Paedophile at centre of historical abuse inquiry 'visited children's homes around Britain and took boys out' before advising Home Office on child care system

• Peter Righton was founder of Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE)
• The organisation campaigned for the decriminalisation of sex with children
• Righton contributed to 1970 Government Report as 'expert' on child care
• Report which he influenced led to huge reform of the child care system
• Righton, now dead, is at centre of new inquiries into child abuse                                                            A notorious paedophile visited children's homes around Britain before advising the Home Office on reform of the child care system, it emerged today.

Peter Righton - a founding member of the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) which tried to decriminalise sex between children and adults - toured homes around the Midlands and North West before contributing to the Government paper in 1970.

He was later convicted of importing child abuse images and evidence used to convict him is now at the centre of a new inquiry into allegations of a sex abuse gang linked to the British establishment.

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Peter Righton - a founding member of the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) - advised the Home Office on a report which led to the reform of Britain's children's home, it emerged today

Righton, who is now dead, became an academic specialising in social work after leaving a teaching job following allegations of child abuse.

The BBC reported today that he was heavily involved in preparing a report which led to schools for wayward youngsters being replaced by 'community homes' and being brought under local council control in the 1970s.

A retired child care professional told the BBC that Righton visited children's homes in Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton, Rochdale and Preston while assisting the Home Office.

The insider said: 'He was a very dangerous man because he was put in a position where he could abuse trust.'

He also claimed Righton 'took boys out' and used sexual language while around them.

It is believed one the schools visited by Righton was Bryn Estyn in Wrexham, 140 of whose former residents later claimed to have been abused between 1974 and 1984 and where an official report later described 'appalling abuse'.

It is believed Righton called for care workers to be educated in classical civilisation, which was important to the paedophile movement at the time because of its references to 'Greek love' between men and young boys.

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Righton is said to have visited care homes and schools around the UK, including Bryn Estyn in Wrexham, where 'appalling' abuse was later uncovered involving 140 former residents

A section of the report which cites Righton stated: 'Training for residential community workers might be expected to include the study of... basic information about the organisation of primitive communities and the growth of civilisation, the development of philosophies and ethical concepts, the significance of aesthetic values.

'(And) the determination of behaviour patterns and cultural variations in behavioural values.'

In 2012, Labout MP Tom Watson used Parliamentary privilege to claim that a file of evidence used to convict Righton of importing child pornography in 1992 contained 'clear intelligence' of a sex abuse gang.

He wrote to Scotland Yard, who launched criminal investigation, Operation Fairbank, which has since spawned two more inquiries - Fernbridge, which is looking at claims linked to the Elm Guest House in Barnes, south west London in the 1980s, and Cayacos. 

The Home Office has so far declined to comment on the new claims, but reiterated Home Secretary Theresa May's comments that 'the whole government take the allegations very seriously'.

Mrs May announced an inquiry into how public institutions had handled historical claims of child sexual abuse in July.