[TASTE FOR LITTLE GIRLS DOWNFALL OF SPY CENTRE MOLE]

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP96M01138R001200010004-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 25, 2009
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: November 11, 1982
• Content Type: NSPR

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TASTE. FO+? LITTLE GIRLS
DONEALL OF
SPY CENTRE MOLE
General, prosecuting, at the
Old Bailey. I
I h' w ]ict the found a
n ~s a
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 attu.,ks police
searched his home and discovered " material which
suggested he was involved in activities even more
grave," said, Sir MICI1AUL IIAVERS,. Q C, Attorney-
. The police also took posses-
sion of. a powerful radio, two
recording tapes, a black brief-
case,. a carrier bag containing
notebooks; and 26 - envelopes
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 of the " very
highest "- secrecy.
Over ,e period of 15 years he
had admitted passing secrets
, y
code-pad, a document ex-
plaining how to handle
micro-dots, details of radio
frequencies, and a top secret
Editorial Comment-P18
in Berlin Vienna, Potsdam and'
London that dead caused "excep-
tional grave , damage.",
~? At one 6tage,? the Press and
I public were excluded for 20
minwtes 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 unsuppomted by the evidence
about t'he nature of the damage
for whicli he is responsible,
especially in relation to nuclear
warheads and endangering: the
lives' of agents. .
1 " I repeat there is no evidence
to support speculations. of this
pying 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
r as calculated to be, might
e, or. was 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 131, 1970, in
Abbey wood, London;
In Vienna, between Sept. 1.30,
1975;
IIn Vienna, between play 1.31,
1976;
IIn :Vienna, between May 1.31,
1980;
And in Potsdam, East Germany,
between Nov. 130, 1981.
;Prime also faced three charges
of indecently assaulting girls
on April 10, 1980; on May
28, 1981, and on April 21,
1982.
klcporting of their names was
prohibited by an order under
Section 89 of the Children
and Young Persons Act.
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? , ifiert3Q GoftLJ31iY ~~1 14t
in brief ease
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 he was later njorc forth-
coming. During four hours of
questioning he admitted re-
ceiving #2,000 from the
Russians, but claimed lie 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 Ilel
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 that 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, removing
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 of&
cers: " Yes, at 4. o'clock today
June 26, 1982, 1 now wish to
tell you the whole truth of this
tragic affair. I cannot goon
talking about my wife whilst I
am continuing to tell lies.
It will take a long time,
could we have it sbort break,
then I'll start from 'January
1968, when this affair started.'
The statement which followed
.was so long it was taken over
two days. .
Banded a note
at checkpoint
The salient features, which
emerged, were that his first
contact With Russian agents was
not in 1874, b
19G8 ut in January,
. 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'handed a note to a
Soviet officer manning a check.
pout 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
mat by Russian agents. He ex-
plained that he wanted to give
then any information the
wanted. y
"Thereafter Prime met his
contacts Igor and Valya regu-
larly until July 1963 when. he
left the RAF. He told them
:the nature of his work and re-
vealed all the information
which was available to him.
"IIe used a miniature
camera to photograph RAF
Gatow's telephone directory
and delivered photographs to-
gether with a sample of classi-
fed 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. lie was
taught the method of secret
writing which allows invisible
messages in code to be over-
written on seemingly innocuous
letters,
Was taut use
a mina miniature cam rahfor 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 proced F
When crime returned to
I ngland he brought With him
the briefcase containing the
infoure or conveying
rmation:'
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'code ?pads;for?deciphering mes-
sages sent to hint bar radio, and
to encipher messages sent back.
'to the Russians; secret; Zvi itipg
paper co which to ' write
encoded ? messages:. East. rer-
manv addressed envelopes ;.to
carry the secret messages in
invisible code; and #40,O;ster;igg.
He was given -the: codename
Rowlands.-and ii:pass`voi'd lobe..
1, used whenimeeting contacts. ` In .
1reply to the contact sa 4ng: "I.
-believe we,met in ,Pittsburgh in t 1968,' Primd?.ira~s=?to?-'reply:-
"
'
:-No at. that time I was in
y
Btrlin" -.fir;"-...?~.'.i i...i?-
Sir 'Michael continued:
"Once be , . started. work in -
London, P*me-. regularly: eon-
i veyed information -to the
-
I Russians and received informa-
t-tion.from them usually by
radio.'
In autumn 1969,hei )vas'told
I by radio message 'to go in a
-secret, hiding placd.,ig irsher?
near a lake. He', at; and
.received a, few hundred- pounds
in -sterling , and -a ; letter, con
r'gratulattng,'itYim _on:.Jiis pro-.
gross. ,? ,
In May 1970; he.took'pliot0
1 graphs of documents, which he'
j had taken with the iniature'
camera, to. ?.lbbey! 'ood ' in
London and 'left Aem at a
secret biding.'place in a .Wood..
"In'ihe`summer-df 1971; he
collected more money and more
I'spying materials - at' a -' pick=up
point near Banstead'Station in
i,SurreY. ' :.
