It doesn't do any harm ... most of the damage comes from fuss made

SITTING in a room he calls his Ego Chamber, Arthur C. Clarke finally admitted his lifelong secret - not only is he gay but he prefers sex with beach boys.

Clarke gives the name Ego Chamber to the study in his Colombo home because the walls are lined with his books and framed photos of himself with celebrities from the Pope to Princess Diana and astronaut Neil Armstrong to film star Liz Taylor.

The room has state-of-the-art computers, satellite TV, video recorders and other hi-tech gadgets which Clarke boasts he uses to communicate with pals at the Pentagon.

When we asked Clarke about suggestions that he may have been one of the original pioneers of sex tourism in Sri Lanka he gave a wry smile and said: "I am more amused than disgusted that anyone should think that.

"I am all in favour of efforts to stop it. But how do we stop it without interfering with the rights of responsible adults."

Then he repeated a phrase often used by paedophiles: "I think most of the damage comes from the fuss made by hysterical parents afterwards. If the kids don't mind, fair enough." In recent years Clarke's name has been linked with two notorious paedophiles, one of whom - a Swiss millionaire - was kicked out of Sri Lanka on the orders of the president for abusing impoverished beach boys.

He is now awaiting trial in Zurich accused of sexually abusing up to 1,500 young boys and like Clarke was friends with a lot of Sri Lanka's top politicians, senior policemen and influential government figures.

Clarke is said to have attended parties at the tycoon's home. When asked if he had, Clarke replied: "I may well have done. I mean the very first man I met here in 1954 was a paedophile and made no bones about it. He was in intelligence in the army, a fantastic guy."

Clarke said of his sexual preferences: "Here it would embarrass everyone right up to the president. I mean, I am chancellor of the university, a public figure, that is the problem so I would be swallowed alive. I would probably be outed, you see.""

These days the frail, white-haired old man gets around with the aid of a wheelchair and crutches following a polio attack 15 years ago.

But Clarke's fading health does not stop him enjoying his favourite pastime - playing table tennis with schoolboys at a notorious pick-up haunt for perverts called the Otters Aquatic Club.

Crumbling and in need of a coat of paint, the Otters is a meeting point for Westerners who lust after young boys. Those who hang around its games room, pool and tennis courts are perfect prey and are easily persuaded to sell themselves for 1,000 rupees (pounds 10) - a small fortune to them.

Clarke goes there regularly in the afternoon, hobbling on a walking stick, to challenge boys - some as young as 12 - to a game of ping pong.

Asked what his definition for paedophilia was Clarke said: "There are two different definitions, anyone who interferes with young boys who are not old enough to know their own minds and that's my definition. It varies for me." Asked how he knew whether the boys really did know their own minds as he had not known them for long, he said: "Because pure and simply they looked reasonably mature. Mature enough for me."

Told one of them was just 13, he said: "If he really was 13 he will be a very mature 13." Asked if he thought that was morally wrong he replied: "No." Told that some of the boys had told us they would not have had sex if he had not given them money he said: "I'm sure. But I didn't make anyone do anything they didn't enjoy doing." The Sunday Mirror spoke to three boys who claim to have had sex encounters with Clarke.

Godwin Fernando, 33, a former slum boy who scrapes a living selling lottery tickets on street corners, claims he was enticed into Clarke's bedroom at 13 after being invited to his house.

"He wanted me to give him a massage and showed me how to rub his legs. Then he put his hands in my shorts and started playing around. He wanted oral sex with me and said he would give me some money to help my family.

"I never liked the sex -I did it for the money. He told me never to tell anyone about the visits to his home."

Antom Bottoni, a former translator for UK charity Save the Children, told how he was introduced to Clarke at the Otters Club by his paedophile boss when he was just 17. He said: "Arthur invited me to his house and asked me to give him a massage in his bedroom.

"At the time there were photographs of boys on the bedroom wall and he kept pornographic photographs of boys in a locked cabinet by his bed. He liked to show them to me before we had sex but I wasn't really interested.

"I have sent four or five other boys to his house because he asked me if I had any friends who needed 'help', meaning money."

Antom, now 31, added: "At the Otters Club I saw him talking to one boy and heard him invite him back to his home. He was 15 years old and still at school."

As a teenager Sunil Jayatilleke says he was picked up by a beach pimp as he swam and taken to Clarke's house. He said: "I went into the bedroom to give Arthur a massage. He was wearing a sarong and took it off and lay naked on the bed.

"I undressed, we had oral sex and then we fell asleep. Mr Clarke have me 1,500 rupees (pounds 15). I saw him about four times."

Clarke, who was born in Minehead, Somerset, wed American Marilyn Mayfield in 1953 after a whirlwind courtship but the marriage effectively ended six months later. Marilyn has since died.

After the split he settled in Sri Lanka with a British marine photographer called Mike Wilson. Clarke admits he and Wilson were lovers but they drifted apart when Wilson got married.

Clarke publicly supports the Sri Lanka's gay rights movement and has donated a number of pro-gay books, including photographic studies of male nudes. In the past when asked if he is gay, Clarke has always replied: "No, just mildly cheerful."

He explained: "It would embarrass the family you see. I am chancellor of the university. If I was a private citizen living by myself here I wouldn't give a damn.

"It would be much easier for me. I could become the target of bigots. Dare I say it, but I have had bisexual experiences - who hasn't anyway? At this stage of my life there is no point trying to hide things."

His friend Dayanade de Silva, director of current affairs at the Sri Lankan Broadcasting Company, says: "Arthur seems attracted to the rough, unsophisticated 17 and 18-year-olds, although I know he has sampled much younger ones.

"Arthur likes casual affairs with lots of different boys. He gets a lot of pleasure by moving with the teenage lifesavers. They are between 15 and 17. I have even sent Arthur boys, he shares the same tastes as me. If I think he might like one of my boys I give them his phone number - he asked me to.

"The last time I saw Arthur a few months ago he was still having casual sex with boys. The boys do it for money and money is nothing to Arthur C. Clarke."

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