Smyth‚ who is being investigated by British police over claims that he inflicted severe beatings at Christian holiday camps‚ wrote the letter in July 1993‚ and the Daily Telegraph has published a facsimile of it.
The Cape Town lawyer‚ who was 52 at the time‚ said he would act as a “father figure” to boys attending a Zambesi Holidays camp at Ruzawi‚ an elite boarding school in the north-east of Zimbabwe.
Smyth said he wanted to create a “relaxed family atmosphere”‚ adding: “I am determined that we should avoid a school atmosphere as far as possible. I am not a schoolmaster; I try instead to be something of a father figure to the camp‚ encouraging the younger leaders to care for their campers in the way the best of big brothers should.
- Christian crusader in alleged teen abuse scandal advised by pastor to return to UK to face musicJohn Smyth’s pastor has advised him to fly to the UK to face the consequences for allegedly beating 22 teenagers at Christian holiday camps.
“To this end we use Christian names all round‚ the younger leaders sleep in the dormitories with their campers‚ and we all (including myself from time to time) have our showers with the boys.
“We must‚ however‚ have good discipline and experience has shown that with so many high-spirited boys we need some form of sanction. I never cane the boys‚ but I do whack them with a table tennis bat when necessary.
“Such are the opportunities for pranks that I sometimes have to use this fairly liberally to deter high-spirited naughtiness and to ensure obedience and reasonable standards of tidiness.
“Although most of the boys regard TTB (as it is affectionately known) as little more than a joke‚ I try to keep a balance between making it a sufficient deterrent and not allowing it to spoil the happy atmosphere of camp.
“Very occasionally‚ if a boy offends in a more serious way‚ I will whack him with a slightly bigger bat which the boys call ‘Jokari’.”
He also encouraged the teenagers to swim naked: “Last thing at night the dormitory leaders will sometimes take their group for a short swim in the pool – or just a plunge if it is chilly. The boys run down in their towels and skinny-dip.
"Occasionally we have a day-scholar who finds this a bit strange‚ but having done it once‚ he discovers it is all part of the all-boys-together fun camp."
The Telegraph reported that British police investigating Smyth’s alleged beatings between 1978 and 1982 at Winchester College‚ Hampshire‚ were understood to have passed the investigation to a child sexual exploitation unit.
TMG Digital/TimesLIVE
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