Lost his
cote pads= c ,...l.:.Tl J
"In 1972 on 1973,4ie?mislaid
his one-time pads (code pads)
and, was forced to send-a-letter
to East Germanyl 'in invisible
writing, in plain text, explaining
the loss.
?"Acaording to Prime contact
,Was.+ lost`, ,?utftij '; 1974-,when -
I Soviet irgents:lefr a, .briefcase
at.bis. sister's home. This part
I of Prime's statement is-.con-
firmed by his sister -who
remembers a?man?-and a woman
r-who sppke in; broken ;English
--
,She ppe;ied.the,part . and
isaw .the .brefcase_artrict( was
apparently. empty.- Io fart it
a vas-the-repliosrafrth briefcase
fia~ei...tsadt sbee -; :given ?~ in'
August 1968, and had spying.
' 9niPmeni Land i Eq.pp r this aecret:.tarnp t,.EG~ia ). f. t.-
'"Ia the spring of 3975, whilst.
shill in London. Prime wes.
,given. a ' briefing by. bi.s ? em-
ployeralia oider..to-receive and
understand. -fresh nat6rial of a .
higher sedurity dassification.
He-reported iimnediatelv;to his
controller in -East -
Beri i n-
"His -1 ;1
control.ler.arranged_
aerie?~ of -meetiags , in !Vierata
which tool: place in September
1975. Prime took with him
Photographic copies of highly
secret material and microfiche
{cards of an; *quaily sensitive
7nature. He.- received. - #700. -or
800 in sterling,
"Prime ?t(ew to vicuna iagain
in May.7976. "Between Septcm-
ber 1975 and May 1976 he had
offes sending otop secret) inform tionet,lie
took' with?..bim in May. 157t
!.more 'hotographed documents
bead had access to whilst
din ondon;;aUd'explained -the
nature of ` 'his,- ` new " job ' at
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 IVIN.
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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 b?~dore. he,
returned to England.
""Prime was promoted. ? in
7976, and on the first of Novem
ber 1976 he became section
head, which gave him access
to a wider and even more sec-
ret range of material.
" As a section 'head he re.'qu-
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 1.5 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 had 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
SirMMithae1'Havers, 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 Mai', !6
19801. taking with ..him the 15
rolls of film of top secret docu.
ments, together with handwrit-
ten notes..
Debriefed, on
,cruise ship,
He was taken to a Russian
cruise ship on the Danube for
two or. three (lays 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 mee.tinf;.
He flew to Berlin on Nov. 1G
and. was taken to Potsdam in
Fast Germany where he was
closely questioned about Allied
activities which were top secret.
" When the debriefing wars
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
.weze ? given to. hini either in
Vienna in 1980 or at Potsdam
in 1981.
"lie claimed he had not used
any of their, nor had he hid any
further contact with Russian
agents." .
Sir Michael said Prime ended
his statement saying: " Looking
back, over the entire period 1
deeply regret the extent of the
befrayal rnanifestel by my acti-
vities; which were in breach of
-The trust placed in me by Illy
Government. ? .
" I believe that I first en-
barked,on these activities partly
as a result of a. misplaced ideal-
istic view of Soviet socialism
.which was compounded by basic
psychological problems within
myself.
~' These ` problems had made
me. susceptible to the type of
propaganda which 1, became
aware of during my service in
West Berlin.
t` I am. also deeply ashamed
.and find -.it difficult to express
my remorse in words in rrla-
.tlon -'to' the dnguish and suffer.
in which` t have caused for my
ant anvil "
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1-40, *ftw
['office investigation
''masted y'
Beforb..i-egVesting .the court
to go into camera, Sir Michael
paid tribute to the officers of
West 'Mercies police who inter-
viewee} Prime.
'? ",,The' responsible services
have nothing but praise for the
masterly. way . in which Det.
Chief Supt. David Cole, Det.
Chief Insp. Peter Picken 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.
"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
;e to fin, miff 1h,? ,i ito,? ..1
1 1,1111, 11 ~~ n.u n, . ,il 11.-i
At oiil. ,ii1,~ L ioii't 111N''. Ulu
home telephone number.
"Armed with this informa-
Mr George Carnnari, Q C.
tion it was -then his practice to
telephone the girl and! 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, loggia; every call he
made with , details of who
answered the' telephone and :f
it was the girl, details of what
their conversation bad been
about, and what name he. had
used, when making the call."
At the time of is
a~rest,
Prune gave police 2,287 index
cards for such girls. .
But Prime only visited the
homes of his victims on four
orrasi us. One visit in March
1982 to the home of' a girl near
Worcester was abortive because.
when he got to the house he
(pund a cleaning lady there.
The first time, he,actually got
into his victim's-home' was in
April, 1980. Priebe telephoned
the home of an 11-year-old
Glottcestersltire' girl and spoke
to her about her family and
school. Ile rang again to
minutes later and asked to visit
the house to do sonic plumbing.
110 arrived five Minute; later
end the girl showed W411 the
loft. Ile pulled a hood af.Suiped
pv,ji ma ni;3terial over his held,
placed his hand over her mouth
end told her to lie dow u, When
she got tip, he said: -" Lie down
or I'll do somethjpg to you.-.
After Prime said he wanted
to look un her shirt, be