KATHMANDU, June 11: Former UN-Habitat country representative for Afghanistan, Peter John Dalglish, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting children in Nepal, a Canadian media report said on Tuesday.

His Canadian lawyer, Nader Hasan, told CBC News of Canada that Dalglish's family and friends were devastated by the verdict and that his legal team plans to file an appeal.

Hasan was quoted as saying that there is no clear timeline when the judge will issue a written verdict or when sentencing will take place — both of which have to happen before he can file an appeal.

Dalglish, 61, could be facing a prison sentence of 10 years or longer, Hasan said.

In April 2018, Dalglish was arrested from Kavrepalanchowk district for his alleged involvement in pedophilia, a psychiatric disorder that leads to sexual attraction toward children. 

The 60-year-old Canadian, who served as UN-Habitat country representative for Afghanistan from 2010 to 2014, was arrested by a team of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) from the house of Chinkaji Maharjan at Mandan Deupur Municipality in Kavrepalanchowk district.

CIB, which was closely monitoring his activities, arrested Dalglish with two boys aged 12 and 14 from his room at Maharjan’s house. The boys were immediately rescued while Dalglish was brought to Kathmandu for further investigation. 

The CIB filed a case of child sexual abuse (pedophilia) against him at the Kathmandu District Court and initiated further investigation.

Sixty-year-old Peter John Dalglish, a Canadian, had served as UN-Habitat country representative for Afghanistan from 2010 to 2014. 

In Nepal, Dalglish, as the founder of the Himalayan Community Foundation, a non-governmental humanitarian organization to help poor and deprived families with their children’s education, has been running various projects related to education and drinking water for the deprived communities in Kavrepalanchowk district for the last two years.

Apart from working in UN-Habitant as a country representative, he also worked in top positions of other UN bodies. After working in UN-Habitant for four years, Dalglish had joined the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response in Liberia in 2015 where he worked for a year. In 2016, Dalglish joined the World Health Organization (WHO) as a senior urban advisor to coordinate global efforts to stop the spread of the Ebola epidemic. He is also one of the founders of Street Kids International, a Canada-based non-governmental organization established in 1988.  

Dalglish, who was born in Ontario, is a graduate from Stanford University, US.

 
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