Det.
Chief Insp. Peter Picker and
police officers under them coped
with what is the gravest investi-
gation they will ever be likely
to undertake..'In an unfamiliar
field, they worked with remark-
able diligence and very, great
care."
Lord LANE, Lord Chief Jus-
tice, :interrupted by asking the
Attorney-General : ` The infor-
mation this man gave became
more and more important and
dangerous to the services of
this country, is that true?"
Sir Michael agreed that it
became more true as Prime's
spying career continued.
Earlier the Attorney.
General said it. was clear from
the charges, and from Prime
himself, he was sexually
attracted towards girls in the
10 to 15 age bracket.
I "Over a. number of years, he
'built up a card index system
of young girls. His main
sources of information were
newspapers from the Hereford
and Gloucester area.
"From newspapers he was
~hle tr. fin'J nut If, ,,-,~,,,, ,.r
1 u N11I. 1 ? 11,1111, ? 11, 1
)1ltlonla 11111 g411111'I 111111 (1111
]Dine telephone number.
"Armed with this inrforma.
A,a
Mr George Carman,~Q C.
tion it was,then his practice to
telephone the girl and i engage
her' in conversation as to her
age, which school she attended,
and ' when ' her parents -.were
.likely to be,out of the house.
"He maintained `his index
system, loggln every call he
made with details of who
answered the telephone' and if
it was the girl, details of what
their conversation hod been
about, and what name he. bad
used when making. the call." .-
-At the time 'of his arrest,
Prune gave police 2,287 index
cards for such girls....
- '1
But Prime' only "visited the
homes of his victims on four
occasirus. one visit in March
1982 to the 'home of a girl near
Worcester, was abortive because
when he got-,to the house he
fpund a cleaning lady there.
The first time, he,actually got
into 'his victim's' home' was in
April, 1980. Prime telephoned
the home - Of .. an 11-Year-old
Glolicestershire& girl and spoke
to 'her about her family and
school. He rang again JO
minutes later Ind asked to visit
the house to tlo some plumbing,
He arrived five minutes laI 'r
and he girl showed him the
loft. He pulled a hood bf.stripcd
pyjama material oi-er his head,
placed his hand over her mouth
efl oid her no lie dow When
'he at
or I'll do Isombthlpg to ytou o~sn
After Prime said he wanted
to look up her skirt, he was clis-
tu;t}'::j by a market rescarchrr
.knoct;ing at the door, and left
hurriedly.
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His sec nd victim was a Vi-
year-old Worcestershire girl, I-Ic
again telephoned the girl, know-
ing her parents, bcth worked,
this time posing as a painter
and decorzatvr.;
After pretending to examine
the house, he asked, to take a
photograph of her on the 1pre-
text that he had once been her
baby-sitter. But the girl refused.
She noticed through a door
that he was tying a handker-
chief 'over-'h s fare. He seized
her by, the 'neck and said " if
you co-oper